Serbian Students Visit PSU!
SYLP is a four week youth leadership exchange program based in the U.S. for Serbian teenagers ages 15-17 and Serbian adult community leaders.
International Cultural Service Program (ICSP) Scholars met with the group of Serbian students participating in the Serbia Youth Leadership Program (SYLP) at Portland State University in early October. They exchanged their experiences and participated in a tour around Portland State University.
In partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Civic Initiatives of Serbia, and World Learning, the World Affairs Council of Oregon administers the Serbia Youth Leadership Program (SYLP).
SYLP is a four week youth leadership exchange program based in the U.S. for Serbian teenagers ages 15-17 and Serbian adult community leaders. The program aims to develop a cadre of young adults in Serbia and the United States who have a strong sense of civic responsibility, a commitment to community development, an awareness of current & global issues, strong interpersonal leadership skills, willingness to foster relationships among youth from different ethnic, religious, and national groups in Serbia, and to promote mutual understanding, respect and collaboration between the United States and Serbia.
Students begin their program in Brattleboro, VT at the SIT Graduate Institute where they attend leadership and teambuilding workshops. Afterwards they stay in Oregon for two weeks, learning about grassroots activism, participating in community service projects, and staying with host families from West Linn High School. They then conclude the program with a civic education week in Washington, DC, which allows the students to use Washington as an experiential classroom, integrating what they have learned in the previous month with the sights and experiences within the nation’s capitol.
The participants are selected based on academic achievement, community service involvement, leadership potential, and English language competency. In the U.S., participants will focus on the program themes through site meetings, experiential learning activities, leadership trainings, civic participation at the community level, mentoring by community, business and NGO leaders, and volunteering with local organizations. Highlights include homestays with local families, cultural events and outdoor leadership activities.
Students are required to implement follow-on activities upon their return home that will help the participants stay in touch with each other and reflect on their experiences and integrate that learning into their day-to-day lives at home. An important goal of the program is that the student leaders, now empowered, will train other student leaders through student-led community-oriented service projects.
A final component of the program will be reciprocal two-week exchange programs to Serbia for American students and adult educators in Spring and Fall of 2011. The American exchange program will include a variety of activities from site meetings with local Serbian NGOs and visits to local high schools, to language training and home stays in each SYLP community. All high school students and educators who meet with the Serbian group will be eligible and encouraged to apply for this program. Atleast three Portland-area students will have the opportunity to participate in the exchange to Serbia in 2011.