Written By: Kimberly Henry, Staff Writer for UNSUGARCOATED Media

October 31, 2022

If you listen to John Hughes, there’s no fate worse than attending school on a Saturday. But come Nov. 5th that’s exactly what nearly 700 female students from Los Angeles Unified School district, or LAUSD, will be doing.

That’s the day of the Young Women’s Leadership Conference, just one of many extracurricular programming opportunities that LAUSD provides its students. And coming out of a pandemic, these opportunities are more important than ever.

“All the research shows that when students engage in extracurriculars they have better attendance,” said Dr. Lorena Franco, the staff coordinator for the Student Empowerment Unit, which organizes the YWLC and its counterpart for young men. Dr. Franco is right. Extracurriculars are a strong indicator of higher attendance, as well as higher grades, self-esteem, resiliency and perception of education’s importance according to a 2008 article.

Although they are harder to measure than attendance and grades, when it comes to these qualitative impacts, Dr. Franco said, “We want to make sure these conferences inspire [students] to be proactive,”especially around physical and mental health. These factors are crucial especially as students transition from zoom back to the classroom where Dr. Franco says students consistently report mental health challenges.

Photo Provided by PLUS ME PROJECT

“As we’re going back into these classrooms, in virtual spaces or even in physical spaces with our facilitators, [we’re] reminding youth, almost giving them permission, ‘It’s okay to go here, it’s okay to feel however we’re feeling,’” said Richard Reyes, founder and executive director of the PLUS ME PROJECT, one of the LAUSD’s extracurricular community partners. Reyes has seen the pandemic’s impact on student mental health first-hand. PLUS ME PROJECT trains what Reyes calls “relatable role models” to share their stories as guest speakers while empowering students to tell their own stories through workshops. But when schools closed in 2020, Reyes saw students shut down as well.

“I really felt like that safe space wasn’t established,” Reyes said, describing the struggle of using oral storytelling to help kids open up about their struggles from home, often within earshot of their parents and siblings. “It’s re-learning that and it’s getting them comfortable to go through those anxieties and fears and vulnerabilities of vocalizing your thought process and your experiences out loud again.”

“Mental health” and “vulnerability” aren’t generally the phrases that come to mind when thinking about extracurriculars, which often refer to sports or even theater and band despite the age-old de-funding of arts programs across the US. But studies show that different types of extracurriculars have different effects on student achievement based on age, gender, and ethnicity. As more students cite mental health as a major obstacle, schools are focusing on extracurriculars that target emotional intelligence and resiliency.

After two and a half years of pivoting to find ways to make school work for students, it’s fitting that this year’s Young Women’s Leadership Conference has chosen the theme, “Imagine the Possibilities.” In an example of LAUSD students’ resilience and flexibility, the Student Empowerment Unit chose to make this year’s conference online.

Photo Provided by PLUS ME PROJECT

“When we asked them whether the best option was in person or virtual, the majority of them voiced that they preferred the virtual option,”said Dr. Franco. “It’s a great way to provide access and information to more students.” Dr. Franco went on to reveal, “There are students I know who are working the Saturday of the conference who are unable to attend but have told me they’re going to be listening while they work.”

With instruction in schools back to in-person, virtual still makes a lot of these programs possible and provide a hybrid structure that doesn’t bore students as much as it did during the pandemic.

One thing LAUSD students haven’t forgotten from the pandemic? How to multitask to get the most out of their education.

For more information, email the Student Empowerment Unit at pr-sieunit@lausd.net or click to learn more about LAUSD’s Student
Empowerment Unit or the PLUS ME PROJECT.