"...Reason
the card, but passion is the gale..."
-Alexander Pope, "Essay on Man: Epistle II"
Passion
In
2000, the ACLU of Wisconsin Foundation founded the Youth
and Civil Liberties Council (YCLC) to empower
Wisconsin youth by increasing knowledge and skills of
their rights and responsibilities.
The
work of the YCLC focuses on engaging young
people on their terms, allowing their passion
to guide positive action, whether it is
to discuss discipline policy changes in their school or
to author recommendations on how to repair police-youth
relations in their community.
Reason
The
YCLC’s ability to appeal to the life experiences
of diverse youth has been a cornerstone of its success.
Programs like the statewide “The Other America Tour”
and regional “Youth Government Day” offer
information and structure, but utilize the expression
and sense of adventure that are signature to young people.
Providing forums to address social justice
and civic involvement, respectively, these
programs have worked directly with over 7,500
Wisconsin youth and as many as 100
schools since 2000.
But that's just the beginning.
The YCLC has become a state and nationally-recognized
model for successful youth empowerment. As we look to
the future, we are inspired by the work
of other individuals, organizations and coalitions that
advances youth issues and strengthened by
the hope we see in the thousands of dedicated
young people who are the next generation of
liberty.
About
the Quote:
"Reason"
symbolizes purpose or common sense; a "card"
in this context is a type of map; "passion"
symbolizes idealism or intense emotion; a "gale"
is a strong wind.
