I am still sitting with what happened last night (Feb. 18) at FabNewport during our community dinner and conversation.
We came together, Fab staff, families, learners, and community partners, to imagine what a year- round, FabNewport learning environment could be, not as a concept on paper, but as something built with students and parents at the center of the design. Something we are calling the Endless Summer, a reminder that the learning, connection and belonging we see during our summer program is something that can be realized even when the leaves turn and the temperature drops. We are building this together, with youth and family voices as the blueprint and not an afterthought. The room was full of possibility… and then it felt full of truth.
At the end of the conversation, Gionna and Lala shared their stories, and the air changed.
Lala talked about the pain of feeling invisible. Recently during Black History Month at her high school, she wasn’t allowed to attend the celebration because she is in 10th grade and 9th and 10th graders were excluded based on a “perceived inability to behave well.” Imagine that? A young girl of color, told in practice that her presence is a problem, that her culture is something she can’t even celebrate in her own school. Lala doesn’t want special treatment. She wants to see her culture shine. She wants to be seen. Representation matters and not just in posters or assemblies, but in who gets invited into the room.
When Gionna spoke, you could feel the weight of what she carries. She shared through teary strength about how she had always been known as an honor student , the “good kid,” the one who performs. But when her mental health needed more care, when her grades slipped because she was trying to survive, she wasn’t met with support. She was met with punishment. No one to tell her it was ok.No safety net. No grace. Just punitive consequences.
She talked about how needing a mental health day is frowned upon and about how being absent to try to take care of mental health issues leads to detention. Gionna spoke about how for some students , especially those who work after school to help support their families , detention isn’t just a mild inconvenience. It becomes a choice between being punished at school or losing income their family depends on. This may be the school’s way of holding young people accountable, but this is harm layered on top of harm.
Listening to Gionna and Lala, I felt the heartbreak and the clarity at the same time. We would like to believe that these are isolated stories but they are system stories. These are young people telling us, plainly, that school is mostly a place for compliance and doesn’t take into account their humanness.
Last night mattered because what we are dreaming about isn’t just another place to learn. The Endless Summer is a community where relationships with young people are thriving. It’s a place where culture is celebrated, not controlled. A place where mental health is treated as real health. A place where attendance policies don’t punish poverty. A place where learners are not reduced to behavior charts and GPAs. The Endless Summer is a place where young people are honored as whole people with real lives and real pain.
Gionna and Lala trusted me with their stories. For me that is sacred and scary because it comes with responsibility. The trust of young people is fragile and must be handled with the utmost care. We have to show them through our actions that we are listening and If we say we believe in centering our learners, then we have to believe them when they tell us what is hurting them. Last night wasn’t just a meeting, it was a mirror and it showed me very clearly exactly why this work cannot wait.