Youth Summit provides a unique opportunity for middle and high school students to question adult experts about timely issues through invigorating and interactive meetings, a setting reminiscent of a congressional hearing.

To participate, teachers are required to attend TWO workshops – both before and after the summit, plus the Summit itself. They receive curriculum materials ready for classroom use.  Teachers share lessons about the selected topic with their students, then some 150 students (selected from 1,200 classmates) representing 30 classes meet with numerous elected officials, civic leaders and other experts at Portland State University.

Youth Summit 2009

Democracy & What’s News: What’s a Citizen To Do?
Newsrooms, cybernews, journalism, citizen journalists.  Students explore the connections between democracy, the news, and the role of citizens.  Lessons range from the historical roots of free press to new social media.

Click here to download Youth Summit lessons from 2009 and earlier.

Youth Summit 2009 was funded in part through a generous grant from the Multnomah Bar Foundation.