OXFORD, Miss. – After spending 10 days learning about community organizing, strategic planning and active citizenship, 27 Mississippi high school students are brimming with ideas and enthusiasm to improve the quality of life in their respective hometowns. 
The students, participants in the Summer Youth Institute hosted by the University of Mississippi’s William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, developed plans to improve HIV awareness and education, plant community gardens, start after-school recreational basketball leagues and more. The one constant linking all the ideas is that each seeks to involve everyone in town, regardless of ethnicity or sex.
The institute opened Julie Andrews’ eyes to just what is possible if people work together, she said.
“For 10 days, I’ve learned about my home, learned to accept others as they are, learned what it really means to be a neighborly person and learned that I can change things if I want,” the Jackson resident said. “I want to change the image of Mississippi, starting with community.”
The group, including sophomores, juniors and seniors from across the state, gathered last weekend at the Jackson-Evers International Airport conference room to present their projects and learn about the work of local nonprofit organizations in Jackson.
Myrlie Evers-Williams, widow of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, and former Gov. William Winter helped launch the Summer Institute. Sponsored by Medgar Evers Institute and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, it was designed to help young people develop an appreciation of the state’s rich culture and civil rights history while encouraging them to become active in their own communities, and to develop a statewide network of civically active youth.
Institute activities included workshops on community organizing, strategic planning and active citizenship, as well as field trips to the Mississippi Delta, Philadelphia and Jackson.
Part of the Jackson field trip was spent in a round robin-style discussion with representatives from the Mississippi chapter of the ACLU, Operation Shoestring, the Mississippi Youth Justice Project, the Youth Media Project, the Jackson Chapter of Parents for Public Schools, as well as local businesspeople who work in the public sector. But the high point of the summit was the student presentation segment.
“I’d like to thank you for the commitment that you obviously have made to your state, to your community and to yourselves for working to bring together this magnificent, diverse society of people in a way that will strengthen the places where we live,” Winter told the students following their presentations.
“There is no more important work going on today than the work of racial reconciliation, and we’ve put it off for a long time. When I was coming along, as you can imagine, Mississippi was totally, racially segregated. We could not have thought about having a meeting like this. We could not have gone out to eat supper together. We couldn’t have gone out for a sandwich. We couldn’t have gotten in a hotel together. So we have come so far, but we have a long way to go, and you are going to get us all the way. I’m convinced you are going to get us all the way.”
The students agreed that the experience made a difference in their lives.
“This has been the best 10 days of my life,” said DeVante Wiley of Greenwood. “Words can’t explain how much fun I have had at this institute. I have met some incredibly awesome people and I’ve learned things that I didn’t even know happened.
“This institute has given me the courage to stand up and be the head dog in my community … and possibly city. I look forward to working with the people I have encountered here to make Mississippi a much, much, much, much better place.”
For more information about the Summer Youth Institute, contact the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation at 662-915-6734 or go to http://www.winterinstitute.org.