Leadership and Education Based Advocacy

Catalog description

This course will aid in the professional development of SLU LAW students while assisting St. Louis high youth in developing their skills with trial advocacy, self advocacy and college preparation. It will have a classroom workshop and training component, and an experiential learning component. During the law class students will interact with legal and teaching professionals to develop the best ways to create a productive learning environment for their students. They will also reflect on their own performance, share best practices with program participants, conduct peer reviews and critically evaluate the program and program material. Classes are scheduled for 50 minutes on Tuesdays at 5 p.m. but will not meet every week. In addition to the classroom component, law students will spend a certain number of hours each week at their designated project site. Availability on one or two Saturdays during the semester may be required. In addition to Youth and Government as a project, this mini-course course has added Street Law Youth Programming as an available project. For Youth and Government, students will work in teams of two and be assigned to a specific high school or YMCA Urban Core Branch. For the Street Law projects, students will be participating in one of the youth community engagement programs: teaching Street Law to high school students, teaching Street law to youth in the Juvenile Detention Center, facilitating a college preparatory/mentoring program, or coaching mock trial for middle school students. Law students will spend one hour each week (or an equivalent) at their assigned community site with their students. They will use their analytical and communication skills to teach the youth important skills in preparation for specific objectives. (Law students may be required to accompany their students to the statewide competition in Jefferson City in November/December.) This course is graded on a pass/no pass basis.