Education
Youth Education Program

Mentoring Program

The Youth Education Program (YEP) is a subcommittee of the ACLU Foundation of Colorado education committee. The mission of YEP is to educate high school students about their civil liberties and the ACLU.

YEP partners with students from Denver University School of Law to work with high school ACLU clubs. Becoming a mentor offers a law student the chance to connect with bright, younger students who are intensely interested in civil liberties.

There are seven active high school clubs currently. Each club has a teacher/sponsor and a student leader.

Every school year we pair a law school student mentor with a high school club. The mentor acts as the point person for the students as they plan their ACLU club events. A mentor may be called upon to help with a debate on a civil liberties issue, attend a club meeting, talk with the students, offer ideas for speakers or be a speaker. The mentor is a source of support for the students and their sponsors. Much of the mentoring is done via computer or phone. The high school students helped create this program, and that has proven invaluable to them.

As volunteers we represent the ACLU, though not in an official capacity. The Colorado ACLU affiliate, along with the ACLU education committee and YEP offer guidelines for working with the high school students and their clubs. Each mentor has the support of the YEP committee and its resources.

Mentors are asked to attend the YEP meetings, if possible, held the 1st Tuesday of every month. The meetings generally last about 1½ hours. Click here for the meeting schedule for 2005-2006.

For more information, contact Ann Pipal, mentoring coordinator at annpipal@yahoo.com

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