The Zionsville Student Rights Union continues to lead the way for youth rights in central Indiana. The ZSRU has been working with John Loflin, senior fellow of education and youth issues at the Black & Latino Policy Institute and member of the Democratic Education Consortium, and the Student Alliance for Education, an organization of urban Indianapolis students committed to greater youth voice in education, to give Indiana students a greater say in their own education. NYRA’s national organization officially endorsed the Black & Latino Policy Institute’s recommendations to increase student participation and student voice in their schools last month. Strategy discussions have been productive, and the organizations plan to increasingly work with the Indiana Department of Education and the state general assembly in the months ahead.
More NYRA chapters in Indiana are also in the works. Student Alliance for Education leader Mathew Davis is currently in the process of forming NYRA-Indianapolis, which will cover the entire Indianapolis metropolitan area. The ZSRU is also working with a forming chapter at Indiana University in Bloomington. Once a fourth chapter is formed at Purdue University in West Lafayette, plans are to create NYRA-Central Indiana as an umbrella organization of all the chapters in the region, to be headed by ZSRU founder Steve Ross.
The ZSRU is also working with the administration of their school, Zionsville Community High School, on finalizing a new final exams structure, and they’re also forming a plan of succession to ensure the Union is able to continue to fight for the rights of youth for years to come.
