Nearly 30 Pittsburgh students complete inaugural Youth Civic Leadership Academy

Nearly 30 Pittsburgh students on Tuesday were recognized for completing the city’s inaugural Youth Civic Leadership Academy, a 15-week program that allowed students to earn college credits while learning about local government.

“I wanted to expose these kids to something greater than what they see every day,” Mayor Ed Gainey said during a ceremony honoring the students at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh’s Strip District.

Twenty-seven Pittsburgh Public Schools middle and high school students completed the program, which gave them three college credits and a stipend for engaging with various city departments. The program allowed students to learn about how local government operates and to propose potential solutions to real issues city departments are facing.

“The program has been really, really cool,” said Donovan Symms, a freshman at Pittsburgh Science & Technology Academy. “I went into this program not knowing a lot about the city.”

Now, Symms said, he has aspirations to one day join City Council.

During the program, Symms said, he worked with representatives from the city’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure to work on ways “to improve upon the current services provided by the department.”

Gainey said many participating students will have opportunities for internships in city government.

The Youth Civic Leadership Academy was run through a partnership between the city, Heinz History Center, Community College of Allegheny County, Partner4Work and Youth Enrichment Services.

Denise Jones, who worked on the program with Youth Enrichment Services, urged city leaders to take the proposed solutions the students worked on seriously.

“They’ve been able to think about creative solutions,” she said.

The mayor said he felt it was important for young people’s voices to be heard.

“So many times we try to tell them what to do without listening to them,” Gainey said. “We’ve got to be laser-focused on what we can do to empower them.”

Projects on display at the event showed that students had delved into issues ranging from how to build police-community relations to how to improve safety for school transportation.

Gainey said he talked with participating students about crucial issues like gun violence and its impact on the city’s youths.

“I still remember the things they told me,” Gainey said. “They’re the solution.”