National Youth Summit – Join the Conversation
The National Youth Summit brings middle and high school students together with scholars, teachers, policy experts, and activists in a national conversation about important events in America’s past that have relevance to the nation’s present and future. Since 2011, Smithsonian Affiliates have been hosts of Regional Youth Summits, amplifying the program and augmenting it with related programming tied to the Affiliate organization’s content for its local community of students.
2024 National Youth Summit on Elections & Politics
The 2024 Summit took place September 17-24 and asked the question, “How can young people engage in political action and influence elections?” The Summit explored questions of representation, power, and accountability to examine how young people have boldly driven change in our democracy. The live virtual summit featured guest speakers including teens, scholars, and organizational leaders and offer ideas for students to consider how they will develop their civic identities to inspire our shared future.
Affiliate Partner Collaboration
What do Regional Summits do?
Regional Summits connect with their local middle and high schools and invite students to participate in the National Youth Summit by watching some or all of the opening webcast broadcast by the National Museum of American History and engaging in Regional Summit-led discussion about the history and driving question. As programming during COVID presents unprecedented challenges, we encourage Regional Summits to think creatively about how to engage students in synchronous and/or asynchronous conversation.
Regional Summits can tie their programming to their own content, as well as to the history in their own community’s history.
In 2022, Affiliate organizations can participate in two (2) different ways:
- Standard Regional Summits
Regional Summits engage their local school communities to invite middle and high school students in critical discussions connected to the summit topic. - Distribution Hubs for Printed Learning Materials
The 2022 Summit will feature zine-making as a tool for communication and civic action. Regional Summits will be provided with a package of printed zine-making templates and curricular resources to distribute to local communities in need. An additional five Affiliate Organizations may be selected to serve as a Distribution Hub of these resources, without facilitating programming.
How does an Affiliate apply to participate?
While the application process for funding has closed, we encourage Affiliates to consider participating with your community with similar events and programs. If you have questions, please email affiliates@si.edu.
The Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, California) participated in the National Youth Summit on Japanese American Incarceration in World War II on May 17, 2016. Photo courtesy of JANM.
