Welcome to the application and interest form for this year's SEEDS Summer Youth Program!
2023 marks the sixth year of SEEDS (Student Engagement and Education for Development and Success), a summer youth program hosted by the Vietnamese American Roundtable to train and grow future community leaders who can address community issues through hands-on programming experience.
Youth from ages 14-24, from high school to college, will engage in curated community spaces, workshops, and planning sessions to learn about current issues impacting the local Vietnamese community, to identify significant issues that are resonant with their own experiences, and to configure sustainable solutions to these issues, such as racial subjugation and discrimination and anti-AAPI hate and violence.*
Through the course of the summer-long program, participants under the guidance of professional mentors from VAR will develop potential solutions, equip themselves with and grow pertinent skill sets, as well as learn about strategies for effective advocacy.
At the conclusion of the program, participants will work collaboratively to share a community-engaged, issues-based project of choice at a public showcase open to all family, friends, and community members to attend. Our showcase this year is scheduled for Saturday, August 12th, 2023.
*Prior knowledge or experience with Vietnamese and/or AAPI communities is not required. All sessions are open to all local students willing to learn more about and explore issues impacting their communities through the lens of the Vietnamese American experience in San Jose and Santa Clara County
2023 PROGRAM OVERVIEW** | Tentative Dates, Locations, and Topics
1. Saturday, June 10th, 2023 from 10am-2pm: SEEDS Welcome & Orientation
Location: Vietnamese American Cultural Center
Goals: Introduction and Welcome to the program, project-based learning objectives, issues brainstorming
2. Saturday, June 17th, 2023 from 10am-1pm: Refugee Resettlement & History & Uncovering Our Personal Histories
Location: Viet Museum
Goals: Learn about and contextualize the history of refugees and immigrants in the United States. Equip students with tools to uncover their own personal histories
3. Saturday, June 24th, 2023 from 10am-1pm: Vietnamese American Political Power & Little Saigon Scavenger Hunt
Location: Grand Century Mall, Vietnam Town Mall
Goals: Reflect on the history and formation of Asian American and Vietnamese American community building
--No SEEDS Session during Independence Day Weekend--
4. Saturday, July 8th, 2023 from 10am-1pm: Solidarity-Building Picnic: Stop AAPI Hate/BLM
Location: Viet Museum, History Park
Goals: Explore anti-AAPI hate and its systemic root causes; consider what does allyship, action, and advocacy look like
5. Saturday, July 15th, 2023 from 10am-1pm: Storytelling for Sustainability: Food, Legacy, and Identities
Location: Vietnamese American Cultural Center
Goals: What are the narratives that our food tell to the world? How do we understand the importance of sustainability through the lens of food and family recipes.
6. Saturday, July 22rd, 2023 from 10am-1pm: Professional Development & Life-Planning Workshop, "Things that School Doesn't Teach You"
Location: Vietnamese American Service Center
Goals: Learn from Vietnamese American professionals about how to package and present yourself in the workplace and shape how to plan for life as a student/adult.
7. Saturday, July 29th, 2023 from 10am-1pm: Explorations of Creativity: Art, Expression, and Storytelling
Location: Vietnamese American Service Center
Goals: Considering our "origin stories," what are ways that we express ourselves through art, and how we advocate through expression to preserve traditions and values through storytelling and creativity
8. Saturday, August 5th, 2023 from10am-1pm: SEEDS Summer Showcase PLANNING
Location: Vietnamese American Cultural Center
Goals: SEEDS participants will work together to wrap up showcase planning
9. August 12th, 2023 from 10am-2pm: SEEDS Summer Showcase
Location: Vietnamese American Cultural Center
Goals: Each SEEDS participant will be invited to highlight their culminating project that centers on an issue in their local community. Open to the public, inclusive of the friends and family of the SEEDS students.
Additional Resources for Students:
** To help with transportation, VAR will be offering travel expenses and reimbursement to any student with financial need.
** Scholarships (10)of $100 are available to students who attend a majority of sessions.
** All program and lesson materials (textbooks, PDF articles) will be provided at no cost for participants. Registrants will receive exclusive Vietnamese American Roundtable and SEEDS merchandise -- available in limited supply.
** Registrations are strongly encouraged to reserve your space in the program! Drop-ins will be welcomed.
** All session locations will be announced at least two weeks prior to the start of the program and will take place within San Jose. VAR will implement all appropriate measures to follow Santa Clara County Social Distancing Protocol to prevent the spread of COVID-19. All program dates may be held online via Zoom if necessary.
Learn more at https://www.varoundtable.org/seeds or
https://www.facebook.com/VARoundtable/If you have questions, please contact us at
SEEDS@varoundtable.org