The Phillips Brooks House Association strives for social justice. As a student-led organization, PBHA mobilizes volunteers in collaboration with Boston and Cambridge partners to address gaps in opportunities and resources. We develop student and community leadership to creatively meet critical needs and advocate for structural change. PBHA seeks to promote social awareness and community involvement at Harvard and beyond.
Geared toward fostering the next generation of civic-minded change agents, Leaders! is a unique program that connects high schoolers with willing college mentors. We empower students in the Greater Boston area through programming that spans leadership development, peer-to-peer fellowship, and college readiness.
Each summer, 90 teens serve as Junior Counselors - full-time teacher’s aides and role models - in one of PBHA’s 10 neighborhood-based Summer Urban Program camps. Each teen is paired with a college student to develop a seven-week curriculum focusing on literacy, math, and community history. Teens co-teach a class of 10 children, supervise field trips and community service projects, and participate in leadership workshops designed by the teens themselves and facilitated by the Leaders! directors.
The majority of our Leaders once attended the same camp in which they work, and nearly all have grown up in the neighborhoods served by their camp. For many, the Junior Counselor position is their first job and/or opportunity to cultivate a sense of community responsibility and leadership skills. Our hope is that through our curriculum, the teens will want to take on a greater responsibility during the summer and demonstrate their unique capabilities.
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