City Spotlights Staff Blog | Week 4 | Lesley Rodriguez

City Spotlights moves fast! We kicked off week 4 with support from the Boch Center staff and community members who volunteered to interview Teen Leaders to tackle on college and career readiness. We had many proud moments. Teen Leaders stepped up to the challenge and used this opportunity well to further their personal and professional goals such as mock interviews for auditions, jobs, scholarships, and college. Boch’s very own CEO, Casey, was matched to interview a teen who aspires one day to be in his position!

In the following days Teen Leaders continued to work hard in creating and rehearsing workshops. On Wednesday and Thursday, despite the rain, they showcased outstanding performances throughout Boston! I was inspired by Teen Leaders’ ability to navigate creative collaborations and bridge subthemes, modalities, and each other’s personalities. I had the honor of witnessing how Teen Leaders impacted their community instantly. For example, younger kids were able to articulate the meaning for words like racism, gentrification, colorism, cultural appropriation and created their own dances, skits, tableaus and other performances with guidance from Teen Leaders! 

Teens were asked to apply their inherited leadership skills and pushed themselves out of their comfort zone. Teen Leaders ought to be so proud of bringing so much talent, social justice education, and joy with their performances!