Street Law Program provides opportunities for undergrads to volunteer
The University of Richmond’s Street Law Program is a project of UR Downtown, the University of Richmond’s new downtown Richmond campus, and is intended to give undergraduates the opportunity to empower low-income neighborhoods through cooperative learning.
Student volunteers provide children the necessary education to stand up for their civil rights and stand firm in their civic responsibilities. In addition, underserved families who are in need of advocacy are connected to law students, professors and attorneys.
The UR Street Law Program is modeled after the National Street Law Program, which launched at Georgetown University in 1972. Designed to offer a practical, participatory education about law, democracy and human rights, the program blended content and methodology with techniques that promote cooperative learning, critical thinking and the ability to participate in a democratic society. For 30 years, Street Law, Inc.’s programs and curricula have promoted knowledge of legal rights and responsibilities, engagement in the democratic process and belief in the rule of law, among both youth and adults. Approximately 70 law schools in the United States and 30 countries around the world have Street Law programs in which law students teach practical law in high school, juvenile justice, prison or community settings, either for credit or as part of pro bono programs.
Richmond undergraduate students can get involved in UR Downtown’s Street Law Program via three different tracks: serving as a street law trainer, a street law instructor or an expressions facilitator.
Street Law trainers train the Street Law instructors on the best practices to educate and engage youth in the Street Law curriculum. They research teaching pedagogies and methods that will keep young people interested in democracy and the rights and responsibilities of being a citizen in this country, state and city. The opportunity is ideal for students of leadership, psychology, sociology and education and/or students interested in classroom/team facilitation, child/youth behavior management and teaching effective learning strategies. Creativity and knowledge of urban culture is favorable. Street Law trainers can participate in the program during the fall or spring semester and most of their work takes place on the University of Richmond campus.
Street Law instructors teach a group of middle school students in an afterschool program at a local community center alongside UR law students. They learn to develop and deliver appropriate curriculum from law professors and lawyers who have expertise in particular areas of law. The opportunity is ideal for pre-law students as well as students of political science, other social sciences, education and law and the liberal arts and for students who are interested in pursuing careers in the law, law enforcement or social justice fields. Interest in working with urban youth is favorable. Street Law instructors can participate in the program during the fall or spring semester and most of their work takes place at the William Byrd Community House and Friends Association Family Center.
Expressions facilitators serve as one-time classroom facilitators during the Expressions component of the program. Facilitators assist students in creating some form of self-expression, such as a piece of art, a song, a dance, a story or a poem, to represent or address a topic covered throughout the semester. The opportunity is ideal for students of studio art, music, theatre, creative writing, dance or education. Creativity and enthusiasm for sharing one’s artistic talents with urban youth is favorable. Expressions facilitators make a one-time commitment in the latter part of the fall or spring semester and conduct their program at the William Byrd Community House and Friends Association Family Center.
UR Downtown’s Street Law Program is the result of a partnership between the University’s Bonner Center for Civic Engagement and the T.C. Williams School of Law. For general inquiries about the Street Law Program, contact Miriam Sincell. Undergraduate students who are interested in getting involved in the program should contact the Street Law Program’s undergraduate student coordinator, Tiffany Laney.
Posted September 25, 2008