Partnering with youth to explore results for community action change
...by acknowledging their own expertise and priorities. Rarely are adolescent voices incorporated into program and policy development, yet policies in schools, communities, and cities directly or indirectly impact adolescents. YPAR is an opportunity for adolescents to learn and develop skills by completing the research process with a project that is relevant to their lives, school, or community.
On October 8, 2025, students from the Champaign County Youth Employment Services (YES) program presented to the Community Coalition about their summer experience with Youth Participatory Action Research.
They discussed how YPAR fosters youth voice, the particular group's chosen research focus of toxic masculinity, details of their experiences with the YES program and working on campus, and the potential for translating research into action through a Youth Advisory Board.
A recent paper offers a review of existing YPAR curricula to develop the Youth Researcher Empowerment Framework, which includes research components, social emotional competencies, and assumptions necessary for completing a YPAR project that centers youth voice and shared power.
For more information, please see the accompanying press release from the University of Illinois News Bureau.
YPAR to me was more than just four letters and a concept—it was actually happening. YPAR encourages trust and collaboration between generations, whether you’re 50, 15, 24, 14. It allows people of different ages to come together to talk about what they feel is important. And honestly, who’s better to shape the future than the future itself?
– Serenity Cobb, Centennial High School
YES Summer Program Poster Presentation
Kenneth D. Bailey Academy at URS
Pavilion Foundation School at URS
Research Products from YPAR Participants
Video – Top 10 Things Teens Would Like Adults to Know
In this Animaker video, Na'Zarah Walker and Xiyerah Johnson present the top 10 things teens would like adults to know when working with them. Sponsored by Champaign County Youth Employment Services (YES), Walker and Johnson participated in the Family Resiliency Center's Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) program in summer 2025.
Video – Sharing Power Between Youth and Adults
In this Animaker video, Serenity Cobb and Maxxen Wolf present example scenarios comparing two approaches to youth-adult interaction. Sponsored by Champaign County Youth Employment Services (YES), Cobb and Wolf participated in the Family Resiliency Center's Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) program in summer 2025.
Poster – Is There a Connection Between Crime and Poverty?
In this poster, Kenneth D. Bailey Academy (KBDA) students investigate whether people in poverty who commit crimes can turn their lives around and the barriers to those turnarounds. KBDA authors who attended the University of Illinois Undergraduate Research Symposium are Armarni Eaton, Ariel Gosser, Tashonna Jones, Mariya McCullough, Krissa Sims and Cyntavia Suggs.
Poster – The Impact of Public Housing on Mental Health
In this poster, Kenneth D. Bailey Academy (KBDA) students investigated the relationship between public housing and mental health in Vermilion County. The students discovered a lack of awareness in their communities about the definition of mental health and a belief that public housing and mental health are related. Their proposed action plans moving forward are disseminating a rap they recorded, turning their interviews into a podcast and circulating a digital poster. Their work was featured in a Sunday centerpiece in the Commercial-News.
Poster – Relationship Between Violence and Schools
In this poster, Pavilion Foundation School students researched the relationship between school safety and violence, asking what safety measures schools can take to reduce violence. Funded by the City of Champaign, students in this program examined these research questions from different perspectives. They questioned the importance of student discipline policies and practices, the physical infrastructure of Champaign high schools, the influence of community violence, and the impact of racial, ethnic and socioeconomic diversity.