How We Do What We Do
The Young Women’s Studies Club is a collaborative program between the Department of Women’s Studies at San Diego State University and nearby Hoover High School. Professor Susan E. Cayleff, a professor of Women’s Studies at SDSU, acts as the professor-advisor to the Club, while also mentoring a first-year Women’s Studies graduate student, who assists in the role of a graduate student coordinator. Working closely together with the Hoover High School principal and our two Hoover teacher-advisors, Ellen Hohenstein and Sheri Sevenbergen, weekly half-hour Club meetings are planned and coordinated throughout the school year.
At the start of every semester, we also select 14-15 SDSU undergraduate applicants from two Women’s History classes. After they are trained in mentoring and cultural competency, our undergraduate volunteers attend every YWSC meeting in order to build meaningful relationships with their Hoover mentees. Our mentors are given the unique chance to combine academics with activism, as well as the opportunity to receive course credit through community-based service learning.
However, it is the high school student Club members that constitute the largest and most influential part of the YWSC. Our non-hierarchical approach to mentoring—where the high school students’ needs, interests, and desires are at the core of all decision-making and meeting planning—ensures that the Hoover students are always the center of our focus. By consciously encouraging the students’ participation and acknowledging the inherent worth of their opinions and ideas, we believe we can empower our students and support them in accomplishing their dreams.
At the start of every semester, we also select 14-15 SDSU undergraduate applicants from two Women’s History classes. After they are trained in mentoring and cultural competency, our undergraduate volunteers attend every YWSC meeting in order to build meaningful relationships with their Hoover mentees. Our mentors are given the unique chance to combine academics with activism, as well as the opportunity to receive course credit through community-based service learning.
However, it is the high school student Club members that constitute the largest and most influential part of the YWSC. Our non-hierarchical approach to mentoring—where the high school students’ needs, interests, and desires are at the core of all decision-making and meeting planning—ensures that the Hoover students are always the center of our focus. By consciously encouraging the students’ participation and acknowledging the inherent worth of their opinions and ideas, we believe we can empower our students and support them in accomplishing their dreams.
