Another option for students and teachers is the Urban Agenda convention.  These conventions give students the opportunity to converge with peers from all over.  Varying views are expressed at these conventions and offer students insight into areas with which they have little experience.  Urban students listen to the concerns of suburban students and suburban students listen to the concerns of urban students.  This requires students to step outside of their comfort zones and address issues that they have not yet pondered.

This process usually takes place within one school, among a variety of classes, or within one region, among a variety of schools.  The important thing in this process is to have students interacting with other students with different experiences.  The convention is more or less a larger agenda building structure in which students decide as a larger group which issues they wish to champion.

After a class or school issues list has been reached through the agenda building process, the next step is to research and prepare the issues for the convention.  Students at convention can present their issues in a variety of media.  Poster presentations, workshops, or information sessions are some of the ways this is completed.  Students can present their opinions and research on issues also through more creative means like songs, plays and movies.  There are many ways to say one thing.

At the convention, students will have a chance to attend various workshops and presentations given by their peers.  This is a way for students to hear other issues and concerns that they may have not thought about.  After they attend these sessions, they break into groups, either by school or at random, in order to vote on which issues they deem important.  The vote determines the agenda for the entire group.  The students can then present this agenda to elected and public officials in order for those issues to be addressed.  Once the student voice is unified, the words that are said gain more credence. 

   

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