Executive Summary

This project positions 10th graders at School in the Square (S2) as producers of knowledge whose insights can directly improve the educational materials and practices that shape their lives. By shifting the focus of expertise toward students, the program redefines their relationship with school, fostering the academic capacities and scholarly identities essential for their development as thinkers and as engaged citizens.

Through the process of research design, interviewing, transcription, and analysis, students gain transferable skills in critical thinking, writing, and public speaking. This year, they will continue to strengthen these abilities while expanding their scope to include intergenerational oral histories with elders. These interviews will connect personal and community histories to broader social and historical contexts, enabling students to craft evidence-based arguments, provide actionable feedback to educators, researchers, and policymakers, and deepen student understandings of their own communities.

The program’s influence extends beyond individual skill-building. It strengthens the S2 community by creating opportunities for meaningful dialogue among students, families, educators, and community members. The resulting oral histories and analyses will circulate back into the school through presentations to teachers, peers, parents, and public audiences. These events ensure the knowledge produced has an immediate impact on the school’s culture and pedagogy, while also contributing to academic scholarship and policy discussions.

By the end of this second year of Research Methods, students will have:

• Conducted original interviews with both peers and elders.
• Analyzed a combined body of approximately 400 testimonies and 200 surveys.
• Designed and delivered public presentations that influence educators, peers, families, and a broader community of learners.
• Contributed to theUptown Voices oral history archive, building a living record of their generation’s perspectives.

In doing so, they will be better prepared for the academic demands of higher education, model the power of youth scholarship, and help create a more inclusive and responsive educational environment at S2, their communities, and beyond.

Year 1 Achievements (FY25)

Deliverables & Outcomes

• Community Panel on Oral History Work at S2 at Grand Opening of High School: Hosted a dynamic event featuring students and alumni, exposing the S2 community to our work and fostering intergenerational dialogue about youth-led research.
• Schoolwide Oral History Project: 9th graders produced nearly 200 peer interviews, analyzed them with primary/secondary sources, and presented in-class research projects.
• Digital Archive Established: Teacher oral histories and student contributions launched the Uptown Voices permanent collection.
• Scholarly & Conference Engagement: 16 student co-authors submitted an article to Youth & Society; youth researchers presented at OHA 2024; two new student projects accepted to OHA 2025.

Goals and Timeline

• August 21, 2025: Finesurrey will lead a group of student researchers to present the youth researchers’ findings to teachers during teacher orientation and to incoming 9th graders. Youth researchers will also interview S2 teachers for the archive.
• August 27–December 12, 2025: Students will create scripts and consent forms for filmed elder interviews, and design self-administered surveys. Every student will submit one peer interview, one elder interview, and a survey by the end of the semester.
• September 2025: Presentations to 9th graders to model research process and knowledge produced.
• October 2025: Presentation and discussion with parents about the oral history work to foster family engagement.
• October 16–19, 2025: Travel to Atlanta for the Oral History Association (OHA) conference, where students will present findings to academic audiences
• October 2025: Every 10^th grader films an elder interview for inclusion in the Uptown Voices 
• January–February 2026: Finesurrey will analyze data with 10th-grade youth researchers. Students and facilitators will also begin designing the culminating Research Methods experience.
• February 27–June 12, 2026: Students will create formal academic presentations and research papers based on evidence from their collective work, using peer- and elder-collected testimonies as well as relevant secondary sources. Students will also conduct follow-up peer interviews from a script they design.
• June 2026: Culminating experience performance, video screening, and public discussion conducted by Dr. Finesurrey and youth researchers as a major event at S2, inviting students, educators, family members, donors, board members, community members, and interested researchers.
• July 2026:Student intensive workshop at Guttman Community College for 10th graders (and potentially interested 9th graders) focused on producing a co-authored scholarly article.

Research and Academic Outputs

• Public-facing presentations by youth researchers to S2 teachers (August 2025), 9th graders (September 2025), academic audiences at theOral History Association conference (October 2025), parents (November 2025), and a combined audience of students, educators, families, community members, donors, board members, and policymakers (June 2026).Around 200 new interviews – 100 peer interviews and 100 elder interviews.
• Around 200 Surveys – 1 per student each semester.
• Student-designed research projects with formal, in-class presentations demonstrating academic argumentation and evidence use.
• Second co-authored scholarly article focused on intergenerational findings, prepared for submission to a peer-reviewed journal.
• Continued development and expansion of Uptown Voices: The Student-Led Community Oral History Archive at School in the Square, integrating new interviews and public presentation materials.