Students want to give peace a chance

AURORA -- On Monday afternoon, three dozen teenagers took a walk.

They marched down Farnsworth Avenue, proudly displaying brightly colored signs with messages like "Choose Your Future," "Get Knowledge or Die Tryin' " and "Stop The Violence." They deftly sidestepped muddy patches of sidewalk as cars and trucks slowed to get a closer look. When they reached the intersection of Farnsworth and Indian Trail, their leaders, Clayton Pryor and Ricky Rodgers, started the group in a chant.

"We want peace," they repeated, waving their candy-hued posters in the air.

The anti-violence rally capped off a youth leadership program that the teens have participated in over the past six weeks. This is the first year that the Quad County Urban League has offered the program, which drew 38 Aurora-based 13- to 15-year-olds.

The young students spent their summer talking about diversity, relationships and social pressures, and their final project was to dream up a "civic activity," organizer Ricky Rodgers said. After tossing a few ideas around, the idea of a rally against gangs and street violence was born.

The teens spent much of the last week creating their signs, adorned with stenciled letters and bold designs. Taylor Carter's sign read "Calm, Cool, and Collected," to remind people that instead of joining a gang, "you should keep your cool," she explained.

The 14-year-old Oswego East student met a lot of new teens through the program, she said, and was already making plans to keep in touch.

"I've got people's numbers; their MySpace," she said.

Back at the Urban League, several teens took their turn at the podium to speak about leadership and ways to stop violence.

"We need young people to stand up and stand out," said Carlise Smith, 15, her huge heart hoop earrings swinging around her face.

"Leadership is getting people to cooperate," said Rodgers' son, Yaakov, who later shared that his own name meant "leader."

"That's why I wanted to talk about it," the 14-year-old said.

As the afternoon ended and the teens swarmed around pizza and pop, Diamante Hughes and Tyler Dixon agreed that their program talks, especially the one about relationships, had been a worthwhile way to spend the summer.

"It was interesting ... very unexpected," said Hughes, 15. "We got really deep into talking ... more than they do at school."

Yaakov Rodgers said that watching his dad and Clayton Pryor teach had been a motivation.

"One day, I want to do the same thing," he said.

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