The Vacant Lot Today and every day across America from coast to coast, from the rural communities, to the suburbs to inner-cities, America’s students will walk and ride past a landscape littered with vacant lots and boarded up storefronts. There is a striking resemblance between the problems these vacant lots represent and the problems facing our students, communities and society. So, rather than talk about what this looks like, let’s jump in and give you a sample.

Today we are going to immerse ourselves in a project that takes a deeper look at problems we face on a daily basis. We will take a look at these problems and discuss the importance of mindset. For the next two minutes I am going to play you a video, looking at the world through the eyes of students just like yourself. As I play the video, I would like you to think about the following questions and be prepared to share your thoughts and ideas with your tablemates. What do you see, hear & feel? What is the problem the video illustrates? Why does this problem exist? Play Vacant Lot Intro Video.

Vacant Lot Intro Video Play Vacant Lot Intro Video 2:54 Located on YE Academy in the YE Core bucket under Transformational Mindset > Vacant Lot – Opportunity Mindset

Project Goal Define the problem. Why does this problem exist? Illustrate a solution that will transform your community by taking responsibility, overcoming barriers, recognizing opportunities and creating value for yourself and others. Your team’s goal: A. Define the problem. What did you see, hear and feel? B. Why does this problem exist? C. Illustrate a solution that will transform your community by overcoming barriers, recognizing opportunities, taking responsibility and creating value for yourself and others. Give student groups 5 minutes to discuss and record on Post-It notes their responses to the first two questions above. Then have groups share out and discuss as a class. Give each group 3 additional minutes to discuss the third question, followed by 8 minutes to illustrate their idea(s) on their vacant lot photo using markers or Sharpies.

Ideate Your team’s goal: A. Define the problem. What did you see, hear and feel? B. Why does this problem exist? C. Illustrate a solution that will transform your community by overcoming barriers, recognizing opportunities, taking responsibility and creating value for yourself and others. Give student groups 5 minutes to discuss and record on Post-It notes their responses to the first two questions above. Then have groups share out and discuss as a class. Give each group 3 additional minutes to discuss the third question, followed by 8 minutes to illustrate their idea(s) on their vacant lot photo using markers or Sharpies. At the end of the 8 minutes groups will have 1-2 minutes to pitch their idea(s).

Ideate Impact It looks like everyone came up with some great ideas. Possibly some ideas that can be further developed later. I am going to play you another short video revisiting the some of the sites and sounds you saw in the video we played previously. As you watch this 1 minute, video I would like you to think about the following question: How important is mindset when viewing a problem? Play Vacant Lot Close video

Vacant Lot Close Video Play Vacant Lot Close :48 Located on YE Academy in the YE Core bucket under Transformational Mindset > Vacant Lot – Opportunity Mindset

Impact - Debrief Allow groups 3 minutes to discuss this video and the question above. Allow groups to share out and have a class discussion on what an opportunity mindset is and its importance. How did this activity transform your mindset? How does YE’s hands-on activities and opportunities model you just experienced help you develop an opportunity mindset? Are we born with an opportunity mindset or can we train ourselves to have an opportunity mindset? To be opportunity obsessed? See additional debrief topics – questions in the Vacant Lot – Opportunity Mindset Activity Guide.

Opportunities