Today's Messages

On Friday, May 1st, over 500 people (mostly potential college students) attended the annual Youth Voices Conference, sponsored by the Western New York Network of English Teachers, part of the Center for English Teaching at Buffalo State. 

Students in grades 5-12 from across the Buffalo-Niagara region presented the work they have conducted in their English classes over the course of this academic year.  Local teachers, their students, and family members listened to an inspiring keynote address from award winning author Angie Thomas (author of The Hate U Give, and The Come Up, among others). Angie’s keynote was sponsored by Buffalo Public Schools’ Office of Culturally, and Linguistically Responsive Initiatives. After the keynote, attendees disseminated across campus to listen to presentations from local middle and high school students. Students presented on topics related to social justice, identity development, socioeconomics, cultural heritage, and the environment, among others. In addition to traditional research presentations, students shared spoken word poetry, podcasts, digital video stories, musical performances, and other creative work. The conference concluded with a luncheon for participants and attendees. The first Youth Voices Conference took place on April 22nd, 2015 in Ketchum Hall 313. Since then the conference, the only event of its kind in our region, has brought thousands of young people, their families, and their teachers to the Buffalo State campus to hear the inspiring voices of Western New York youth. Students from the following schools presented: Alden Central High School, Amherst Central High School, Buffalo Academy of Science Middle School, Buffalo Public Schools, Charter School for Applied Technologies Middle School, Cheektowaga Central High School, Cleveland Hill High School, Elmwood Village Charter School Days Park, Grand Island High School, Lackawanna High School, Maryvale Middle School, Saint Joseph’s Collegiate Institute, West Seneca West and West Seneca East High School.

Watch this video to learn more about the conference and hear from teachers who have participated in the past. Photos from the 2026 conference are available here.