Hundreds visit Buffalo State for annual Youth Voices Conference with award-winning author and keynote speaker Angie Thomas

More than 500 people, including many prospective 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 University on May 1.

Students in grades 5-12 from across the Buffalo-Niagara region presented work they have conducted in their English classes over the course of the 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 speech, attendees disseminated across campus to listen to presentations from local middle and high school students. Over two separate sessions, students presented on topics related to social justice, identity development, socioeconomics, cultural heritage, the environment, and more. 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.

"Youth Voices is the only academic event that we know of-and we have looked-that brings together students from rural, suburban, and urban schools, from public, private, and charter schools, to a college campus to present the work they have engaged in their English classrooms," said Jim Cercone, director of the Center for English Teaching; associate professor and program coordinator for English education; and associate director of the Western New York Network of English Teachers. "The opportunity to listen and interact with peers from different parts of our region who they might not normally interact with is incredibly important, particularly in these challenging times. Youth Voices shines a light on the amazing things young people can accomplish when they work with English teachers who are committed to meaningful, student centered, classroom instruction."

Presenting students hailed from the following schools: 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.

The first Youth Voices Conference took place on April 22, 2015 in Buffalo State's Ketchum Hall. Since then, the conference has brought over thousands of young people, their families, and their teachers to the Buffalo State campus to hear the inspiring voices of Western New York youth.

"Youth Voices has grown over the years because of the efforts of the faculty in the English Education program, and the teachers who have served as officers for the Western New York Network of English Teachers over the past 14 years," Cercone said. "It is testament to the community-based English teacher education program we have built here at Buffalo State."

Watch the video below to learn more about the conference and hear from participating teachers. Photos from the 2026 conference are available here.

Pictured: Angie Thomas.

Photos courtesy of event organizers; video by Ken Giangreco and John Myers.