What is purpose? Does purpose matter? These guiding questions serve as a preview of the themes covered in the “Purpose Grows Here” workshop. This workshop is intended to offer youth educators the opportunity and space to learn, reflect, share and incorporate purpose-driven work into action.

“We want to empower youth to ask questions about their community,” said Reagan Allvin ‘26, a PRYDE Scholar who facilitated these lessons at New Roots. “Because they are experts in their own experience.”

This leadership transition marks an exciting new chapter for this program, built on a strong foundation in research translation, student development, and partnership innovation.

To start off the semester, it is a tradition for the PRYDE Scholars to take a trip to the New York State Fair along with the PRYDE staff. As a junior PRYDE Scholar, this event was my first time representing Cornell Human Ecology as a PRYDE Scholar.

What shapes a student's journey to college and career? For 16 students from North Rockland High School, that question became the focus of the 2026 Youth Investigators Summit, a two-day hands-on research experience hosted by PRYDE at Cornell University in partnership with the NYS 4-H Career Exploration program.