Youth Leaders Gather at First Teen Advisory Council Meeting of the Year
Prime Time’s Teen Advisory Council is back for another year of creating leadership opportunities for youth in our county.
Led by Anton Spalding, the Professional Development Manager at Prime Time, 15 middle school students from four different afterschool programs were in attendance. They gather together on Zoom the second to last Thursday of every month to discuss leadership opportunities, wellness practices and anything else that may be going on in their personal lives that they would like to share with the group.
The meeting began with introductions and discussions of how everyone’s summer went. This introductory activity warmed up the youth participants to become active members of the discussion as the meeting continued.
Discussion then moved into the leadership roles that are available to them when attending these meetings. Activity Leader, Co-Facilitator and Notetaker are just a few of the roles available to them at these meetings – and entering one of these leadership roles also qualifies them for scholarships and incentives available through Prime Time. The participants were very interested in these positions and taking an active role in their community.
The next activity was focused on mindfulness. A short video was shown to explain the concept of mindfulness and then the activity began. It was a short exercise focused on breathing and how that can affect your body’s stress levels. Every student participated in this activity and then followed up with a discussion on stress and anxiety. Spalding made a point after the members discussed having anxiety in their personal lives that these mindfulness activities learned at the meetings can be used during their regular day anytime they start to feel that stress.
They then broke into smaller groups with a few question prompts so they all could get to know each other better before the end of the first meeting. Four or five youth went into break-out rooms on Zoom that were facilitated by members of the Prime Time team.
After the small groups concluded the meeting began to wrap up. Spalding discussed what some of the topics at the next meeting will be before encouraging them to take the feedback poll. This poll enables the students to already begin to make changes. They can vote on changing the meeting time and if meetings should be in-person or virtual among other options. The meeting concluded with a reflection and discussion of how they felt about the meeting. The Teen Advisory Council has created a space where these youth participants feel comfortable sharing their opinions and personal feelings in a public space without fear of judgement.
The next meeting is scheduled for October 24, 2023, at 4:00 p.m. on Zoom and there’s still space available for the middle-school-aged youth in your program. Click here for more information.
