Building a Stronger Youth Advisory Board

Topic area: Youth as contributors

Cherry Creek School District, Englewood, Colorado -- In the spring of 1999, Brenda Holben, Prevention Coordinator for the Cherry Creek School District and a leader of the "Wrap Your Arms Around Cherry Creek" Assets Initiative, contacted Community Matters seeking some assistance.

In assessing Cherry Creek's asset building initiatives activities, Brenda knew that strong student involvement was critical to the success of their efforts. The Youth Advisory Board (YAB) was the primary youth involvement vehicle. While they numbered about 50, the participation and actions of the youth members were cause for concern. Brenda reported that students seemed unclear of their role and lacked the support to do much more than attend meetings.

After several phone discussions with Community Matters staff it was determined that a one day training of YAB members could address these concerns. The training was held in March of 1999 and attended by nearly 45 youth and more than 12 adults. The focus of the day was threefold:

1. Increase student enthusiasm and commitment to YAB
2. Clarify specific ways that students could participate and demonstrate leadership
3. Strengthen relationships between youth and adults.

The training was very successful and a yielded several outcomes. Most significant was a plan to develop a youth-led community summit: a community-wide gathering that youth would primarily plan and conduct. It was believed that this activity would provide a highly visible and concrete way for YAB members to make their mark and gain valuable skills and experience.

The first ever youth-led summit was held in the spring of 2000 and was highly successful. Students were visible on every front: fund raising for the event; designing the activities for the day; being the event hosts and registrars; leading breakout sessions; and facilitating small group discussions. The event, attended by approximately 100 community members, received strong media coverage and community kudos for the engaging and meaningful way it was conducted.

See: Youth as stakeholders

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