Youth Engaged in Service

by Nicole Milbradt, Sr. Marketing Associate & Events Manager

What would you do if you wanted to change the world? Our young people have no shortage of ambition when it comes to changing the conditions around them. Thanks to the Youth Engaged in Service (Y.E.S.) program, they also have the tools to make a difference.

Y.E.S. is designed to encourage greater civic engagement and to cultivate a culture of service among youth. It targets 8th and 9th graders, but is open to any high school student interested in participating, in order to give these students the tools and knowledge to make a positive impact during their high school years. It is an innovative service learning program that provides students with the skills and confidence necessary to become active citizens able to make a difference in their school and community.

In the summer of 2009, 33 students from 16 different school participated in day-long sessions and subsequent volunteer projects as part of Youth Engaged in Service (Y.E.S). During this year's sessions, there were two different issue areas students could choose, homelessness and environmental issues. On the days where homelessness was the focus, Deborah Cozzetti from Youth Resources come in to speak with the youth and teach them first hand about the issue as it relates to teens in Pierce County. Some students were so moved to get involved that they independently set up time to speak with Deborah on engaging in community service with Youth Resources.

On the days where environmental issues were the focus, United Way partnered with Cascade Land Conservancy (CLC) who taught students about the mission of CLC and covered some environmental statistics and ideas not typically covered in school.

After their focused sessions, students had the opportunity to get involved and spend some time volunteering.

Attached is a brief video shot on the last 2009 session day where students learned about homelessness. The kids in this video had never met before YES and had spent their morning learning about leadership, United Way of Pierce County and homelessness. Their task was to create a brief informational presentation for the group and were given only 15 minutes to create their skit.