Summer staff take up Challenge
Community assets
If you are a young person participating in a summer camp this year in the Greater Moncton Area, or you are a parent who has a child attending a playground activity, then in addition to sunshine and arts and crafts 'campers' will be surrounded by some enthusiastic innovators who are committed to making a difference.
Close to 100 of the leaders organizing the activities this summer have taken up the Asset Challenge.
Summer staff of the municipalities of Dieppe, Moncton and Riverview, as well as the Riverview Boys & Girls Club, the Moncton Boys & Girls Club, and the department of Social Development, have all participated in an intensive and fun workshop called Pass it On!
Organized by the United Way Youth First Committee and held in three locations throughout the month of June, they were supported and/or facilitated by Desirée Beaulieu, Paulette Tingley, Sonya Babineau, Nadine Melanson-LeBlanc, and Paul Toner.
Close to 100participants were introduced to this positive approach to working with all young people. Key learnings included:
* See the strengths in all young people and build them up by focusing on the positive!
* As leaders, their impact is not neutral: they either have a positive or negative influence, so why not be a positive role model!
* All young people need this "good stuff," these common sense building blocks that we call Developmental Assets!
* Relationships are the key: there are no shortcuts to spending time getting to know a person.
* Take action! Put it into practice!
Here are what two participants who attended the Riverview workshop had to say:
"I thought that the workshop was really interesting and got the message across in a fun and interactive way.
"It allowed individuals to explore their own values and discover those of others, while communicating positive ways to embody and pass on many of the 40 Assets.
"Although brief, the workshop gave a great sense of ways to interact with children, youth, and adults so that the 40 Assets can be taught and implemented within summer programming.
"Being given a list of ways to encourage Developmental Assets will be extremely useful in my position as Teen Coordinator.
"Although I incorporate many in a day-to-day basis, I hope to continue on and further explore this highly beneficial way of thinking."
- Christie Fowler, Teen Coordinator, Town of Riverview
"The summer staff here at Riverview Parks and Recreation has had many wonderful training opportunities this year.
"Most recently our staff, along with the summer staff in the greater Moncton community, was able to get a taste of program that focuses on quality assets and building and encouraging these assets among today's youth.
"The workshop, 40 Developmental Assets, taught the importance of internal and external assets in a way that was fun and interactive.
"When working so close with children and youth in our community it is always helpful to learn new ways to create a positive atmosphere and encourage positive attitudes.
"I am excited to use the skills I learned through this program with the teens I will be working with this summer."
- Rebecca Morey, Teen Activity Assistant, Town of Riverview
To help them put it into action, they have taken up the challenge to try and "build assets" in all the young people they work with, both in their jobs and in their personal lives.
Each week this Summer, they will be given some helpful hints and ideas to put it into action, and when they intentionally take positive action or catch a colleague or friend building assets in a young person, they will write it down as part of the "Asset Challenge."
We will check back later in the summer to see how they made out. They are changing the community.
* Paul Toner is the EMY Community Coordinator for the United Way of Greater Moncton and Southeastern NB Region Inc., and a member of the Youth First Committee. Community Assets is a bi-weekly column written by member of the committee.
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