WEB SITE RESOURCE FOR FUN, ENRICHING ACTIVITIES
It is important for young people to be involved in activities out side of school that help them master new skills, connect them with positive adult role models, and provide opportunities to expand their world.

"Research shows that involvement in constrictive, supervised extracurricular activities is associated with reduced likelihood of involvement in risky behaviors such as school failure, drug use and crime. In addition, evidence is emerging that students who participate in such activities are also more likely to engage in other 'thriving behaviors.'" (The 2001 Vermont YOuth Rick Behavior Survey Statewide Report)

Our web site now has over 70 organizations listed that provide activities for youth in Windham County.

Check out http://www.helpempoweryouth.com/ to find a resource that can enhance the life of a child you know.

LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUTH
The Windham County Youth Council (WCYC) is seeking young people to lead their peers, in partnership with adults, to make positive change in their community. WCYC is hiring youth to coordinate Regional Youth Councils in each school district in the county and a young person to become Vice President of WCYC. Attached are job descriptions and applications for both positions. Please pass these applications on to any young person who may be interested. Contact Justin Morris for more information at omies13@hotmail.com or 802-380-3267.

H.E.Y.! ARTICLES IN LOCAL PAPERS
H.E.Y.!, in partnership with the Brattleboro Area Community Team, is publishing monthly articles in local newspapers that focus on the essential building blocks, or assets, that young people need to grow up healthy and successful. This month's article focuses on youth as vital resources in our community.

YOUTH GRANT MONEY TO YOUTH LEAD PROJECTS ACROSS WINDHAM COUNTY

Written by: Cera Catron, senior at Leland & Gray High School

When I ask someone to think of resources, they usually think of trees, oil, and money, but they don’t usually mention the people around them. Even when they do think of people as resources, they tend to think first of adults in positions of power. I understand this - as a youth I had never thought of myself as a resource, and had never looked at the youth around me as resources either. I was not alone. In the Search Institute Survey given over the past 2 years in each of Windham County’s school districts to students ranging from grades 6 through 12, an average of 75% of the respondents did not feel they were a resource or had useful roles in their communities. It seems wrong to me that such a high percent of youth feel unimportant.

However, during the past three years I have learned that the most unexpected people, adults and youth, can be terrific resources. I attribute this new knowledge to my experience on the Youth Initiated Grants Committee, which is a group of youth and adults who manage a $20,000 fund and encourage youth to create proposals for funding projects to improve their community. The source of the funding is Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities, and we are responsible to fund projects that prevent substance abuse and violence. In the last year we funded 31 proposals from all over the county. These proposals were written by youth of all different backgrounds and interests. Our work is under the umbrella of the Windham County Youth Council (WCYC), a work group of the Alliance for Building Community.

I was fifteen years old when I joined the Youth Initiated Grants Committee, and I had never once thought of myself as a resource. My experience in this group changed that. I was given responsibility, and if I didn’t do my job the group would be unable to move forward. This was different from school projects, because the ultimate goal was more than a good grade. Each year I was expected to attend and lead monthly meetings, help develop a Request for Proposals, develop and implement an outreach plan, create a fair structure to review the grants that we received, review the grants, and help decide the best way to use our funding. Now three years later I have gained the skills needed to be on any type of committee: planning, team building, and running meetings. I had also learned how important people, of all ages, are as resources, and the impact they can have on their community.

I find it amazing how many youth have been affected by our committee’s work. There are 16 youth and adults on our committee, representing 5 middle/high schools all over Windham County. In response to our outreach we received 34 grants requests, 31 of which were funded, each grant being written by a young person or a group of young people. The conservative estimate of youth directly affected by the 31 grants we funded this year alone is roughly 1,600 youth across the county. Bellow is a list of the grants we funded:

Brattleboro –BUHS: Jump Off Unit, Civil Rights Project, AWARE-Stop Verbal Violence. Brattleboro community: Keystone-Keystone National Conference, Brattleboro Housing Authority After School Program - Martial Poetry Workshop, Vt. Wilderness School After School Program, Centre Church Youth Group - Youth Room Renewal, Php Teens-Youth Empowerment Project, BAMS- Adventure-based Counseling Program- Snowshoe Grant, Matt Cunningham- Cook-Youth Coordinator.
Townshend –Leland and Gray: Boxing Club, Comedy Connection, Crafts & Chat, Self Defense for Young Women, Project Graduation – Battle of the Bands, Rebels Outreach – Peer Educators, Yoga Class
Wilmington- Twin Valley High School: Skatepark, Outing Club, Canoe Trip to Algonquin Provincial Park, Leadership Project- Lock-In Night, Project Community-Greening Up the School, Project Graduation, Christine Steele-RAW Skateboard Park.
Twin Valley Middle School: VKAT Lock-in, Rock Wall.
Westminster- Compass School: Student Culture Days Planning Committee Culture Days-Witness for Peace.
Dummerston- Middle School: Community Natural Resources Mapping.
Putney- Putney School: Our Future Is Not For Sale: Youth Organize for Global Justice – Conference
Rockingham- Rockingham Free Library: Teen Advisory Council 2005

We have completed our grant cycle for this year, but we will be beginning again in the fall, 2005. For more information please contact Diana Wahle, from Alliance for Building Community, at 1-802-254-9469, or abcwahle@sover.net.