The Community Center Content Area
Overview
The Community Center encourages youth to explore leadership and community involvement. This content area is comprised of three units:
Click here for a complete Map of The Community Center.
Purpose
Many youth leave secondary school never having had the chance to develop the skills necessary to be an effective leader. The Community Center provides youth with information about leadership roles and opportunities to gain and practice skills that will serve them throughout their lives. The Community Center also provides information on the benefits of mentoring and on finding or becoming a mentor. Finally, this neighborhood addresses getting involved in the community and how this can build skills useful in applying for postsecondary education and employment.
Youth with disabilities have additional material to engage with in The Community Center. This includes material to help youth learn about their disability and the kinds of support they may need when looking to become actively involved in their community, find a successful adult mentor with a disability, and more.
Youth Outcomes
By reading and completing online activities in The Community Center, youth will achieve the following outcomes:
- Understand the concept of leadership and various ways one can be a leader.
- Become involved in at least one new leadership activity either at school or in the community.
- Understand the benefits of having a mentor and being a mentor.
- Understand the benefits of community involvement.
- Develop goals in the above areas in their Life Map.
See also:
Activities to Assign
In addition to the reading material available in each unit, there are numerous activities you may choose to assign youth. These include questions to consider for discussion or reflection, online and hands-on activities to complete, and other Web sites to explore.
1. Lead a Discussion
When working with youth in this content area, you may want to facilitate a group discussion about the topics explored in each unit. Below we’ve provided sample discussion questions to help youth explore each unit’s topic in more depth. These questions can also be used as writing assignments for youth to reflect on a topic, either confidentially in their Private Journal, or to be shared with you as their Youthhood Guide in their Class Notebook. (Note: You have the option to view and comment on their work in the Class Notebook. See Viewing & Commenting on Entries for more information.)
Discussion Questions for Leading Unit
- Why is it important for businesses and organizations to have good leadership?
- What kind of leadership skills are important to have?
- Are you participating in leadership activities now, like school clubs, the student council, etc? Why or why not?
- What leadership opportunities are available to you in organizations to which you belong?
- What have you learned from exploring different aspects of leadership?
- Did you include leadership goals in your Life Map? Why or why not?
- What is one thing you might do differently in the future after learning about leadership?
- Why is it important to become actively involved in your community?
- Are you currently involved in some way in your local neighborhood or community? Why or why not?
- What opportunities are there for involvement in your school, community, or neighborhood?
Discussion Questions for Mentoring Unit
- Do you know someone who is a mentor or has a mentor? What has their experience been like?
- Do you currently have a mentor? If so, how do they support your goals?
- What have you learned about mentoring and how it can make a difference in your life?
- Have you ever considered being a mentor? Why or why not?
2. Assign a "Youthhood Poll"
The Youthhood homepage has a new poll question every few weeks. Youth must be logged in to vote on a poll. See About the Youthhood Poll for more information.
3. Assign "My Youthhood" Activities
Here at The Youthhood we’ve designed numerous online activities to help youth build a strong foundation of knowledge and to apply the material on the Web site to their own life. These include the Private Journal, Activities Folder, Life Map, and Class Notebook and are part of the "My Youthhood" menu youth see when they log in. See Online Activities for more information.
Click here to Preview Online Activities in The Community Center.
4. Assign Other Web Sites to Explore
There are some terrific Web sites available for youth to learn more about the topics covered in The Youthhood. You may wish to assign youth the task of exploring some of these Web sites.
Click here to Preview Web Sites Linked in The Community Center.
5. Assign Hands-On Activities
In addition to the existing materials on the site, you might create additional real-world, hands-on activities so that youth can see the concepts in action. The following are examples of hands-on activities you might assign youth in The Community Center:
- Consider matching youth who have more leadership experience with those having less and have the youth with less experience interview the youth with more about being a leader. This is the perfect opportunity to create a natural mentoring process to complement this unit.
- Help youth identify their strengths in the area of leadership. What have they already done that may contribute to being an effective leader? Try to help them matching their skills and strengths to an opportunity that will increase the likelihood of enjoyment and success in their endeavors.
Developing a Lesson Plan
We’ve provided some tips on how you might incorporate the interactive features with the content pages and your own supplemental activities to optimize learning for youth. See Developing a Lesson Plan.
Web Resources
Here are additional online resources for you as the Youthhood Guide to learn more about the topics presented within each unit of The Community Center. Titles with "(PDF)" are links to PDF documents, and require Adobe Acrobat Reader (free) to download.
Leading
- National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC) Information on nycl in their mission to develop young leaders, support educators and advance the field of service-learning.
- Youth Development & Leadership (National Center on Secondary Education and Transition) This NCSET Web Topic explores the benefits of youth development and leadership, and how youth can get involved in the many opportunities available to them for developing leadership skills.
- Creating a Culture of High Expectation for All Students (educationworld) Strategies for classroom teachers to create high expectations for their students.
- Youth Development (The Forum for Youth Investment) Resources on how to align research, best practices, professional development, programs, funding, policies, etc. to help young people build the skills, attitudes, knowledge and experience that prepare them for the present and future.
Getting Involved
- Community Services (National Center on Secondary Education and Transition) This NCSET Web Topic explores the factors that make it possible for young adults with disabilities to assume productive roles within their communities and to have a satisfying quality of life (e.g., a stable income, medical and personal care, reliable transportation, recreational options, etc.).
- Youth Development & Leadership (National Center on Secondary Education and Transition) This NCSET Web Topic explores the benefits of youth development and leadership, and how youth can get involved in the many opportunities available to them for developing leadership skills.
- After School Grown Ups (The Forum for Youth Investment) This commentary takes readers on a cross-country tour of after-school innovation – from northern and southern California to Chicago, New York and New Hampshire. In On the Ground we describe two very different school-based models in California. In Research Update we summarize lessons from recent evaluations of After School Matters in Chicago and the OST Initiative in New York City and identify studies to watch for. In Voices from the Field we talk with leaders from New Hampshire where an ambitious high school redesign effort is building upon successful high school after-school programs.
Mentoring
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