The New Great Depression - Young People and Employment

Today in the Capital, the CT Commission on Children held a forum on the current youth employment crisis that we're facing both nationally and state-wide. Unfortunately, I made it up there late and by the time I got there the room was packed beyond capacity (which in some ways is a good problem to have since this needs to be an all hands on deck initiative) so I did not stay for very long. Fortunately, CT-N was taping the event and it's already available on-line (see above). Additionally, the Commission on Children made the following documents available here: http://www.cga.ct.gov/coc/youth_employment.htm.

I'll try to debrief pieces of this on here sometime in the near future but wanted to get this information out to you all as soon as possible.

Asset Message of the Week

Returning back to work this week after a restful holiday vacation I started to think about connecting this week’s message to New Year’s Eve. The easiest way to do that is around asking folks to spend some time making a resolution that included supporting young people, possibly even making a promise (alla www.assetpromise.org – shameless self promotion, I know!). However, I remembered that was exactly what we did last year and I really want to try not to repeat ourselves just yet.

So thinking a little deeper about it, I asked the question, what if we changed it from asking people to create resolutions supporting young people to asking people to support the resolutions of young people. Some might be very specific like “get better grades” (Asset #21 Achievement Motivation), “get involved in xxxx club/sport/group” (#17 Creative Activities, #18 Youth Programs), or “make better friends” (#15 Positive Peer Influence) or they might be more general like “make 2012 a better year than 2011” (#40 Positive View of Personal Future). Either way, many young people will take the new year as an opportunity to set goals for themselves.

Regardless of what that goal might be they’ll need help to achieve it. It might be that they need help brainstorming and problem solving how they go about it or it could be they need some roll-up-your-sleeves-help. Encouragement and cheerleading are other key factors along the way. However, the all important first step is simply asking a young person what their resolution is in the first place.

So as the first week of the new year nears conclusion, let us just remind you that so many young people still have these wonderfully optimistic goals of how their lives could be better in 2012 and that you can play a huge role in helping them realize it.

Happy New Year! and thanks again for all you do to support our youth.

Best wishes,

Justin

White Out Night 2011

White Out Night 2011, a set on Flickr.

If you see a group of people wandering around Main Street tonight, it most likely will be the Middletown Substance Abuse Prevention Council and students from MHS' Dragons In Action and WWMS' Rams In Action. We may even be joined by some friends from Middnight on Main, since we're asking for people to have a safe New Year and they're providing a great way to have one. Wave, smile, or lend us a friendly honk if you see us.

Above are some pictures of Dragons In Action preparing for the event.

DIA YLS Wrap Party

DIA YLS Wrap Party, a set on Flickr.

Members of our Dragons In Action group met with the Middlesex United Way's Young Leaders Society and Macdonough Elementary staff to help wrap presents for the YLS' first ever toy drive. Over 170 toys were donated and wrapped and sent out throughout the City to three local schools and to Parks and Rec.

Asset Message of the Week - "The Ask"

Some of you know that I’m involved with a “Young Leaders” group based out of the Middlesex United Way. As we were planning a social event for December someone offered the idea of tying it to a toy drive. Since the group has only been around for a handful of months we really tempered our expectations. As it turned out, we shouldn’t have. The event was able to collect around 170 toys and helped a number of local toy distribution efforts achieve their goals while even getting through their waitlists too. What we found is that each person in the group went to their jobs and let others know they were looking for toys and in they came. One member from Wesleyan put together a flyer connected with a day of athletic events on campus and brought in 60 toys just through the university staff and students. Another who works in Bethel, CT, a good 45 minutes away from our community, sent out an email and the next day found toys on her desk when she came into work.


To me, the take away from this is around “the ask”. So much good can be done but sometimes we’re afraid to ask or think that it may be too much work or more often than not we assume people will just say no.

This doesn’t just go for toy drives or even asking adults to participate in something…it also is connected to the way we utilize our young people in a community. Sometimes we take for granted their desire to help others or to be involved, whether it’s something random around the house or in the community. In the six years in this job, I’m continually surprised by how willing our teens are to get involved. Regardless of background or appearance they say yes; some of the kids who I thought were the least likely to participate are the ones that are the most surprised and eager when asked. Even with this toy drive, we held a wrapping party and asked members of our youth leadership group to participate and sure enough we had 10 students there that day with members of the Young Leaders and Macdonough staff. Some of the teens I had expected to be there, but several others I did not and they all had a blast.

With the craziness of the holidays staring us in the face, take a step back and see if you can identify one or two things to include a young person. It might be baking, it might be wrapping, it might be watching the game with you. But the key is “the ask” because we will never know what might happen unless we try.

Have a happy, healthy, and safe holiday weekend.

Thanks for all you do.

Asset Message of the Week - Survey Reflections

Last week, we went through the process of resurveying Middletown youth using the Search Institute’s Profiles of Student Life survey. The administration of the survey which reached out to approximately 2,200 students in grades 7-12 (including Adult Education) went extremely smoothly and a lot of that is due to the work of school system staff and administration. Additionally, feedback we’ve received has been really strong around how seriously the students took filling out the survey. The previous two week’s really have been a whirlwind (see our blog post on all the preparation here: http://middletownyouthservices.blogspot.com/2011/12/week-of-survey-preperation.html)  and we really appreciate all the partnerships needed to pull off all this work.


Now that the smoke has cleared, we really have the opportunity to reflect on how a survey of this nature generates such positive outcomes in our community. This spring will mark the five year anniversary of the release of our initial survey and of the all the work that has gone into building a universal language community-wide around supporting our youth. The data released in 2006 was such an amazing springboard for conversations that took place in all parts of Middletown, from City Hall to schools’ staff meeting and PTAs, from afterschool programs to churches to civic organizations so many people were able to gather together around this framework and what our kids’ were saying about growing up in Middletown. With all the great work that has come from the survey I thought it would be a nice opportunity to briefly celebrate some of the initial key outcomes.

The first is around the use of students in sharing the results in the community. Dr. David Blumenkrantz who has worked with the YSB as a key advisor in this initiative insisted that when the results were released, that they be shown to a group of students even before key stakeholders like the Mayor or Superintendent of Schools got a chance to see it. Furthermore, no one outside of the students would get to see it until the big launch where the students themselves would announce the results along with a national facilitator from the Search Institute. Apparently, we were on of the first communities if not the first in this facilitator’s 30+ year career in this work, to co-present along with teens. What this also did, was set a critical notion that has carried with us throughout the first five years, and that is that teens need to be the driving force behind these discussions. By empowering the students to “own” their data, they were the ones who set the tone for any discussion that was to follow; their priorities would become our priorities.

One of the ways we’ve helped students promote their priorities was through a poster series aimed at increasing the percentage of an individual asset. A total of 30 students had a chance to create an individualized poster which were disseminated throughout the community. The posters can be seen here: http://www.assetpromise.org/uploads/pdf/posters/AssetsPosters_AllSchools.pdf

The final outcome that I wanted to note came directly from a conversation which with then-Mayor Sebastian Giuliano. As highlighted in many of the above posters, one of the most glaring statistics from 2006 was that only 19% of our kids felt valued by the community. As we discussed this figure and asked the questioned how do we improve on it, one of the answers became “we involve them in our community’s decision making process”; and from there the City’s Youth in Government program was born. It became a great example of the intentional and purposeful involvement of teens and of the simplicity of asset building (we’re holding these meetings anyway, why not involve them). Today the program has expanded to include 12 boards/commissions within the city and involves close to 20 young people each year.

In the next week, we’ll be shipping off this latest batch of surveys to be tabulated by the folks at the Search Institute and will be eagerly awaiting the results. A lot can happen in five years and this is a great opportunity for us to revisit what and how we’re doing as a community in supporting our youth. It’s possible some assets will increase while some might need additional improvements but the importance in data like this goes beyond the numbers because it gets us talking about the “whys” and the “hows” that create real community change. I know these next several months will fly by but as the spring approaches, I hope that you will all find the time to take part in the community discussions that will follow the release of the results and in continuing your commitment to support Middletown youth.

Thanks for all you do and have a great weekend.

Black, White, and Grey???

This issue is really interesting to me. I feel like it really speaks to issues around accountability, discretion, and zero tolerance. I encourage you to watch the video above, but here are the basics:

via ESPN.COM: BOSTON -- The 18-year-old senior was racing for a score as time wound down in the game against Blue Hills. Video shows Owens briefly raising his left arm and then lowering it as he approaches the end zone. The penalty nullified the touchdown, and Cathedral lost the game 16-14.

So its easy to understand the "excessive celebration" rule and how and why we would come to play in sports (especially high school atheltics - where sportsmanship can lead to life long lessons). But put into practice at that moment, it just feels wrong. Most can agree there is a difference between that and what Bills wideout Stevie Johnson did a few weeks back when he scored a touchdown the pretended to shoot himself in the leg (ala Plaxico Buress) and then mocked the Jet's own TD celebration. One seemed to be heat of the moment and reactionary while the other seemed to be calculated and choreographed. The rule via zero tolerance applies to both, but feels different when we allow each to be taken for its own merits.

I posted the video on twitter and had a quick back and forth with another follower and we both basically agreed that the rule makes sense but the application was off. But if you sit and think about it, the rule is the rule and was it really mis-applied? Many could argue yes, many no. For me, its really difficult to assess this situation. I enjoy taking real life examples and using them as teachable moments for the kids we work with but I struggle to really figure out what the take away is on this one? Is it that accountability is key and the moment you cross a line, whether its by an inch or by leaps and bounds, you have to be ready to accept the consquences. Or is the notion that there is a difference between intention and outcome and that rules have consequences that may miss the mark if we aren't using discretion and that judgement needs to be situational as much as it needs to be consistent (which is somewhat hypocritical I know).

Do our thoughts on this issue change if this the NFL as opposed to a high school game or that is was the championship or that it was in the forth quarter during the last drive? In the words of a tv commercial from my youth "I don't know, I'm asking". But I am very interested to put this in front of kids to get their opinion. At the very least it will lend itself to an interesting conversation.

A Week of Survey Preperation

Since I've been a little MIA here for the past couple weeks that's usually a good sign that something up (and yes there is). Tomorrow at Middletown High School and throughout the week at Woodrow Wilson Middle School student will be engaging in the Search Institute's Profiles of Student Life which tracks the attitudes and behaviors of a community's teenagers. This is the first time we've resurveyed since 2006 and I can't tell you how excited I am to see what we've accomplished over the last five years. Since this survey is once again the largest survey ever conducted of Middletown kids both in size (160 questions) and scope (all public school kids in Grades 7-12) a lot of work has gone into making sure everything is prepared correctly and that students.

Last week we presented the Developmental Assets framework to the general community at the Middletown Schools Association monthly meeting as well as special presentation to Mayor Drew and members of the Common Council and Board of Education.

 Leah Maille spent time in the WWMS cafeteria asking students to make pledges to take the survey seriously and answer questions honestly. A copy of the pledge is below.

Leah and I then teamed up with Dragons In Action member Leon Chandler to make our first PSA ever. Check it out below.

And between that all we prepared packets so that over 2,000 students have the opportunity to have their voices heard and let us know how we're doing as a community to ensure that all kids will grow up to be healthy and successful. Many thanks to Youth Services Bureau Advisory Board member Vinnie Senatore for volunteering with all us last week and intern Miles Nasta (who broke away from the Youth Yellow Pages project) to help make sure we got the survey items out on time.

Nice Read on Juvenile Justice Reformist

A little over a year ago I posted some information from a fantastic workshop I attended centered around juvenile justice reform. It was facilitated by two sourthern judges from Alabama and Georgia who have done tremendous things around they ways police, schools, and juvenile courts all do their jobs and how they work together. Their progress came from a move away from the "zero tolerance" policies that have a habit of sending more kids to court that there probably should be and more towards graduated responses that more appropriately deal with normative teen behavior in a way that's both developmentally appropriate and situationally based as opposed to one-size-fits-all.

I bring this back up because there was a really nice write up on Judge Teske and his successes in the Washington Post not to long ago. Its a nice read on why this work is so important and some of the struggles associate with making these kinds of reforms. Hope you enjoy.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/judge-steve-teske-seeks-to-keep-kids-with-minor-problems-out-of-court/2011/09/21/gIQA1y8ZsL_story.html

We've done some work directly with them since that intial workshop and look forward to continue to partner with them through the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance as one of the four communities in the state looking to be the early adopters to their work. As Judge Teske has said in the past, court and its resources should be squarely focused on dealing with the "kids who scare us not the ones who annoy us." Additionally, all kids should be allowed to make mistakes without the intervention of police is a really important notion to me. This does not equate to a lack of being held accountable but as a society we've criminalized a lot of things for today's juveniles while past generations were afforded a different set of consequences. From the article above:

Both men (Judge Huf and Judge Teske) admit to their own teenage trouble.

Teske recalls pulling a prank at age 13 that set off his school’s fire alarm. He recalls the mass havoc that ensued. The threat of arrest. The terror he felt.

His principal prevailed in insisting the school system would mete out the punishment. “Would I even be a judge today had I gone to jail that day?” he asks.

To me, that is a really important question. I think with these types of reforms, right or wrong, agree or disagree, we as a community really need to ask ourselves some important questions around the systems we've created to "protect" our youth and evaluate if our goals are being met with the outcomes we've intended.

We're hopeful to faciliate some conversations during the begining of the new year around these types of questions on juvenile justice and later in the spring around some even larger questions based on our new developmental assets data which will be recently released around that time. I really hope you will join us in these conversations as we make Middletown an even better place for kids to grow up.

Join Us!

At the next Middletown Schools Association meeting as we host a conversation on developental assets...

Monday, November 28, 2011
6:30pm
Middletown Youth Services Bureau
372 Hunting Hill Ave

Asset Message of the Week

Hi folks,


When I was researching some topics to write about for this week’s Developmental Asset message of the week, I came across a very interesting program called Bank It. Given that “Black Friday” and the idea of “spending” is becoming a bigger and bigger part of the Thanksgiving weekend holiday this appears to be pretty timely.

Bank It is a collective program of Capitol One and the Search Institute (the founder of Developmental Assets) which works to improve financial literacy of teens and parents using a strengths based approach. The program “affirms that families who talk about financial challenges, values and choices together are stronger and make better choices”.

Some interesting facts that are posted on the site regarding financial literacy and families included:

• The average financial literacy score for high school students is an F
• 24% percent of teens say their parents discuss money management with them
• 75% of adults say it's important for adults to give financial guidance to youth but only 36% do it.

The Bank It site is separated into 3 targeted sections focusing on teens, parents, and workshop leaders. Each of the three sections focuses on their “12 money topics” and aims to teach teens and parents how to make positive money choices; become more comfortable with talking about and managing money; discover how to avoid common money traps; identify steps needed to reach financial goals and find resources to help them do it…..all while embracing the 40 Developmental Assets! If you are a youth worker/educator, you can also find a FREE downloadable curriculum.

You can find Bank It by going to http://www.bankit.com/. Enjoy.

For more information on Developmental Assets please visit http://www.search-institute.org/ and don’t forget go to http://www.assetpromise.org/ and make a promise to support Middletown youth.

Have a great Thanksgiving holiday. I am absolutely thankful to be in the position to give back to this community which has given me so much growing up and to have the support of wonderful people like you.

Best wishes,
Justin

Youth in Government Program

Last night the Mayor and the Common Council swore in a group of Middletown teens to a number of boards and commissions in our community. This marks the fourth year that the City's Youth In Government program has empowered young people to be part of the larger decision making process in Middletown. The program was born out of the developmental assets initiative and more directly from the statistic that only 19% of our youth feel valued by the community. From what we know we are one of a very few programs like this in the state.

Prior to their appointments each student went through an orientation that included expectations, the role of a student representative, information on Roberts Rules of Order, and a discussion on professionalism (including attendance, presentation, communication, and preperation). What we may have forgotten was to let them know that at the end of their appointment oath they can say "I do" (luckily they were bailed out by Mayor Giuliano).

Student Leader of the Year Speech

Middletown Youth Services volunteer and Middletown High Senior Leon Chandler was presented the Connecticut Youth Services Association "Student Leader of the Year" award at their annual conference held at the Aqua Turf on October 7, 2011. Here is his introduction speech and part (apparently we ran out of space on our memory card half way through) of Leon's acceptance speech. We've included the text of his entire speech below because even what we did catch on video isn't easy to hear.

IN THE SUMMER OF 2009, I WAS TWO YEARS INTO HIGH SCHOOL BUT DID NOT HAVE A SINGLE CREDIT TO MY NAME AND WAS GETTING READY TO START THE YEAR AS A FRESHMAN FOR THE THIRD TIME. I WAS SPENDING MY TIME GETTING INTO FIGHTS WITH OTHER KIDS AND DOING OTHER THINGS I KNOW I WAS SUPPOSED TO, .

WHICH INCLUDED BEING ARRESTED. THERE WAS A LOT OF SADDNESS AND ANGER BOTTLED UP IN ME AND AS I COMPARED MYSELF TO OTHER KIDS AND WHAT THEY HAD AND I DIDN'T, I USED THAT FRUSTRATION ON MY TEACHERS OR ANY OTHER ADULT WHO I CAME IN CONTACT WITH. I HAD NO GOALS OR EXPECTATIONS FOR MYSELF AND BECAUSE OF THE WAY I TREATED OTHERS, I THINK THEY THOUGHT THE SAME ABOUT ME AS WELL.

AND WITH THAT SAID, GETTING ARREST WAS THE BEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN TO ME. I KNOW MANY OF YOU OUT THERE ARE A PART OF JUVENILE REVIEW BOARDS, AND BECAUSE THIS WAS MY FIRST OFFENSE I WAS SENT TO THE ONE IN MIDDLETOWN. THE PAPER I HAD TO WRITE AS PART OF MY LIFE SKILLS PROGRAM I WAS REFERED TO, HELPED ME FIGURE OUT WHAT MY GOAL WAS AND HELPED ME GAIN A DIFFERENT OUTLOOK ON LIFE. BUT WHAT REALLY MADE A DIFFERENCE FOR ME WAS WHEN THEY STARTED TO ASK ME TO GIVE PRESENTATIONS WITH THEM.
RIGHT BEFORE MY FIRST PRESENTATION WHICH WAS WITH A GROUP OF TEACHERS DURING A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY I WAS REALLY NERVOUS. I WAS ASKED TO TALK ABOUT WHAT BEING (OR NOT BEING) IN HIGH SCHOOL WAS LIKE FOR ME WHILE MR. CARBONELLA WAS PRESENTING ON THE 40 DEVELOPMENTAL ASSETS. I WAS NERVOUS BECAUSE I REALLY THOUGHT NO ONE WOULD SEE ANY VALUE IN WHAT I HAD TO SAY AND THAT THE TEACHERS WOULD JUST STARE AT ME LOOKING BORED LIKE I USED TO DO TO THEM ALL THE TIME. BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENED AND AS A RESULT I FINALLY SAW SOMETHING IN MYSELF THAT I'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE (AND I EVEN MADE TWO PEOPLE CRY).

I'VE NOW PRESENTED IN FRONT OF HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE, AND SAT AS A PANELIST ON THE STAGE OF THE BUSHNELL NEXT TO MEMBERS OF THE U.S .HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. I'VE ALSO BEEN A MENTOR AT MY OLD MIDDLE SCHOOL, AND ON ADVISORY BOARDS FOR MY YSB AND FOR REPRESENATIVE JOHN LARSON. AND IF ALL GOES THE WAY IT SHOULD, THIS SPRING I WILL HAVE GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL AND HOPEFULLY BE ENROLLED IN A COLLEGE FOR NEXT FALL.

BUT IMAGINE IF I DIDN'T GET ARRESTED.
WHERE WOULD I BE?

WHO WOULD I BE?

WHO WOULD HAVE BELIEVED IN ME, WHEN I DIDN'T BELIEVE IN MYSELF?

PLENTY OF PEOPLE HAD ALWAYS TOLD ME WHAT TO DO, BUT WHO WOULD HAVE SHOWED ME? AND THERE'S A REAL IMPORTANCE IN THAT. BECAUSE KIDS LIKE ME OBVIOUSLY WANT TO SUCCEED BUT WE DON'T ALWAYS KNOW HOW. AND EVERY DAY PEOPLE EITHER BURY US OR BUILD US UP BASED ON THEIR EXPECTIONS. THESE ARE THE SAME EXPECTATIONS THAT YOU GREET KIDS WITH EVERY DAY AND REINFORECE THAT YOU THINK HIGHLY OF US OR YOU DON'T.

TWO YEARS AGO, I WOULD HAVE NEVER SEEN MYSELF UP ON THIS STAGE AND NOT THAT I COULD EVER HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO, BUT THAT I WAS NOT EVEN CAPABLE OF DOING IT IN THIS FIRST PLACE. BUT BECAUSE OF THE YOUTH SERVICES BUREAU I MET PEOPLE WHO SAW SOMETHING IN ME THAT I COULDN'T SEE IN MYSELF. BUT WHY SHOULD WE WAIT FOR SOMEONE TO HIT ROCK BOTTOM BEFORE WE REALIZE THEY NEED HELP. HOW MANY KIDS LIKE ME FALL THROUGH THE CRACKS BECAUSE THERE'S NO STABLE FOUNDATION AT HOME AND NO ONE ELSE REALIZES HOW IMPORTANT JUST ONE CARING ADULT CAN BE IN OUR LIVES. AND THAT ONE ADULT CAN CHANGE HOW WE VIEW OURSELVES AND GIVE US THE OPPORTUNITY TO PUT THAT NEW VISION OF OURSELVES INTO ACTION. SO THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE SOME KID THAT EVERYONE ELSE HAS GIVEN UP TO THE POINT WHERE THEY'RE ABOUT TO GIVE UP ON THEMSELVES, I WANT YOU TO ENVISION THEM UP HERE ON THE STAGE AND HELP THEM BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES IN A WAY THAT I'VE LEARNED TO BELIEVE IN ME.

Halloween Party at I Have a Friend Youth Center

Here are some pictures from Dragons In Action's 4th annual "Haunted Hallway" Halloween Party at the I Have a Friend Youth Center.

"You Might Want to Change the Channel"

Typically, I do not informally "blog" on this site but something from last night is still bugging me a little. After a long day that started early and ended late I went with my girlfriend to grab a bite to eat at a resteraunt downtown. As we sat down I just happened to be sandwhiched by a friend of mine from college at one table and on the other side were two young boys (with their mom of course) who I know from volunteering at Macdonough School. Well, halfway through the meal we noticed that one of the boys was glued to the tv screen watching footage on one of the 24 hour news channels of what appeared to be a lifeless and bloodied Moammar Gadhafi. I was able to find a waitress pretty quickly and we got the channel turned to the (unfortunately Yankee-less) world series and life went on. But it did make me question the need to run footage like that especially given the time of the evening (approximating 8PM). Understanding the significance of the event that just took place, what is the value versus the impact it could have on the countless number of young children who either knowingly or unknowingly were subjected to these pretty gruesome images. Is that even a consideration as a show like this and other news shows are being produced? When we talk about being an asset builder and particuarly an intentional one, it is about being aware of your surroundings and trying to always model the right behavior. That also continue on to mean modeling the right behavior even if you might not think or know a young person is around. Could it have been as simple as someone asking for the channel to be changed just because a child might walk in and see it let alone already be staring at it?

It's really import for communities to do really great and really big things for young people. Funding programs, building schools and the like are huge cornerstones to a community's valuation of children. But we shouldn't discount the small everyday ways we can make a difference. Often in our presentations we talk about the importance of just saying "hi" to a teen if you see them on the street and how just that simple recognition of them can really make an impact. Apparently changing the channel can too... 

This weekend, spend some time be extra mindful of your behavior and surroundings. Try to catching things you are doing or that are happening around you and challenge yourself to be extra vigiliant at being a role model. Maybe you'll catch something, maybe you wont, but you can say you spent the weekend being an asset builder and to me that means a lot.

Thanks for all you do and have a great weekend.

Asset Message of the Week - Reading for Pleasure

Here's Melissa's Asset Message of the Week regarding "Teen Read Week" that she sent via email on Tues. Since the week is basically over, let's just say every week should be "Teen Read Week" right? ;)

As I was trying to decide what to focus on for this week's Developmental Asset Message, an email came through from Ann Buchanan, the wonderful Media Specialist at Middletown High School. The email introduced Teen Read Week, which sounded interesting and I decided to look into it further. Annually, the Young Adult Library Services Association celebrates Teen Read Week during the third week of October. This is a time for parents, educators, librarians, and other caring adults to encourage the youth in their lives to read for fun. As we know from the Developmental Asset survey that was administered in 2006, only 21% of our teens in grades 7-12 stated that they read for pleasure. It is up to us as a community to help improve that statistic. Reading can be fun, relaxing, free and give our kids a safe activity to take part in. Reading for fun can also translate into better performance at school.


Some suggestions for encouraging reading with teens are:

• Visit the public or school library with a teen to attend a program or to check out books.

• Set aside time each night for your family to read.

• Give books or magazine subscriptions to your teen.

• Share your favorite book with a teen.

• Model a love for reading to the teens in your life.

To find out other ways that you can celebrate Teen Read Week in Middletown and also help instill a life long love for reading and learning in youth visit:

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/teenreading/trw/trw2011/home.cfm

The Middletown Substance Abuse Prevention Council is offering mini-grants for prevention and/or youth development programs and events. Each grant may fund an organization up to $1,000 for their efforts to help young people stay away from risky behaviors such as drugs or alcohol. The application can be found on our website and the deadline is November 18th at 4:30pm. If you have any questions please feel free to contact co-chairs Justin Carbonella (860-854-6030 / carbonellaj@mpsct.org) or Felicia Goodwine-Vaughters (860-852-1080 / fvaught@rushford.org).


If anyone is interested in joining the group the next meeting will be on Tuesday, November 29th at 3pm at the Middletown Youth Services offices located on 372 Hunting Hill Ave.

Youth In Government Program Seeking Applications

The Middletown Youth Services Bureau is currently recruiting for the 2011-2012 City of Middletown Youth in Government program. This is a program which gives students the opportunity to sit on various boards and commissions throughout the city (such as the Board of Health and Parks and Recreation Commission). Although these are non-voting seats, the students are encouraged to actively participate in the decision making process and have their voices heard. The students chosen to participate in this program will be sworn in by the Mayor at the November Common Council meeting. We are hoping to have representatives from all our Middletown high schools participate in Youth in Government this year.


On our website you will find a copy of the application (in both word and pdf form), a description of the program, as well information on the participating boards and commissions). Please share these documents with any students who you think are interested in politics and/or making a difference in their community. Please also inform students that the deadline for applications is Friday October 21, 2011 at 3:00 p.m. We will also drop off a packet of information to each high school.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Melissa Robinson or Justin Carbonella at (860) 854-6030 or email Melissa at robinsonm@mpsct.org.

This is an empowering opportunity for students to have their voices heard in the community!!!

Asset Message of the Week

I am dedicating this week's asset message to an amazing young man that I met just over 2 years ago. At the time he was struggling both in and out of school and was headed down a dangerous path. However, over the last few years he has made a commitment to make changes in his life and as a result has made significant growth. Leon has gone from having the potential to be a "statistic" to being a leader amongst his peers. Like most of us, he still needs support in his life and still struggles at times, but I admire the young man that he has become and the barriers he has and continues to cross in his long journey towards success. The Leon I met two years ago was failing every class and missing almost 50% of the school year but the Leon I know now is earning credits and moving closer towards graduation. The Leon I met two years ago would have laughed at me if I asked him to talk in front of an audience of adults or volunteer in his community but the Leon I know today has spoken in front of hundreds of people and has moved people to tears.

His relationship with us took time to develop. When we first met, one of the first things he said to me was “I appreciate you trying to help me but I’ve heard this all 100 times and honestly no one has really helped”. To Leon at the time, there was no value in the adults in the world as he believed they saw no value in him. Like many young people who come from challenging situations his anger was usually directed at anyone and everyone around him. He was guarded and rude and the easiest things to see was his constant scowl and baggy/sagging pants. Over time, we found him to be incredibly articulate, thoughtful, and self-aware; a young man who wanted better for himself but had no idea how to find success within his daily life. As his strengths and talents started to lead the way, many of his problems and deficiencies were corrected on their own. He began to attend school more regularly, earning credits and repairing so many relationships with school staff who once saw him as a nuisance and now see him as an asset.

Well, I am proud to say that this Friday, Leon will be receiving the "Youth Leader of the Year" award at the Connecticut Youth Services Association's Annual Conference. This is the second year in a row that a Middletown teen is receiving this award, which is an amazing accomplishment.

Below is an excerpt of the nomination letter for Leon which was written by the Middletown YSB's director, Justin Carbonella:

"Leon’s defining moment came in June of 2011 when as part of Rep. John Larson’s Congressional Youth Cabinet he was asked to speak at an event held at the Bushnell celebrating the 200th birthday of Harriet Beecher Stowe. As a member of one of three panels that day, he sat alongside many state leaders, including school superintendents, experts on social justice issues and more than ten members of the Congressional Black Caucus who joined us from all over the country (not to mention a US Senator as well as other dignitaries in the crowd). Leon’s presentation on economic injustice was so powerful it was welcomed by the day’s only standing ovation and became without a question the proudest moment I have experienced as Youth Service Bureau director."





As Leon continues to both succeed and struggle as he finds his way, his story is a true testament to the power of Developmental Assets. When we focus on the strengths that youth have rather than their deficiencies we remind young people that they have things to be proud about. And as we look to raise our expectations for ALL of our community’s youth, I assure you that they will rise to the challenge…we’ve seen it time in and time out for so many of the teens we’ve worked with.
As Leon stated at the end of his speech: "you can either invest in my success now or pay for my mistakes later." I say we try for success.

For more information on Developmental Assets, please visit http://www.search-institute.org/ or http://www.assetpromise.org/

NEAT Candidates Forum

This Wednesday, October 5th, NEAT is hosting a Meet the Candidates event at 7 pm at the Green Street Arts Center. This event is open to all Middletown residents and will be an informal way to meet the people running for local office in the November 2011 election (we're almost there!). There is no panel and no speeches, just informal conversations about the issues. Candidates will be wearing name tags that identify them, and NEAT will supply materials that give you biographical info on everyone (with pictures if we can).


This is your chance to be heard! If we don't come out and talk to the candidates they can't know how to represent YOU.

NEAT will supply some "cheat sheets" of questions that you may want to ask candidates...just to get the ball rolling, but bring any questions or concerns that you might have and you'll have a chance to talk one-on-one with any candidate in attendance.

This event is typically well attended by candidates.

Full dinner (not pizza!) will be provided and there will be childcare for the kids. Please spread the word to your distribution lists, if possible.

This event is for anyone who lives in Middletown.

Call with questions 860-456-4845 or email Izzi Greenberg at izzi@neatmiddletown.org