Youth Empower Alliance Conference Held on June 7th at University Center of McHenry County College
IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Sue Dobbe-Leahy
815-236-2550
YOUTH VOICES – COMMUNITY IMPACT, Youth Empower Alliance Conference
(Woodstock, IL) An educational adventure funded by the Community Foundation for McHenry County cumulated on June 7 when students, educators, and community leaders convened to share achievements by McHenry County students to impact community with their voices and actions at the Youth Empower Alliance (YEA) Conference.
Held at the University Center of McHenry County College, YEA students presented from four municipalities: McHenry, Crystal Lake, Woodstock and Harvard plus countywide representation on substance awareness resources.
Hosted and led by Brenda Napholz, executive director of The BREAK Teen Center, the mission of YEA is to foster empowered McHenry County youth through community collaboration, action and support. At the conference, students presented results and actionable suggestions of their investigation on school zone and crosswalk safety, trusted adults, and substance awareness resources.
Sara Lemke, LCPC, CADC and founder of Revival Therapy in Crystal Lake spoke on "Intentional Communication and the Power of Mindfulness". She taught the audience the importance of understanding the motivation behind their communications, as well as mindfulness and trust techniques to improve conversations with adults. Listening to youth is critically important and the cornerstone of YEA. Young people often see the world differently because they are not yet fully conditioned by established norms and their fresh perspective can challenge outdated norms. When youth are genuinely heard, it nurtures their self-worth and leadership potential. Phrases like: “You matter, and your voice has value” encourage civic engagement and leadership. Promoting intergenerational collaboration builds communities that become more inclusive, resilient and adaptable. Sara’s program included the engaging presence of Chubb the Pug, Lemke’s therapy dog. Including Chubb promoted mindfulness and presence while modeling nonverbal communication -- a very powerful tool in working with youth!
Youth presentations were enhanced by exhibits, videos and photos to demonstrate the passion and commitment to identifying and improving a shared problem in their community. Topics and community supporters:
- Trusted Adults by Crystal Lake – Big Brothers Big Sisters, The Break
- School Zone Safety by Harvard – NAMI, Harvard Diggins Library
- Crosswalk by McHenry – The Break
- Resources by Substance Awareness Coalition – The Break, Live4Lali
- Crosswalks – Take A Walk Through the Problem by Woodstock – Warp Corps, Thresholds, Turning Point
City leaders from McHenry, Crystal Lake, Woodstock, and McHenry County Board were in attendance. Harvard students were unable to attend due to the Harvard Milk Days Festival but sent a video for their segment.
A panel discussion featured speakers Kristin Schmidt: Director of Social Emotional Learning, Crystal Lake Consolidated School District 47, Elissa Crowley: Director of Outreach & Community Engagement, Turning Point, Grace Sterchi, LSW, NAMI McHenry County Board Secretary, Katlyn Speciale: Substance Awareness Coalition YAC, Student – Bradley University, and Harley Windhab : Crystal Lake YAC, Student – Crystal Lake Central High School.
The Youth Empower Alliance plans to continue convening meetings for future youth engagement in these and other communities. Keep up with YEA activities and learn more on the website https://www.clbreak.com/yea. The site is also available in Spanish at https://www.clbreak.com/yea-spanish.