Strategies for Successful Youth Engagement

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Strategies for Successful Youth Engagement

• Cyndi Walter, Project Manager
• Victoria Berends, Marketing Director
• California Project LEAN (Leaders Encouraging
  Activity and Nutrition)

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Food on the Run

• To conduct a high-school based program that
• Prompted high school students to advocate for
  additional healthy food and physical activity
  options in their community.
• Advanced policy and environmental changes that
  promote healthy eating and physical activity
  options in the school and surrounding community.
• Motivated students to eat healthier and engage in
  more physical activity.

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Food on the RunSummary Recommendations

• Low income high school students can be engaged in
  advocacy efforts that have a positive effect on
  policy makers.
• Minimal instruction can lead to significant
  changes in knowledge attitude.
• Behavior change is possible but significant
  environmental change is most likely needed to
  encourage support change.

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Engaging Youth in LWP Implementation

• Developing Implementation Plan
• Helping assess nutrition and physical activity
  priorities for students
• Communication Efforts
• Presenting at school board, parent meetings
• Marketing Campaigns
• Developing promotional materials
• Monitoring, evaluating implementation
• Conducting surveys
• Auditing vending machines

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VIDEO
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Getting Started on Youth Engagement

• Working with Youth
• Personal Readiness
• Recruitment
• Project Development
• Retention
• Celebrating Successes
• Monitoring and Evaluation

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Working with Teens Background

• What makes teens tick today?
• Incentives (money, giveaways, recognition)
• Choice
• Fun/humor
• Peer to peer interaction
• Technology
• 87 of youth ages 12-17 are online
• 57 of youth internet users are content creators
• Music
• A cause-minded generation

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Working with Tweens Background

• Working with Tweens
• Still making decisions with parents must appeal
  to both parents and youth but also want
  independence
• Comfortable with the opposite sex
• Friends very important at this age
• Aspire to be teens
• Want to fit with the crowd
• Entertainment driven
• Technology
• Online (from grade 6-7 see dramatic increase in
  connectivity)
• Music

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Logistics

• Meetings
• Avoid classroom hours, early mornings
• Meet during lunch, provide healthy food
• Provide an orientation
• Establish ground rules, allow time for
  socializing
• Use icebreakers/team building exercises
• Communication
• Email, text messages (meeting reminders, due
  dates)
• Provide your contact information, check-in
  frequently
• Arrange for access to telephones, email,
  computers
• Other
• Incentives/stipends
• Job descriptions
• Business cards
• Fingerprinting, media releases, parent permission

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Assessing Personal Readiness
Not Really Most of the time
I resist the urge to take over.
I am able to listen carefully.
I am able to give positive, constructive feedback.
I trust youth to have the power to make decisions on how a youth program is designed.
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Recruitment

• Recruitment Considerations
• Age of youth
• Diversity
• Skill level required
• Topic(s)
• How will you recruit?
• Peer to peer adult nomination applications
• Marketing Materials
• Highlight the benefits to youth
• Be clear about goals, expectations, time
  commitment
• Ensure marketing materials youth-friendly

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Project Development

• Be ready for the question
• So, what do you want us to do?
• Education
• Issue Identification
• Identify Players
• Action Plan
• Review How You Did

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Education Jump Start Teens

• Lessons Include
• The ABCs of Healthy Eating
• Lets Get Physical
• Teens Making a Difference
• Advertisings Hidden Messages
• Its in the Label -- The Food Label
• Have it Your Way Fast Food
• Eating to Win
• Making News A Primer on the News Media

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Food on the Run Lessons from a Youth Nutrition
and Physical Activity Campaign

• Lessons learned from a high school peer
  leadership model to promote healthy eating
  physical activity
• Recruiting and Working With Teens
• Training Teens on Physical Activity and Nutrition
• Building Group Dynamics
• Generating Nutrition and PA Policy Ideas
• Taking Action for Change
• Sustaining Momentum
• Building Key Relationships

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Project Development Playing the Policy Game

• Toolkit highlights nutrition and physical
  activity policies in the school and community
  that teens can pursue with adult guidance
• Outlines activities that drive the policy change
  process
• Appropriate for use in classrooms, after-school
  or extracurricular activities, and community
  youth clubs
• Each step of the process is described in detail.

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outlines activities that drive the policy change
process
Playing the Policy Game

• Step 1 - Pick a problem and find a solution
• Step 2 - Identify the policy players
• Step 3 - Build your action plan
• Step 4 - Review how you did

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Retention

• Ensure meaningful participation
• Build teamwork
• Avoid boredom
• Get feedback from youth and act on it

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Meaningful Participation

• Assess youth interest
• Why are they there to explore, participate,
  contribute?
• Assess youth skills (dont assume, assist)
• Assess speaking, writing, communication,
  organizational skills
• Provide Training
• Provide opportunities to utilize or build these
  skills

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Meaningful Participation

• Be Respectful of Unique Youth Needs
• Be responsive to youth time horizons
• Clearly define responsibilities and roles
• Clarify expectations
• Set limits and when need to veto decisions,
  clearly communicate why
• Value participation

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Celebrate Successes!
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Additional Resources

• www.CaliforniaProjectLEAN.org
• www.californiacenter.org
• California Center for Civic Participation and
  Youth Development
• www.tgmag.ca/centres/
• The Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement
• www.yli.org
• Youth Leadership Institute