This school year, members of Appalachian Youth to Youth are learning leadership through service, by volunteering and completing self-directed projects. Participation in Youth to Youth provides students with the skills and experiences needed to become advocates of positive change in their communities, and successful role models to their peers. The program is a unique opportunity for local students to gain leadership skills that will serve them throughout their school careers and for the rest of their lives, all while forming meaningful friendships and having fun!
As a part of the service-learning component of Youth to Youth, student groups at each school voted on community service field trips that matched their volunteering interests. Students from Mayland Early College High School spent time walking eager dogs and playing with cooped-up cats at the Mitchell County Animal Rescue. East Yancey Middle School students provided companionship to lonesome animals, as well as creating treats to provide enrichment for dogs and cats at the Yancey County Humane Society.
Students from Cane River Middle School volunteered at Appalachian Therapeutic Riding Center to help prepare for the organization’s annual barbeque fundraising event. Students eagerly hosed down tables and scrubbed the arena fences to beautify the center’s campus, which serves those with physical and mental health challenges.
Students from PATH’s newest Youth to Youth chapter at Mayland Early College High School are building a Little Free Library to supply free books to Mitchell County children. They plan to host a book drive in collaboration with their school’s Key Club to collect children’s literature to stock their free library. They also plan to include application forms for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, along with stamped and addressed envelopes, so families can easily sign up to receive free children’s books delivered right to their doorsteps.
In collaboration with Penland School of Craft, Youth to Youth students designed a creative poster with a positive message. On Penland Community Day, the students and community attendeess will print hundreds of their poster design using an authentic printing press and distribute them around the community. Other service projects on the horizon include visiting the Yancey Senior Center and serving as “reading buddies” to local elementary school children.
Youth to Youth students also conducted substance use prevention campaigns during Red Ribbon Week. As a part of the campaigns, they read drug and alcohol facts, paired with healthy coping skills and strengths-based suggestions over the morning announcements for the entire week. Additionally, they hosted a school-wide art contest which gave students the opportunity to creatively express their personal reasons for avoiding substances.
Appalachian Youth to Youth after-school programming, fueled by the passion, enthusiasm, and dedication of student members, is currently available in Mitchell and Yancey counties at Mayland Early College High School, East Yancey Middle School, and Cane River Middle School, with plans to expand our reach in 2024.
Youth to Youth is offered free of charge to all participants, with free transportation home available. Program enrollment for the 2023/2024 school year is on a rolling basis, with enrollment for the 2024/2025 school year beginning in August 2024. To enroll, contact Tara Wright at info@pathwnc.org or (828) 672-7899, or ask your school guidance counselor for an enrollment packet.
