Students at East Yancey Middle School have completed two bulletin board displays in their school’s hallway– one to celebrate National School Counselor Appreciation Week, highlighting the skills and knowledge they’ve gained from their school counselor, and another to share drug and alcohol facts and strengths-based suggestions with their peers during National Drug and Alcohol Fact Week. They also visited their younger peers at Micaville Elementary and served as reading buddies after school.
Students at Cane River Middle School learned about the Lock Your Meds campaign and prepared dozens of lockboxes with drug deactivation kits, Lock Your Meds information, PATH’s Mental Health and Substance Use Resource Guide magnets, and other helpful materials. They also designed a sticker to spread hope to their peers. The sticker, with a colorful and playful design, says, “There is hope, even when your brain says there isn’t.”
Students at Mayland Early College High School volunteered in the printmaking studio during Penland Community Day in February, assisting visitors to print Youth to Youth’s poster design on the presses and create their own prints using Legos. They have also been working steadily on their Little Free Library, which is now decorated, sealed, and nearly ready to be installed. Before volunteering at the Neighbors Feeding Neighbors Food Ministry at the end of March, the students hosted a food drive at their school in order to bring a donation with them.
In addition to these community-centered projects, members of Youth to Youth have had opportunities to grow their own skills and nourish themselves personally. In February, Cassie Floan visited each group to teach a hands-on journal-making workshop. Jordan English of Yancey County 4H visited both middle school groups to teach an interactive lesson on stress management and decision-making. On a weekly basis, students in Youth to Youth have opportunities to volunteer for leadership positions, such as discussion leader or chores leader, which allow them to practice leadership skills in a low-risk environment.
Finally, not everything Youth to Youth has done this spring served the purpose of bettering the community or enhancing personal growth. Some of it—thrift-store shopping with the students at Mayland Early College, hiking a nature trail with the students at Cane River, and hosting a spirit week with the students at East Yancey—was just for fun!
