FARMINGTON – Kyle Sawyer of Livermore Falls said he and others from his middle school would be surveying fellow students to identify after-school programs that will garner the most participation.
“We’re going to start thinking of ways to do a survey to find out what kids want to do after school,” he said standing in the middle of a lively group of teens at Franklin Memorial Hospital on Friday.
Sawyer, a sixth-grader at Livermore Falls Middle School, participated in an all-day leadership youth summit organized by the Healthy Community Coalition at the Farmington hospital Friday. Wearing self-decorated team shirts emblazoned with ASK – After School Kids – and other slogans, he and his friend Fred Horne said they plan to set up a table in their cafeteria to get feedback from other students.
The two enthusiastic boys joined several dozen other middle-schoolers for the summit , which was funded with $100,000 of federal money. The Drug-Free Communities grant enabled students from Rangeley, Phillips, Mt. Blue and Livermore Falls middle schools to participate in the program, which was geared to give them tools for “social marketing” and finding ways to increase after-school program participation.
“The fundamental nugget of truth about this grant is that kids who are occupied after school are less likely to get involved in substance abuse,” Leah Binder, vice president of the coalition said while helping to organize the next activity of the day.
Meanwhile, in nearby conference rooms, youths discussed ideas about marketing healthy behaviors to their peers. The program teaches the teens to use traditional for-profit marketing tools to “sell” such choices.
In one room, Abbie Nixon, editor of the Livermore Falls Advertiser, taught the teens how to work with the media. In a seminar called “Start the Presses,” she projected news photos on a screen, pointing out their strengths and weaknesses to the youths. She also provided them with lists of local newspaper contacts and other media outlets.
In addition to the youth summit, the coalition has provided eight paid advisers in the schools and will be organizing mentoring and job seeking skills programs. This is the fifth year of the federally funded program in the region, but the first time middle school students have participated.
“They’re so enthusiastic and have great ideas,” Binder said.
Wearing an MBMS across her shirt – Making Better Middle Schools, a play on the acronym for Mt. Blue Middle School – Allison Brown, a seventh-grader from Wilton, said she enjoyed the day.
“We’re trying to make our schools a healthier and better place,” she said.
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