Step Up Event Sparks Discussion Among Teens

Nicole Poltash summarized the need for dialogue among teens, their peers and adults during the Loudoun Youth Initiative's Step Up event yesterday.

"Too often well intentioned adults create programs for youth without including youth," said Poltash, chairman of the Youth Advisory Council and a senior of Broad Run High School.

The initiative was designed to coordinate the county's youth resources and provide a platform for youth to provide input into programming. Step Up event spotlighted youth issues and concerns, with the intent of drawing support from local businesses and community leaders. America Online Vice Chairman Ted Leonsis was one of the speakers.

His advised students to “map out what is important to you. What accomplishments you want at the end of your life. … [It’s] truly remarkable that things you envision when you’re young happen.”

After surviving a plane crash, Leonsis said he made a list of 101 things he wanted to accomplish by the end of his life, including owning a professional sports team and wining an Oscar or an Emmy.

Leonsis later became a partner in the ownership of Washington, DC, sports teams the Wizards, the Capitals and the Mystics. Live 8 on AOL, a multi-feed Webcast of a summer concert series, which AOL produced, won the first Emmy Award for content delivered via the Internet, cellphones, iPods, PDAs and other hand-held devices.

“So, it’s not crazy to sit down and write down life’s aspirations,” Leonsis said.

More than 250 public and private high school students and home school students participated in the third annual event either at AOL's Dulles headquarters or remotely from four schools. This was the first year that students participated off-site.

Motivational speaker Justin Boudreau danced onstage to Michael Jackson’s hit song “The Way You Make Me Feel,” a reenactment of a lip synch contest he entered when he was a high school freshman. Though he didn’t win the contest, he encouraged students to take similar risks.

“You need to believe in your greatness today,” Boudreau said.

George Mason University professors presented initial findings from a community needs assessment that the university performed upon the request of Supervisor Stephen Snow (R-Dulles) and others, said Laurie Dopkins, one of the researchers. David Anderson and she used a random sample telephone survey of middle and high school students and parents to determine what Loudoun residents like about the county and what is missing. The professors also based their findings on focus groups of ninth and eleventh grade students in the county, interviews with community leaders and existing data. Complete findings will be published later this year, but the professors concluded that 10 issues were of particular interest to teens: places to gather, being part of the solution, teens being taken seriously, leadership and life skills, parental awareness, informed decisions and practices, welcoming neighborhood and school environments, respect and recognition, safe and trusted resources, strategic alliances and positive peer and other adult relationships.

After voting on their top five interests-places to gather, being part of the solution, leadership and life skills, respect and recognition and welcoming neighborhood and school environments-teens broke into groups with adult volunteer facilitators to brainstorm short- and long- term action items for this year, next year and four years from now. For one group working to identify ways teens can be more involved in developing solutions, the need to be heard, improved communication among schools, and safe places to hang out were common concerns.

Park View High School junior Freddy Ventura said he would like to see a more proactive and diverse student council. "Student councils don't do anything. They don't actually listen," he said, prompting another student to suggest that council members keep in contact with non-members. Ventura suggested that student councils be more diverse, sparking a discussion as to whether racial quotas were needed. Alyssa Samuel, a Loudoun County High School sophomore, said diversity should be encouraged but that students should serve on student council on a voluntary basis.

Ventura also said the various school councils should meet to be informed of happenings elsewhere and to leverage shared experiences to find solutions.

"A lot of us go to different schools, but [we] have similar issues," he said.

Freedom High School sophomore Liz Spikes suggested that an interschool message board be created for students to list events and express concerns. Loudoun Valley High School junior Amparo Pelton suggested each school have more interactive Web sites, with event listings for all schools.

A long-term suggestion for enabling students to be part of the solution was to give students more time to volunteer by starting and ending the school day earlier. Douglas High School Senior Nicole Soules pointed out that the earlier end time would also enable students to pick up more hours for after-school jobs.

An oft-repeated concern of teens was the need for places to hang out and programming geared for teens.

"Teens usually get involved in destructive behavior [when they're] sitting around bored. Programs fill time so they can't get involved in destructive behavior," said Senior Shannon Walker, a Youth Advisory Council member and day student at Foxcroft School.

Douglass High School Senior Lauren Bucco said teens need safe places to spend time, citing the fear of violence and gang activity in Sterling.

"There's nowhere to go," she said. Bucco said she normally spends free time at the movies or the mall and would like to see a teen club similar for those under 18.

Fellow Douglass senior Soules agreed and said activities need to be local and accessible. "You have to have money to go places," she said.