World Learning, a non-profit with operations in more than 75 countries, designed the national itinerary of this project for individuals who work with and motivate young people to take a more active leadership role in their respective communities. The participants sent to Pensacola included youth counselors and community leaders and explored the benefits of developing youth leadership skills in American civil society. The purpose of the national project was to examine the role of educators and community groups that encourage young people to participate in community-building activities to illustrate the impact of positive and constructive youth-oriented projects.
In order to meet the goals set by the program officers in Washington, D.C., our council reached out to several organizations and relied on the generosity of Charles Howard, a council member who volunteered his time to accompany the group to their appointments. At their first meeting with the Student Government Association (SGA) of Escambia High School, the group met with students, Deputy Mayor Jewel Cannada-Wynn, and SGA Advisor Ms. Maddox to learn about the SGAs leadership activities. The group also received Honorary Citizenship with the City of Pensacola at that time.
They then traveled north to J.M. Tate High School where Terry Colburn arranged for them to make a presentation to an AP Human Geography Class. Next, they had lunch alongside the Tate students, met with school staff to discuss career academies at Tate, and then ended their day with a roundtable discussion with the student council to hear the youths’ perspectives on the career academies and to discuss the impact of student volunteerism in the community.
Afterward, they arrived at the Hawkshaw Memorial in downtown Pensacola to receive an overview of Chain Reaction and to learn about Project GreenShores from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. This was followed by a restoration activity with the teens at Project GreenShores itself. (Thank you, Kate McMath of Chain Reaction and Amy Baldwin Moss of the FDEP for coordinating this with us.)
On their second in town, the group first met with Leanne Todd, president of Junior Achievement. Ms. Todd gave them an overview of the program and then took the group to Pine Forest High School where they were able to observe a Junior Achievement class and to help a bit in the class as well. To understand how youth can have a greater understanding of local government, the group next met with students and adults in Gulf Breeze to talk about the recently established Youth in Government Symposium. (Thank you, Buzz Eddy, for arranging this.) At Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Florida, Krissy Smith introduced the group to kids and their sponsors and led the discussion on the impact of this mentoring program.
A lot was accomplished in a short time, not least of which were dinners held in the homes of Gulf Coast Citizen Diplomacy Council members Rich Holzknecht, Jack and Cookie Kichler, and Jena Melançon. Thank you to everyone, including the dozens of students, who participated in this project.
