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How We Did It:
YADAPP Project Description -
As primary influences on their peers, high school students have the
capacity to become positive influences and leaders in the ongoing
efforts to prevent violence and the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other
drugs among youth. The YADAPP project is designed to empower Virginia's
youth to assume positive peer leadership roles in their schools and
communities through the implementation of youth-led action plans.
In the summer of 1984, a group of caring individuals asked each other
how Virginia could empower high school students in the ongoing efforts
to prevent substance abuse and violence in schools and communities
across Virginia. As a result, YADAPP was born.
Designed as a youth empowerment project, YADAPP provides high school
students with the motivation and resources to assume positive peer
leadership roles within their schools and communities in order to
develop projects related to the promotion of school safety and the
prevention of drug use among their peers. In order to reach the goals of
this project, YADAPP can be defined by three main activities:
* Summer Leadership Conference
* Regional Leadership Conferences/Trainings
* Year-Round Promotion and Assistance to Youth-Led Projects
Summer Leadership Conference
The most visible aspect of this project is the weeklong leadership
conference held in the summer for approximately 600 high school students
and adults from across the Commonwealth. In the past twenty-one years,
approximately 440 public and private high schools and community
organizations have participated in the YADAPP summer leadership
conference. Participating community organizations have included
community coalitions, parks and recreation offices, community services
boards, offices on youth, and church youth groups, etc ...
Who attends the summer leadership conference?
* Youth interested in making a difference
* Youth from leadership clubs and organizations such as SADD,
YOVASO, SGA, NHS, BETA, etc ...
* Youth involved in community coalitions
* Youth working in the community through MADD, community services
boards, offices on youth, etc ...
* Adults interested in working with a team of students from their
locality
The weeklong conference contains a variety of educational, and
instructional activities for both youth and adult participants. The vast
majority of these activities are youth-led in order to model youth
leadership for participating students and adults. Activities at the
weeklong conference include:
* Motivational general sessions
* Educational free-round workshops
* Experiential learning and teambuilding
* Strategies To Act Now (STAN) planning
Year-Round Promotion and Assistance of Youth-Led Projects
The most visible aspect of this project is the weeklong leadership
conference held in the summer for approximately 600 high school students
and adults from across the Commonwealth. However, another function of
the YADAPP project is to provide technical assistance at the state level
to youth-led projects throughout the school year and between summer
conferences.
This ongoing function is an approach to empower and enable high school
students to create and implement effective STAN plans in their schools
and communities. This aspect of YADAPP seeks to create a clearinghouse
of resources for Virginia youth in their ongoing efforts to prevent
substance abuse and violence among their peers.
Regional Leadership Conferences
In order to reach a greater audience, the YADAPP project helps
localities conduct similar regional youth leadership conferences. For
example, Newport News Public Schools has successfully held a regional
YADAPP for many years. These regional YADAPPs are one-day versions of
the weeklong conference and invite more students from individual
communities to become involved in local initiatives. Similar to the
weeklong conference, students at a regional YADAPP experience engaging
speakers, dynamic workshops, and youth-led activities. In 2004-2005,
YADAPP partnered with the Richmond Drug-Free Alliance to conduct
regional youth leadership conferences in the Richmond Metro area. In
addition, localities in Northern Virginia and Southwest Virginia have
requested assistance for regional events in their areas.
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