Parents as Partners in Youth-Adult Partnership Parents and caregivers are young people’s first teachers.  School districts and community based education programs have embraced the idea of Family Engagement in their curriculum selections and facilitation for the very reason that we in Positive Youth Development understand that Youth-Adult Partnership works.  Both guide and support meaningful interactions […]

When the Goal is Hope “It’s never been this bad.” “That’s not the program.  Enrollment will be down.  No one will stay.” “Everyone’s tired.  They can’t create something brand new.” “We don’t have the resources.  We can’t connect.” These are words I hear these days.  But, I don’t hear them from youth.  I hear them […]

Dropping Weight: Redefining Our Goals for Ourselves “Were you an athlete in high school?” someone training at my gym asked me. “No.  I played volleyball, but I don’t know.”  I let my voice trail off into the floor where I was positioned to finish the current exercise.  Though I had played an organized sport, I […]

(Active) Listening Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to participate in conversations with youth ages 9-12 grade.  The themes of the conversations were based on current events and connected to the underlying content of racial equity and social justice.  College aged youth lead these conversations.  What were the adults assigned to do?  To listen.  […]

Distance versus Space In the middle of April, My dad walked into the kitchen while I was pouring my coffee.  “Everybody’s ordering their seeds now.  All backed up.  Never heard of that before.  Glad we got ours already.” I nodded.  Everyone gardening, I considered.  What does that mean? What will that mean?  What will we […]

Debugging In March, I watched a Brown Bag Webinar developed by University of Minnesota Extension and NDSU Extension Centers for Youth Development.  It was entitled, Coding without Computers. I was attracted to the title initially for two reasons. First, “Coding”: whenever possible, I push myself to embrace STEM, because it is not a content area […]

The Ask I can still see the whiteboard in the recently remodeled wing of the high school. Fresh, bright and yet to be frayed blue and purple carpet. My college algebra trig teacher worked his way across the stretch of two panels from left to right. The space filled with numbers and symbols in a […]

Head or Heart Head or Heart?  Both are components of the 4-H Essential Elements:  Belonging, Independence, Generosity and Mastery.  How do you choose when confronted with a challenge?  At the lowest point in my job search after returning from ten years in Guatemala, the most frustrating word I heard was “passion”, a professional buzz word […]