(Chelsea Update would like to thank Jesse Kauffman for the information and photos in this story.)
Middle school students participating in the Youth Empowerment Solutions (YES) program at Beach Middle School got a chance to learn about leadership directly from Chelsea leaders.
Ed Toth, chief of Chelsea Police Department, Trinh Pifer, director of the Chelsea Senior Center, and Kelly Chan, director of Development and Marketing at St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea all participated in the special leadership panel discussion.
Leaders from the hospital, senior center, and police department gathered on Nov. 19 to share their experiences, and answer students’ questions about leadership and community improvement.
“Giving back to the community is what makes our community strong,” said Pifer, congratulating the students on caring about their community and being involved in YES.
The Youth Empowerment Solutions (YES) program at Beach Middle School includes a leadership panel discussion, as an opportunity for youth to hear directly from local leaders with experience in community improvement.
Developed by the University of Michigan School of Public Health Prevention Research Center, the YES Program builds teamwork and leadership skills of middle school students, and prepares them to implement their own community improvement projects.
Nineteen students are participating in the YES program this year, with over 100 students participating since it was first implemented in Chelsea in 2009. During four YES workshops, youth meet with Chelsea leaders, tour a community asset, and conduct a “wind-shielding” activity, where they learn how to identify community strengths and liabilities.
Past YES team projects have included: Operation Active, an after-school field day at Beach Middle School; Leap for Faith, a collection of birthday party supplies for families at Faith in Action; Complete Streets, a safe pathways initiative; and Bag n’ Tag, an informational brochure on prescription drug abuse.
This year’s YES program is supported in part by the Chelsea Friends and Family Wellness Coalition. Funds from The 5 Healthy Towns Foundation will be used as the project seed money students can use to make their community improvement projects a reality.
For more information, go to www.srslychelsea.org.
