NSLC Youth Room is the Gathering Place to Connect, Learn, and Have Fun

Shivani Bhatt, NYLC YAC Member 

The National Youth Leadership Council's Youth Advisory Council
took the 18th Annual National
Service-Learning Conference theme Beyond Borders, Beyond Boundaries to a
new level by reaching out to youths and adults alike through the facilitation
of networking lunches, entertainment nights, and Youth Track workshops occurring
in the Youth Room.

The Youth Room, with its theme of cultures from around the
world and hot air balloons, was primarily organized by the Youth Advisory Council.
In addition to arranging for the bands C-Minus and Performin’ Expedition to
play, members of the youth council also facilitated the ice-breaker activities
at the Youth Room kickoff and the youth networking lunches. Many youths found
the room to have a welcoming atmosphere perfect for youth-networking, which they
say is as important in building connections as networking with adults.

In the Youth Track, a series of eight workshops occurring throughout
the conference, youths had the opportunity to share their roles planning and
implementing service-learning projects. Three workshops: NYLC’s "Youth
Voice"; Jacob High School’s "The Sky is the Limit"; and Mooresville
Consolidated Schools’ "Service-Learning Show" focused on youth
leadership within each service-learning organization and in their communities.
These workshops emphasized the emerging role of youths as advisors, trainers,
and even journalists. After all, who better to teach youths about
service-learning or to write service-learning newsletters directed toward youths
than youths? Additionally, the Go MAD (Make a Difference) "Anywhere in the
World!" and Youth Venture’s "Youth Social Entrepreneurship"
workshops, demonstrated how to create and develop youth-led service-learning
organizations and training workshops.

In other sessions, presenters relayed and demonstrated their
experiences battling global socioeconomic issues on a local level. In the
Making Your Service Dream a Reality workshop, students from Park School of
Maryland talked about their struggles in trying to eliminate substandard
housing in their community. NYLC’s Star Power also discussed the unequal
distribution of wealth by creating an intense simulation in which students were
separated into different classes in society. Finally, the presenters of It
Takes a Village to Support the Elderly used a game and presented their research
findings, which highlighted their efforts to address the hardships that
low-income seniors experience in their community.

Throughout the conference, the Youth Room served as a place
for youths to chill, teach, and be taught by other youths. Whether appealing to
fun or service-learning (or in many cases both), each event reiterated how young
people are the best candidates to lead the world and help solve its problems
because they are already taking on these challenges as educators and leaders.