Qualified girls age 15 and up who have attended the Summer Experiential Education Development (SEED) program for at least one year are eligible to participate in the Teen Leadership Program. Workshops in the City and weekends at Camp Oh-Neh-Tah include group sessions on peer pressure, decision making and goal-setting. Teens are given the opportunity to develop leadership and teamwork skills, while receiving increased support and guidance during times of pivotal change (such as applying to college, choosing a career, or dealing with the daily challenges of young adulthood). They also receive training in counseling, leadership, conflict resolution and behavior modeling during the academic year, in preparation for serving all summer, for three years, as peer leaders in the SEED program

Closely supervised, these Teen Leaders will grow and mature by having the opportunity to teach and guide our younger girls. Witnessing this transfer of experience, loyalty, and enthusiasm is effective in two ways. It helps the younger girls develop aspirations by knowing that the strong, capable counselors they wish to emulate participated in the program like themselves. And it helps the teens develop skills, confidence and commitment that will enhance their ability to make the positive choices in their lives to achieve their goals. These lessons will last far beyond the camp and the classroom and will fuel their development in college, in their careers, and in their communities.

Teen Leadership Program 2005 Accomplishments

The first year of the expanded and developed Teen Leadership Program was very successful, with 6 girls participating for the entire six weeks of the SEED Program in summer 2005, assisting SEED staff as well as learning for themselves. For the first time, a teacher was hired to provide specialized literacy (both reading and writing) instruction to the Teen Leaders (TLs). As part of their team-building and confidence-enhancing activities, the TLs also had expanded time in the High Ropes and Low Ropes Program. This was part of the restructuring of the Teen Leadership Program, which in 2005 became a formal three-year program, with the new first year in 2005 focusing on personal growth and development of fundamental leadership skills. Girls learned about following instructions, teaching others, positive risk-taking, going beyond comfort zones, and when and how to ask for help.

The Teen Leadership Program is crucial to ongoing plans to develop a stronger, more developed continuum of engagement for our girls. Over 2005, signs of this potential were evident early as the three programs we run were able to support each other: Girls in our Mentor Program, for example, are developing more quickly the maturity and competency needed to join our Teen Leadership Program. As the growth in mentees helps over time to grow the Teen Leadership Program, this will increase opportunities for peer-to-peer learning and growth, and deepen the mutual connections of both sets of girls to each other, to girls at SEED, and to our organization as a whole.

For 2006, 6 new first-year TLs will join the program at SEED, making 12 total for 2006-07.