Teen Impact Committee

Brought to you by: Pathways Saint John

“I became better at understanding what other people are trying to say and helping them find more time to speak. I learned how to stand up and talk out loud, even though I’m nervous sometimes and scared, but I still did it. That was so good for me. I was so proud that I did that.” 

A Pathways Student 
Group of Teens

Program Activity Snapshot:

We formed a Teen Impact Committee and engaged them in the development of food and nutrition activities for their peers in the community: 

  • Youth formed four groups to focus on important areas of nutrition: 
    • Food Security 
    • Healthy Living  
    • Nutrition & Wellness 
    • Mental Health  
  • Youth participated in leadership workshops as part of the committee  
  • We supported students in designing and implementing their activities  
    • One activity was a Meet the Chef night, hosted by youth interested in cooking and nutrition. Students invited their community members to a chef competition, where teams were provided ingredients and cooked meals for a judging panel of their peers.  

Objectives:

  1. Foster youth community engagement  
  2. Amplify youth voice in community issues that they are passionate about 
  3. Create safe spaces that encourage celebration, reflection, and vulnerability 
  4. Increase youth awareness of health and wellness as it relates to nutrition  
  5. Create a supportive network of youth aligned in creating healthier lifestyle choices 

What was the result?

  • Youth developed leadership, team building, collaboration, problem-solving, curriculum development, and food and nutrition education skills   
  • Youth gained experience in building awareness campaigns using a number of different mediums, such as podcasts, videos, blogs 
  • 22 youth delivered 18 projects with 12 community partners, and engaged 136 students across the community  
    • Examples of youth workshops included Health and Hygiene workshops, FAR AWAY Kitchen, and Healthy Movement through Dance and Yoga  

Want to try this out?

What you’ll need:

  1. Staffing Support: Facilitator(s) to help students plan and implement their projects and access community resources (dependent on number of students) 
  2. Duration: One session per week for 20 weeks  
  3. Teaching Aids:    
    • Access to a Makerspace  
    • Access to technology: computers, internet, social media, and Microsoft Suite 
    • Gift cards for participation 

What you’ll do:

  1. Engage a core group of youth to form working groups 
  2. Support each working group in developing and delivering health and nutrition-focused projects in four key areas: 
    • Food security: solutions to address food insecurity problems for youth in the community 
    • Healthy living: create activities and challenges to encourage their peers’ healthy eating and lifestyle habits 
    • Nutrition and wellness: develop and deliver programming that educates youth about the biological requirements of the human body 
    • Mental health: provide education on how preparing food, cooking with others, and the food we eat can impact how we feel