Putting youth front and center

Yada, Yada, Yada!

by Scott Taylor

October 17, 2007 | Sun Journal | Lewiston, Maine

 

Brian Serfes paints the YADA logo onto a window at the Lewiston Public Library. He was commishioned by the newly formed group looking to change LA for the better. Serles has been lauded and chastised by both the community and law enforcement. Visit www.sunjournal.com to hear his and other voices talk about it. Russ Dillingham, Sun Journal

Originally published 10/11/2007

An effort to make local youth a bigger part of life in the Twin Cities will depend on the youth.

"We've known for years about the brain drain of our talented youth moving away as soon as they are able," said Larry Marcoux, director of community impact for the United Way. "They really know what they want, and what we need to make this a better place to live, to work, to play in. They know what they need to stay."

Marcoux and a group of volunteers will kick off an effort later this month aimed at picking those young minds, finding out what they want and making those programs and services happen. Called YADA, for Youth Adults Dialogue Action, it begins Oct. 25 at the Lewiston Library.

Rick Speer, director of the Lewiston Public Library, said the effort began in 2006, when local teens began congregating at the library after school.

"The hubbub could get quite intimidating at times," Speer said. "We found that without more things to do in town, they were using the library as a de facto teen center."

That was fine, but Speer and teen group leaders began meeting in spring 2006 looking for ways to involve teens in downtown life. That effort created some programs, including a spoken poetry program at Bates College and a LA Arts Calendar of youth events, but it pointed out the need to involve youth in creating future programs.

"That's what's different in this process," said Deacon Lasagna, a senior at Edward Little High School and one of 27 trained moderators for the group's meetings. "In most situations, I don't feel like my voice is respected or heard."

The YADA program will be open for everyone, especially at-risk teens who don't normally get involved in community projects. Lasagna said it's especially important to bring them in.

"The kids who volunteer to do school program stuff, they don't tend to be the kinds that need the kind of programs we're thinking about," he said.

They have a lot of work in front of them. They hope to bring in as many as 100 people from the community, adults and youth 14 to 24 years old. That group will break up into several smaller groups, about 10 people each, and meet each Thursday for the next four weeks.

The first meeting is scheduled at 6 p.m. Oct. 25 at the Lewiston Public Library, and others on Nov. 1, 8 and 15.

Marcoux, chairman of the YADA Steering Committee, vowed that the group would be finished by Dec. 6.

"That's a very important part to this, because we need to get this work done while the energy levels and enthusiasm are still high," he said. "Maybe it will just be an outline of a plan, but we will have something to present to the community on that night."

But Marcoux won't guess what that plan will look like.

"We don't want to front-load anything," he said. "We want the 100 people involved in this to design everything that happens."

http://www.sunjournal.com/story/233580-3/LewistonAuburn/Yada_Yada_Yada/

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