Youth leaders rise up during our second annual Leaders In Training Conference!

On Saturday evening, Community Outreach Coordinator Tanyss Knowles, Whitehorse Outreach Coordinator Allison Furniss, BYTE Facilitator Natalie Sands, LIT Coordinator Elias Park, and I collapsed in our seats. Exhausted from a three days of facilitating our second-annual LIT Conference, we could barely raise our heads to talk to each other, but when we did, we could only say thing: “that was so successful!”

 

 

There’s no doubt that this year’s LIT Conference was hard work, but neither is there any doubt that it was incredibly worthwhile. Outstanding youth from Old Crow, Dawson, Haines Junction, Ross River, Faro, and Carcross made the journey into Whitehorse to talk leadership with each other this past weekend. At the beginning of the conference, the group was shy, nervous, and afraid to stand out; at the end of the conference, youth were leading each other through activities and games, contributing ideas, and sharing their experiences.

 

We kicked off the conference on Thursday with icebreakers and games to allow everyone to get to know each other and feel comfortable in the space. Then we opened up conversation to the youth by allowing them to brainstorm qualities of leadership, leadership styles, and whether they considered themselves to be leaders.

 

 

Cody Park, the valedictorian for last year’s First Nations grad, came and talked about his experience as a leader in high school. Cody has been coaching volleyball since grade 10, and he says that he never expected to be a leader and role model, but that realizing that the teams were grateful for his coaching was incredibly rewarding.

 

Brenda Barnes from the Women’s Directorate delivered a talk on gender stereotyping that really seemed to make an impact. Her goal was to dissolve some of the familiar, limiting notions of gender in order to help people become more accepting and open-minded leaders. Then, Hailey Hectman from the Second Opinion Society talked to the youth about healthy mindfulness, active listening, and coping with stress and pressure.

 

With all that in mind, the youth divided into teams and took turns leading the rest of the group through games and activities designed to draw out examples of good leadership. All of them rose to the challenge, and after seeing them change over the past three days, we’re confident that they’ll be able to take the skills and confidence they gained during the conference back to their own communities.

 

 

We’re so thankful to the youth who came out, participated, and stayed engaged the entire time. A huge shout-out also goes to the chaperones for helping the youth get to Whitehorse, and to the donors and sponsors who made this possible. Congratulations to everyone who participated, we hope to see you again next year!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STrNka_JK44&feature=youtu.be