Tips for Building Assets in Middle Schoolers

What we've done to connect the dots to assets with that age group is this:


1) games and service projects - we use experiential moments, tap into energy and keep them moving and connect activities and experiences to assets through conversations about life. Check out Great Group Games at Search Institute. The book is divided by stages of building a group over time, connects games to each stage, connects games to assets and has going deeper questions to help provide the platform for exploring the assets.


Service - learning provides a great platform for building assets whether you talk about them or not.


2) some of our work in schools has let us connect assets and teachable moments to essential literature and what's going on in the classroom. In Charlotte's Web, for example, we talked about support and the importance of having a network to help you as we created our own web with yarn. We also had a club that worked on their 'math muscles' and at the same time talked a lot about personal power each day.


3) We use the Hidden Treasure of Assets Game (available at Search) to teach youth about the assets directly. That game is a great way to connect between the research and every day real life examples plus it has lots of questions for them to answer out loud about their own lives.


4) As a community, in our Nashville Youth Coalition that Peter Benson helped kick start on the right direction, we've crafted 5 principles of positive youth development that we use as part of our language and vision for what we want youth to experience. Assets fit under each of the principles but it's the principles that we as a community will talk about broadly and then the assets are part of how we get there.


Hope that helps!


Susan Ragsdale


On Thu, Jun 3, 2010 at 6:50 PM, Ellie Fralick wrote:

Hi,

I am a hospital trustee (Thompson Health) in Canandaigua, NY who has an interest in the response from Don MacIntyre, so I look forward to his reply.

Ellie Fralick


On Jun 3, 2010, at 6:13 PM, Keith Pattinson wrote:


Hi Diane

Great question!

Good to hear your Youth to Youth Club are already building assets. It's my experience it's when we successfully engage children and young people in building/enhancing assets in the lives of others that we give them the greatest opportunity to build assets in their own lives. Guess kids are no different from the significant adults in their lives... they achieve their own highest levels of personal development when they're doing something for somebody else.

You'll note I've copied this email to Don MacIntyre, a Jr. & Sr. High school principal in Penticton B.C. Canada who is an asset builder par excellence and has spent years introducing/refining and teaching asset approaches in the lives of students and the educators who influence them. You've now got his email and he's aware of your interest.

Let me know if I can do more.

Keith Pattinson




----- Original Message ----- From: "Diane Jennings"
To:
Cc: "Healthy Communities Healthy Youth"
Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2010 2:25 PM
Subject: HCHY List: Middle school



I was wondering what other Asset building communities do to build assets in their Middle school. Our school district has a Youth to Youth Club that is definitely asset building but don't necessarily promote it as Asset building. They want to incorporate the Asset principles without naming this promotes Asset # 1 etc. Any suggestions on how to promote the assets in subtle way to get parents, students, and the community to begin to see the corroboration between Assets and the Club?

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.


Diane Jennings
Assets,Recreation & Youth Court Coordinator
Town of Wheatland
Office (585)889-1553 x103



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Susan Ragsdale
YMCA Center for Asset Development
www.TheAssetEdge.net
615.262.9676

Want tips and news on positive youth development? Read our blog at www.TheAssetEdge.blogspot.com or Twitter with us at TheAssetEdge. You can also check out our books and workshops at www.TheAssetEdge.net.



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Additional Tip from List Serve
Waupaca Middle School uses community service. I believe their intent is to carry the record of service into high school and build on it.