Youth Development
Youth development activities empower young people to develop critical thinking, communication, creativity, and collaboration skills as they promote healthy choices.
Recommended Strategies
Partner Organizations Engaging Youth
Music Notes
Music Notes was started by a middle and high school teacher team, specializing in creating original, educational hip-hop songs and guiding students through the song creation process. Their Songwriting Program is designed to empower youth to create and share anti-tobacco messages with their peers. Visit the website for sample videos of anti-tobacco and anti-vape songs performed by Music Notes.
Royer Studios
Royer Studios is an award-winning education and entertainment corporation with over 30 years of technical and creative experience in film, video, and animation production. Royer Studios is committed to youth empowerment through media arts, engaging young people in experiential service-learning projects and programs that involve animation and video production, audio production, and graphic design.
Mikva Challenge
Mikva Challenge created Voice, Power, and Action, a curriculum that aims to develop youth leaders through cultivating activism skills. Mikva Challenge also developed Project Soapbox for leadership skill-building and prompts youth leaders to speak out to their peers and neighborhood leaders on their issues and provide their own vision for community improvement.
Friday Night Live Partnership
The California Friday Night Live Partnership works toward positive and healthy youth development through engaging youth as active leaders and resources in their communities. Their primary goal is to form youth-adult partnerships with young people, to provide programs rich in opportunities and support.
California Youth Advocacy Network
The California Youth Advocacy Network (CYAN) changes the tobacco use culture in California’s schools, colleges and universities, and other youth and young adult communities by providing knowledge, skills, and tools to create local change for healthier communities. They host numerous resources on ways to engage youth, information about training, and their annual youth advocacy conference on their website.
California Decoy Program
The California Decoy Program is based out of The Boys and Girls Clubs of Fresno County. They have regional representatives who recruit students statewide to participate in undercover tobacco attempted buy operations with local, state, and federal law enforcement.
Participants:
- Must be 15-20 years old
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Get paid $25-$50 just for applying and $10 per store
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Receive help obtaining a state ID or Driver's License
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Receive a letter of reference for work or college applications