Dynamic Youth Concepts was designed to help today's youth develop their personal leadership skills.
Leadership is essential in enabling youth to develop character, confidence, and values that promote the goal of healthy behavior. Research shows a majority of American youth engages in health compromising behavior. In her pioneering book, Adolescents at Risk, Joy Dryfoos concludes that half of all ten to seventeen year olds are at high or moderate risk of undermining their chances for a healthy life because of substance abuse, unsafe sex, teen pregnancy, school failure and delinquency, crime, or violence. More importantly, a recent report from the American Medical Association captures the importance of this goal: "For the first time in the history of this country, young people are less healthy and less prepared to take their places in society than their parents. Moreover, this is happening at a time when our society is more complex, more challenging, and more competitive than ever before."
In addition, a recent research report, “Workforce 2020: Work & Workers in the 21st Century”, Carol D'Amico found that employers grouped leadership as one of the essential skills entry-level workers lacked. This group of skills included strong work ethic, problem solving, and creativity, along with organizational and interpersonal skills. These skills were ranked ahead of writing, math, and reading. Educators, parents, government officials, and business people have all realized the importance of helping our youth develop their personal leadership skills. Empowered youth grow up feeling confident with themselves and with their ability to achieve goals.
Dynamic Youth Concepts recognizes the Search Institute's forty developmental assets, experiences, opportunities, and internal capacities essential for health and success in our complex society. Search Institute is an independent, nonprofit, nonsectarian organization located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, whose mission is to advance the well being of adolescents and children by generating knowledge and promoting its application. Search Institute and Dynamic Youth Concepts believe if our society would invest more in positive attributes young people need, then we could expect high yields (in terms of healthier youth) as young people become healthy, contributing members of families, communities, workplaces, and society.
DYC’s program is an innovative and unique inside-out development program that focuses on three critical elements that promote personal leadership, healthy behaviors, and the skills employers identify as essential. These elements are: developing attitudes, developing interpersonal skills, and developing goal-achievement skills. The development process typically begins by developing positive attitudes among the participants about themselves and about the possibilities that exist for them. Attitudes will directly determine in many cases whether a student turns a problem into an opportunity or succumbs to it; whether they behave in healthy ways that benefit from the educational process. Goal achieving and interpersonal skills then enhance their ability to assess the impact of their present behavior on their present and future success.
The program has been field tested in an urban comprehensive high school, a middle school, a non-public special education program, a church youth club, and a community based program for adjudicated youth. Through trial and error, since spring of 1996, invaluable information was gained on how to structure a Youth Leadership Program and what essential ingredients were needed to make it a measurable success.
These necessary ingredients include: relevancy (taken from need analysis), Action Plans (goals based on measurable objectives), reinforcement (the action plan and alumni to share experiences and help overcome obstacles) and most importantly, repetition (consistent, positive reinforcement).
Dynamic Youth Concepts program contains all of these ingredients along with the innovative learning methods of: self directed learning where students take responsibility for their own personal improvement; constructivism, where facilitation recognizes how to shorten the learning curve; and collaborative/team learning activities that support educational research. To conclude, developing personal leadership is a critical component to bringing today's youth into society and the workforce as healthy, productive contributors. Dynamic Youth Concepts proven process instills these behaviors along with an additional return on investment through prevention and reduction of risky behavior.
Outcomes of the pilot programs:
1. 40% grade point increase.
2. 56% reduction in school disciplinary/truancy incidents
3. 75% enrolled in college.
Supporting Facts for implementation of Dynamic Youth Concepts
• U.S. Department of Education
The U.S. Department of Education in their Office of Educational Research and Improvement Fund for Improvement of Education “The Partnerships in Character Education Pilot Project Program” has designated 6 areas of youth leadership development Dynamic Youth Concepts has addressed these areas within the text chapters (TC) and Action Plan (AP) as follows:
• Caring – TC: 1,3,4,9-11; AP: Mental, Social, Home & Family, Ethics & Beliefs
• Civic Virtue and Citizenship – TC: 1-4,7,9-14; AP: Mental, Home & Family, Ethics & Beliefs
• Justice and Fairness – TC: 1-4,6,7,9-11,13,14; AP: Mental, Ethics & Beliefs
• Respect – TC: 1-4,7,9,10,11-14; AP: Mental, Social, Physical, Home & Family, Ethics & Beliefs
• Responsibility – TC: 1-14; AP: Mental, Social, Physical, Home & Family, Ethics & Beliefs
• Trustworthiness – TC: 1-14; AP: Mental, Social, Physical, Home & Family, Ethics & Beliefs
• Workforce Investment Act (WIA)
In conjunction with the Sar Levitan Center for Public Policy Study, the federal government has recognized that short-term training and employment programs have not resulted in long term gains. Therefore, in 2000, the WIA revised its traditional funding of summer programs and instituted a long-term approach with at least a 30% emphasis on out of school youth. These new program elements within Section 129 of WIA also include:
• “(A) Tutoring, study skills training, and instruction, leading to completion of secondary school; …(F) leadership development opportunities, which may include community service and peer-centered activities encouraging responsibility and other positive social behaviors during non-school hours as appropriate; …(H) adult mentoring...or not less than 12 months; …(I) follow-up services for not less than 12 months after the completion.” WIA also supports U.S. Department of Education in providing leadership and citizenship development.
DYC supports the WIA’s focus on balance within each stage of youth development. The entire curriculum focuses on personal leadership with the Action Plan providing opportunities for balanced goal-setting behavior.
• Promising and Effective Practices Network (PEP Net) Criteria
The PEPNet is a project of the National Youth Employment Coalition (NYEC), which identifies and promotes criteria of effective practices in youth employment and development. Some of these practices include: helping young people gain skills and background necessary to make good educational and career decisions; providing opportunities for youth to engage in community service; promoting cultural diversity and awareness; and creating participation opportunities for life skills and interpersonal skills development.
Dynamic Youth Concepts curriculum encompasses these practices. Through the Alumni Association, DYC graduates have additional opportunities to serve their communities by becoming future mentors to new participants.
