MYCP - Monroe Youth Challenge Program

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Successful Challenge Day Reunion Hosts 60 youth, 20 adults in Marathon

MARATHON (483 words) – Challenge Day Founder Yvonne St. John- Dutra said on Oprah’s “High School Challenge” show in November, “the problem isn’t a lack of people in school, it’s a lack of connection between them.” Monroe Youth Challenge Program, who plans to host 26 Challenge Days this year in Monroe County, made connecting possible.

More than 60 youth and 20 adults from all three high school communities in Monroe County participated in last month’s Challenge Day Reunion. It was held Friday, February 16 at Switlik School in Marathon after early release.

“The openness and ‘be-the-change’ energy created at Challenge Day is awesome. This reunion gave students the encouragement and support to continue their commitment to be the change they want to see in their schools,” said Monroe Youth Challenge Program (MYCP) Director Sunny Booker. MYCP, a grass-roots, non-profit organization under the Monroe County Education Foundation, hosted the event.

At the Challenge Day Reunion activities similar to those used at Challenge Day were employed for ice-breakers and team building. “My favorite game was the hug tag. We had fun,” said Key West High School Freshman Lindsey Vinson. If asked by a peer why they should consider going to Challenge Day next Fall, Vinson says, “They should go so they can learn about different people – not just the same people they’ve been hanging out with the last six or seven years.”

Two objectives met in the four-hour reunion were for students to plan their own school’s eighth-grade transition program and train to be peer facilitators at them. The transition programs are set for the Spring to benefit 8th grade classes merging into the district’s three high schools. Last year was the inaugural transition program held at Coral Shores with great success according to officials and students. This year marks the time all three schools are considering the educational, high-energy, hands-on program to help students blend from rival middle schools into one cohesive freshman class. In pre-transition program meetings incoming freshman receive a student-led introduction to life in high school both in and after class. Students create and present a Power Point presentation and host question and answer sessions at the middle schools for students to learn about grades, the campus layout, registration, semester requirements, athletics, and extracurricular options.

After last year’s transition program Lisa M. Blakely, the school counselor at Plantation Key School said, “The eighth-grade girls gave overwhelming positive feedback about this experience. They said they felt less nervous and more prepared to ‘cross the street’” into high school.

Monroe Youth Challenge Program is a project of the Monroe County Education Foundation to foster acceptance, respect, and success in the youth of Monroe County. For more information about this project or any other MYCP-sponsored program call MYCP Director Sunny Booker at (305) 293-1400 ext. 53319 www.monroe.k12.fl.us/mycp. For more information about Challenge Day visit www.ChallengeDay.org . To see a preview Oprah’s one-hour “High School Challenge” program, contact Booker.