Photo by Tim Snow.
Teen-Led Programming in Burlington
A Living Document
Prologue
Our goal with this outline is to draft a value proposition and broad-strokes operating overview for a teen-led cultural center. The language is meant to be plain-spoken, direct, and informed by models and best practices for which references are made. The document references the historic values, model and programming of 242 Main — Burlington’s historic teen-led community and performance space — and other contemporary examples.
The audience for this document is the leadership (mayoral administration, city council, and department heads) of the City of Burlington; future administrators and young leaders of a Burlington-based teen center; and persons generally interested in a plan for teen-led programming. The authors advocate for reinstatement of 242 Main as an inclusive teen-led program, symbolic of the city’s commitment to this age group.
This document was created by Big Heavy World under the direction of James Lockridge. The first draft was by researcher Elias Serulle, a Fellow placed by the U.S. State Department Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI). Additional research by Cooper Young helped reference transcripts from interviews by Bill Simmon for the documentary film, ‘No Stage Diving: The Story of 242 Main.’ Noah Hochfelder and Natalie Charron contributed to editing.
The Digital Media Lab students of educator Jason Raymond at Burlington Technical Center contributed content from peer-to-peer interviews. Their vision and input from their peers about programming, governance and policies is included here and in a special radio program they produced. That educational project was coordinated by Craig Mitchell of Big Heavy World with funding from a 2021 Local Heritage Grant from the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership.
Big Heavy World sends special thanks to Matt Wolf of Vermont Afterschool; Jon Berg and Matt Kimball of The Path for their generous contribution of time and energy with Elias Serulle; and everyone who was interviewed for the 242 Main documentary.
Introduction
242 Main was founded in the 1980s during the time that Bernie Sanders was mayor; he established a youth office and the youth of the city were given the resources and responsibility for a youth-led cultural space. 242 Main brought a community of young adults together where they could fearlessly share what matters and learn to respect each other. It was Burlington's voice for diversity in art and the human experience, fostering social bonds and confidence. It launched many young people on creative paths that led to fulfilling lives. It was an institution led by our city’s youth and nurtured into a national landmark. It has a treasured history of inclusivity and a triumphant legacy of being the nation’s oldest, longest-running all ages punk rock venue.
In 2016 after a long period of neglect by the city government, Memorial Auditorium — home to 242 Main — was closed in disrepair and faced an indefinite future. A petition to restore 242 Main was started at Save242Main.com. It gathered more than 2,200 signatures and 30+ pages of supportive comments. Advocates began encouraging the current mayor to create a public process to determine the future of the building and a community voice grew around this cause. The resulting public meetings and city-wide survey showed that residents of Burlington wanted to repair the building and reinstate youth music and youth-led programming among main programming priorities. The plan for a transparent democratic future for Memorial Auditorium was designed and within it youth-led programming and music would return to the historic 242 Main space.
The document that follows is meant to help civic leaders live up to their responsibility to the young adults of Burlington. It is a starting point for naming the values that are critical to serving teens by giving them ownership of a creative space and its programming; by empowering them to reflect on critical social themes and their intersection with the operation of a facility; by making sure that the roots of civic engagement, creativity, critical thought, social responsibility, compassion, inclusion and equity all grow strong in Burlington.
The document also reflects the needs of modern society to ensure that young people of all backgrounds and interests are served by the city’s democratic investments; that best practices are recognized and that teens are given the equity and trust that will ensure they become more effective participants in their communities. Civic leaders will want to know that their support for teen-led programming is a tested path; this research and evidence will help. A modern vision for inclusive teen-led programming will celebrate Burlington’s diversity and build responsibly from a historic core audience of marginalized youth.
This is a living document that, over time, will reflect growing input by youth and community voices that are supportive of a teen-led cultural space. Thanks for your patience as it improves and emerges. And thank you for valuing Burlington’s teens and their futures; your support of teen-led programming will make those values real in the world.
The Outline
Executive Summary
What is the value of teen-led cultural programming?
Youth Centers, and youth-led programming, provide great benefits to their communities. The Youth Empowerment Conceptual Framework identifies three main levels of impact: the Individual, the Group, and the Community.
What is the value for the individual?
Teen in programs like these enjoy the freedom of not having a strict structure, which in turn allows for creative exploration. There they can test out different interests, try on different hats, so to speak, in figuring themselves out. In these spaces, teens aren’t just attendees, they are essential, and this enables them to care, own the space and what happens in it. And this is not a hypothetical statement. 242 has already been this space for many people in Burlington, evidenced in the interviews for the 242 Main documentary. Martha Pullen understood that personal value that it held, stating how she felt about being considered a “good girl”, and that “there was more to me than that and places like 242 gave me a chance to explore that.” Others, like Chief Brandon del Pozo who didn’t experience it as a youth, was able to see how this benefited the youth he serviced: “It provided a space for them to make music, to be creative, to give them some autonomy over producing something they could be proud of. And that it developed not only their talent for something like music, but their talent for working with other people, collaborating, having patience, seeing a project come to fruition—so, it seemed like a good endeavor.”
“When you’re a kid, you don’t really have much of your own. I mean, school is like an institution where the adults are in charge. And there was obviously an adult in charge at the teen center but there was a lot more room to express yourself. just meet up with people and be a goofy kid maybe experiment with music and art. ” — Reba Porter
And just by being here teens are safer. Youth Centers provide protection from risk factors, in the form of connection, self-control, self-confidence, adult mentors, and relationships. This creates a more positive environment that promotes youth development, personal safety, and decreases risky behaviors like drug abuse. And teen centers provide a space for kids who tend to be a bit shunned from other spaces. Seth Warhol-Streeter felt this growing up, “a place like this really provides a physical location and a community that kids can be welcomed to, which I think is just so important because high school is just such a terrible environment.”
“It 100% saved my life. There were so many paths at different times that I could have taken. I watched my friends get into drugs, I watched just crazy things happen... it gave me something to focus my energy on, y’know, so I didn’t get sucked into those things – and there was a lot of crazy stuff going on around, but I kind of focused on the music, and when I needed to go there and work stuff out, I did” — Mike Halvorsen
“I also like the point where saying that, like when you're in a place where there's nothing to do if you're under the age of 21, that you're more likely to go turn to something else to try to have fun. And I feel like that's a good point. Like there is nothing here in the area for anyone, especially right now for anyone to do if you're under the age of 18 or 21. So like creating a space where substances are not the reason you're having fun and giving people a place to kind of escape from that mindset might actually have something to do with other people who are trying to do the same thing”—Kate Lavanway, BTC Student
Youth that participate in these types of programs experience positive gains in development, such as critical thinking, sociopolitical development, as well as in psychological empowerment.11 In a conversation about what teens learn in spaces like teen centers in contrast to schools, Matt Wolf from Vermont AfterSchool correctly stated that school, with its strict structure, doesn’t do proper social-emotional learning (SEL), which tends to be disregarded or not properly understood in its importance. “That social-emotional learning — learning how to control your emotions, learning how to keep talking calmly, learning how to see your emotions before they bubble up — those are all what we refer to as soft skills in employment. Your ability to deal with the public, your ability to manage your own time and your own emotions. After School programming helps our youth to sort through themselves as individuals and help build those skills that they’re going to need to be employees in the community.”
“It was a safe place. It was okay to experiment with your skills and your talent. It was okay to say, ‘I think I kind of like this music’ or ‘I think I kind of like hanging with this group of people’ ...And that’s such a hard thing for, I think for everybody, it's not just a teen thing, but for many people struggling to find their place in a community having that type of environment where people show empathy, people are self-aware, you're not afraid to fail.” — Jesse Bridges
In 2012, a survey titled “Evaluation of Youth Driven Spaces” measured statistical growth in these soft skills. While this focused on the YDS Framework, a Michigan-based concept of youth-led programming, the results offered provide good evidence of the impact of a similar effort.
Teens that participate in youth centers, as seen, develop and grow a set of soft skills that not only increase how likely they are to find suitable jobs but also improve self-worth and self motivation. And as the relationships between the youth and the adults develop in teen centers, there are more opportunities for apprenticeships, internships, and work-based programs that further increase likelihood of finding jobs and higher quality of jobs at that. For Bobby Hackney, participating in a teen center such as 242 Main impacted him deeply in a professional aspect, as he went on to become a working musician, a graphic designer, and developed skills in money management and event planning. “If it wasn't for 242, I don’t think I’d be doing any of the things that I’m doing now.”
“Tyler asked me if I wanted a position as a sound guy (At 242) because the previous one was leaving. And I had absolutely no experience with live sound. So I was like, ‘Okay sure, just to let you know I don’t really know what I’m doing.’ And he’s like, ‘Perfect, you’re the man for the job.’ ...And ever since then I’ve been working diligently as a sound guy in the community and that’s how I met a lot of really great other local bands that know me now” — Eric Wisowaty
Teen centers also connect low-income and minority youth to these opportunities, a group that tends to have less access. Some, more affluent families, could afford private tutoring for their children, but “where’s the middle ground?” asks Chief Brandon del Pozo. Teen spaces like 242 was and very well could be for the new Burlington Youth, are places where “kids come together” and collaborate, regardless of their financial capacities.
“A lot of my friends really did develop life skills in that place. And you know you gotta figure, these people are essentially running a small business on behalf of the city which kinda only sorta pays attention and really doesn’t supply a ton of resources, you know, sometimes at the tender age of 18. It was really a trial by fire situation I think sometimes” — Casey Rae
What is the Value of Teen Centers for the Group?
As teens work with their group (teens, adults, and “powerful others”) they learn how to accomplish concrete tasks, and they develop an understanding of how to bring about change in their communities. Having access to these relationships and understanding of their capacity to affect society can likely result in higher participation in local government, institutions, and the community down the road.
“It was a room or a space or a community where you realized that you had agency in the world... It was, ‘Here is space that is in the real world. What do you want to do, you want to be in a band, you wanna have a ’zine, you wanna start a club, you wanna book a show? You can actually do that.’ And it’s a real thing.” — Andrew Paley
“I really liked how they talk about it more as like a community, rather than just like a venue, like any of the venues around Burlington right now, I go there for concerts and stuff and it’s really cool, but I don’t really feel like a deep connection with any of them, I think they’re just places I go to see cool bands, and I feel like this was way more than that for everyone that went there.” — Luke Leonard, BTC Student
These groups, as they become better at doing things that produce results, can bring about change that goes beyond them, and the community can embrace these programs and policy change. This implies that youth is positively impacted even if not directly participating in these programs.
“We found there was interest in everything. I mean, we established Kids Day, and it wasn’t just parades and bringing in bands that marched down the street...we also did things where we spoke to every merchant on Church Street and said, ‘We’re going to have Kids Day, it’s going to be April 25 and what we want to do is use your walls and put up kids’ art.’” — Jane Sanders
What is the Value of Teen Centers for the Community?
Understanding youth not solely as receivers of these programs or as a problem to be “fixed”, but as active partners allows them to contribute to their communities. This helps youth become more aware of society and understand how it behaves, which later on translates into a more politically active citizen, more likely to vote and to participate in institutions. And it anchors them to their community, if teens feel like “their community cares about them, If your community gives you a teen center, you feel like your community values you. You also with the teen center have a chance to build community and connection that’s a two-way street.“
“When I first spent time at 242, it was like—it was an all-ages hardcore space, but it was also an after-school hangout drop-in center. It was a place where I debated Richard Snelling when he was Governor at 242 ...Some televised thing where I was debating him about US aid to Nicaragua or El Salvador...Like there were a lot more things happening there than shows” — Selene Colburn
As this happens, and youth become more proactive in the community, and collaborate with other, adult members of their community, like work partnerships, or other ways of impacting the community, adults become more defensive of including youth in what’s happening.. These youth-adult partnerships work well with the youth involved because it does not belittle them. “Youth seldom refuse help if it’s offered the right way.”
“They also understood and carried it with them that you don’t have to just sit around and talk. You do have to have those discussions, engage in dialogue to say, ‘Let’s hone this thinking.’ But then you can do it. You can do anything. And that is something I think all the kids that were in the real trenches at the teen center understood. Because we’d talk about things and then we’d do them. And I didn’t do them. I would say that all the time, ‘I’m not doing it for you. I’ll put you in touch with the right people.’” — Jane Sanders
An added benefit of youth centers is that it allows for a safe space for youth, where working parents without childcare can send them, saving money or ensuring they are not unaccompanied in those times. By providing programming between 3PM to 6PM, when Mom and Dad are working, youth centers help occupy the time where kids “start to get involved in delinquency activities, drugs, or drinking, or any number of things. That 3PM to 6PM is critical for programming for youth, because it’ll keep them out of trouble.”
“Our parents actually thought it was pretty cool, to be honest with you. We never had any sort of issue or our parents weren’t like, ‘What are you doing hanging out at a rock club?’ or ‘What’s going on with all this moshing or this loud music?’ Our parents were actually very supportive of it...it just kept us busy to them.” — Dave Lawrence
Proposed Teen Center Description
The Whole Building Design Guide, the main source for this segment, suggests an ideal distribution as well as guidelines for what a Youth Center might be. These are not strict rules to follow, but may serve to inform three main aspects of the Teen Center: Physical Space, Design & Feel, and Outsourced Opportunities
The Physical Space
The current physical space is an empty cinder block performance hall with a stage, PA system, restroom, and stage lighting, located downtown in the basement of a civic auditorium. Historically the teen center was a program of the City of Burlington Mayor’s Youth Office (a city department).
In its spaces, the Design Guide mentions two that might be deemed the most useful references for our current space:
The Control Desk, which serves as a gateway between the outside and the Youth Center, and also allows for a clear view of the entrance and the main room.
The Commons Room, which is often treated as the heart of a teen center. As our Teen Center has a cultural focus, this would make the commons room not only the “hangout” spot for teens in drop-in moments, but as our theater/concert/speaking events venue.
Having one large room actually serves the interests of the teen center as having many smaller spaces can make supervision and safety difficult. By keeping in mind adaptability, we can ensure this space accommodates diverse activities and uses.
As the building is renovated, the 242 Main venue should be soundproofed to prevent programming “blackout dates” and solutions such as expanded egress should be pursued to restore a larger fire code capacity.
Design & Feel
While the Design Guide offers suggestions to what a Youth Center Space should feel like, it is good to keep in mind that over-planning a space is not recommended. Ownership is very important for youth involvement, so actions that modify that space, like what furniture to bring in, how to paint the walls or decorate, is an easy way to motivate and bring in youth.
We recommend that the space fosters creativity, allowing for spaces and designs that can be updated and modified frequently, and autonomy, by allowing unstructured activity and access to essential services like food and restrooms.
Youth Centers should also feel more homelike than like an office, this can be accomplished by choosing the right furniture (another area of youth involvement) and lighting. Above all, this should be a safe space, from building hazards such lead and toxic materials as well as supervision so no dangerous persons can enter.
Collaboration Opportunities
While some of the spaces and functions of the Design Guide will not be served by the Youth Center, they are still valuable, and it would be interesting to review the possibility of A) expansion and/or B) networking with other available spaces.
Teens looking for an outdoor activity area at the Youth Center might be guided towards a school or a university, and those in need of a computer room might be sent to the Library, which possesses the free public access computer center. Having the Youth Center at the heart of this might allow for better relationships and partnerships that teens, on their own, might not be able to achieve.
Organization and Management
Historically 242 Main had a programming advisory board of volunteer teens contributing concepts and manpower. Part-time paid staff booked musical performances as well. An adult advisory board existed sporadically. City parks department staff had oversight responsibilities.
Teen Centers hang on a delicate balance, where adults are willing to work hand in hand with youth. This implies that for proper youth-led programming to exist, adults must not fall to the extremes of neither letting teens go fully unsupervised and able to do what they please nor being heavy-handed. In other words, ‘‘adult partners must be able to empower without abdicating, support without taking over, and encourage without preaching.” This should not be left only to adults, and as a good rule of thumb, youth should always be included unless there was a clear and present reason not to.
In wanting to include youth, reviewing both the The YDS Formative Index, Youth-Adult Partnership Rubric as well as the VYCA Startup Guide might serve as footing for a deep discussion into the structure of the organization and youth involvement.
A Youth Center would need an organizational structure as well as staffing. The VYCA Startup Guide suggests the following for an Organizational Structure:
An Advisory Committee that decides on common goals and planning, and is composed of stakeholders - people that are involved and care for the teen center in some way - of all sorts.
Community Collaboration: This allows for community opinion about what the center does, but also serves as a way to allow community ownership of the teen center, which is useful in finding its place.
Board of Directors: This becomes the core management group, made up of resourceful, clever people with skills, who are responsible for managing the center and putting what the other two groups envision into action.
In all these groups, youth should be included and empowered. The same guide recommends that from 25% to 50% of the Board seats be given to youth, or an entirely separate Youth Board is made for them. There are many roles youth can assume in management, though these should be agreed upon with the youth.
Essex High School student Isaac Dodge discusses the empowering opportunity a teen-led space has in reinforcing democratic values (in this specific case, having a team of teenagers work together to book a diverse array of artists that would represent various musical styles and identities): “I think a team, kinda like a democratic kinda group would definitely just work better than having one person’s ideas, because it would just appeal to overall more people that way. It would still be within teenagers and that’s the target audience but it wouldn’t just be one teenager.”
Regarding staffing, it can be divided by paid, volunteer, and youth staff. Volunteer staff make the bulk of the staff; youth staff’s role is to make sure this is a teen-led space; and paid staff should be assigned to cover areas where an expertise or skill might be needed.
How much they should be paid, whether youth staff should be paid, and who to hire are decisions to be made later on, though it should be noted that afterschool staff considers these kinds of jobs supplemental or temporary, with a high turnover rate, and the primary factor for leaving the field is pay.
Programming
Programming can have a lot of variety, and should always be in tune with the youth that is involved. Unstructured programming or just “hanging out” becomes essential to a teen center’s identity. A large part of advocating for a teen center is validating that “‘come hang out’ is a legitimate practice. Fun is something that’s good for human development.”
Another way of ensuring not only constant programming, but a programming of value to the youth is to allow for teens themselves to lead content creation for the teen center. Matt Wolf, from Vermont AfterSchool, correctly stated that “center is an opportunity to give youth leadership roles in something they care about. You have the opportunity to invite this youth into the design of something they care about.” Aiming for a programming that is imposed works against the youth and against the nature of the center. Wolf also said in our interview that “if you try to control the youth, they fight back […] , if you’re empowering your youth to take a leadership role in their community and giving them a budget to work with, and say go forth and do things in your community, that you actually get more buy-in, and more connection and more work with youth than if you try to control them and make them do the things you want to do.”
Brian LaClair adds to this same message of constant youth participation in the creation of not only the teen center’s programming, listening to what the youth wants and then working to create that in the best way possible, but he also emphasizes that “I think that it’s going to take a lot of, like I said, I’m going to keep saying it, a lot of listening to what youth want and making sure that it’s truly special.”
Independent Programming
Live music
Live music is a staple of 242 Main, and what made it a historic site. Not only because of the big bands that managed to perform here, but also for those Burlington and Vermont upcomers, who got their start at this stage. Like Mike Gatti acknowledges, “If 242 hadn’t been there, I can’t imagine the number of bands that just wouldn’t have existed in the Burlington scene.”
Advocacy and merchandise tabling
Film nights
Band rehearsals
Multicultural Programming
Considering Burlington’s growth with new Americans, a multicultural programming that involved food, music, or both, could help foster community involvement and understanding.
Collaborative Programming (with suggested community partners)
Spoken Word (Young Writers Project)
Afterschool drop-in (Boys & Girls Club)
Citywide festivals (Discover Jazz; Feast of Fools; Highlight)
Band Camp (Girls Rock Vermont)
Journalism and broadcasting (Big Heavy World)
National music acts (Higher Ground)
Comedy (Vermont Comedy Club)
Music Producer Workshops (Burlington Technical Center)
Historic programming
Art classes
Political debates
Snack bar
Lunch distribution
’Zine publishing’
Band Camp
Movie nights
Snack bar
Pool table
Band practice space
Outreach and Marketing
One of the best ways youth will end up coming to the center is by allowing youth to “sell it.” Allowing youth to participate, make choices, and see their ideas come to fruition is not only essential to day-to-day running of the teen center, but empower youth to be motivated to bring in other youth.
Mt. Mansfield Union High School student Cormac Abbey notes how the multi-use nature of the teen center is inspiring to him: “But yeah, in general, I personally have really big ideas for this because I want it to be more than just like a performance space... I'm assuming we'll create like, some schedule, obviously… I want there to be times where people or kids can reach out and be like, “Can I use this space this day for this thing, you know, from this time to this time?””
Abbey continues, “I just think [a teen center would] be such a good resource for just general youth, [for] community projects and people who just want to use the space... it can be more than just a stage and an audience, you know; we can bring tables in there and be like, ‘oh, you know, arts and crafts day!’ or something of that sort.”
Community calendars in press.
Social media
Website
Press releases to Vermont media
Audio PSAs to local broadcasters
Guest appearances on local talk and news shows
News column for local community newspaper
Radio program on local LPFM radio station
Posters in public and high schools
Chalk sidewalks
City and neighborhood email newsletters (CEDO, NPAs, FPF)
High school morning announcements
High school newspapers
High school parent newsletters
Startup Expenses and Capitalization
(Note: Big Heavy World purchased a large PA system to help seed programming at a restored teen center program.)
Whilst counting on state support for funding is promising, long-term sustainability is very important. Some of the best ways to support a teen center rely on the community itself. Donations or fundraising, which according to Matt Wolf is how Neutral Zone makes the bulk of its budget, are very valuable. Raising funds this way also empowers teens as they are actively working for this.
Financial Plan
There should be a firm expectation for annual City support, coinciding with reinforcement of the mandate for inclusion of all youth. No youth should be turned away at the door for want of funds.
Potential grant funding categories that have been accessed successfully for youth programs in Vermont:
Youth development
Workforce development
Arts & Culture
Education
Justice
Placemaking
Equity
Health & Prevention
Civic Engagement
Independent Media
Cultural Facilities (Capital and operations)
Out-of-school time programming
City department (general & capital funds; Pennies for Parks; Percent for Public Art)
Post-pandemic recovery
242 Main avoided direct commercial sponsorships, per its institutional culture.
Policies
Equity and Inclusion
One of the main draws of teen centers like 242 Main is how they manage to create a safe space where everybody’s welcome, despite their differences. Bobby Hackney had a unique point of view, as one of the few Black teens growing up in a predominantly white city like Burlington. “...at 242, everybody felt like they had issues with society or the outside world and when they were all in that room together, everybody could see each other and we still noticed each other’s differences—like you don’t have to ignore your differences, but we all felt like we were in it together and we’re all kinda the same. For a couple hours, we can forget about everything outside and just hang out and listen to some punk music and be weirdos. It was a great feeling.”
“I think it's just really important to make, like we were talking about earlier, make it very, very clear from the beginning to everyone that no matter what you’re like, even if you are questioning or if you are out or if you're straight or anything, like no matter where you fall or if you're not sure where you fall, that no matter what, it's a safe place.” -Kate Lavanway
Harassment
Teen Centers also become a place where not only anti-harassment policies can be implemented, but also learned about and adopted. Andrew Paley learned about a lot of progressive politics and mindsets that shaped him into the adult that he is now and Bobby Hackney not only learned and was exposed to vegetarianism, veganism, feminism, but also participated in anti-racist action.
Governance
Transparency
Public Input
Programming
Notes\Safety, inclusion, and norms should be discussed with all stakeholders, including community and youth representation. This might also be served by collaboration with other institutions and people with expertise, such as The Neutral Zone, Vermont Afterschool, and author/advocate Shawna Potter.
As a lot of the supervision and implementation of behavior in the Teen Center would fall to the youth themselves, so it is essential that they are included. As the VYCA Startup Guide correctly states, a proper way to establish agreed-upon terms is to explore them in the form of questions, such as “What does safe, discrimination-free, or substance-free mean?”
In establishing these rules, having a structure allows for a deep discussion with the youth, where they understand what the hard stops are. Bringing them in, and asking them what the logical consequence for an action should be, allows them to design the rules and policy. This in turn enables them to enforce these rules themselves.
Appendices & Exhibits
North American teen centers (linked)
Jamestown Teen Center (Jamestown, Rhode Island, USA)
Has a very robust ruleset that might provide a starting skeleton structure for 242, to be discussed and agreed upon with the Youth
Neutral Zone (Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA)
It is one of the most fundamental models to follow for teen center operations within the United States.
Has created a series of documents that will help shape the 242 mission.
European teen centers (linked)
FreiLand (Potsdam, Germany)
An interesting teen-focused project with a strong view of collaboration, integration, and democratical behaviour.
As most of FreiLand’s information is in german, this article helps as a light summary of their activities. This German youth center helps refugees connect and create. We have reached out for further information on their programming.
Samfés (Reykjavík, Iceland)
A network of teen centers throughout Iceland that coordinates large-scale action as well as getting involved in specific teen projects
The National Youth Council of Iceland (Reykjavík, Iceland)
While not a Teen Center, and very aspirational for USA possibilities, it serves as an empowered council of young men and women that advocates and acts for youth.
SALTO-YOUTH (Various European Countries)
The mandate of the Thematic SALTO Youth Resource Centers
European Network of Youth Centres
International Youth Centre (based in Bulgaria)
http://enyc.eu/index.php/2019/08/27/about-international-youth-center/
“Non-profit made by and for young people”
Works in conjunction with Erasmus+, resources from 15 countries listed on website
STATUTES
Referenced Documents
Benefits and Challenges in Building a Community Youth Development Coalition - November 2010: (Importance and Effect of Teen Centers)
As the title states, it describes the benefits and challenges at establishing a youth coalition. While not exactly a “DIY for Youth Centers”, Youth Centers might serve as a focal point for said coalitions, which greatly benefit the youth and the community it belongs to.
Creating Spaces for Young People to Collaborate to Create Community Change: Ohio’s Youth-Led Initiative - Health Education & Behavior 2019, Vol. 46(1S) 44S–52S: (Importance and Effect of Teen Centers, Youth Driven Focus)
A detailed study on the results of adopting a youth-focused policy that not only provides services for the Ohio Youth, but seeks to empower them and offer them agency in their community.
Evaluation of the Youth- Driven Spaces Project: Youth Driven Focus
YDS Project is a youth-focused method of implementation of youth-fostering strategies, that might serve as either a strong reference for Burlington’s methods or even as a partner in this same endeavor. This document evaluates the result of said implementation across eight youth-serving organizations in Michigan.
Expanding Youth-driven Space Across Southeast Michigan Evaluation Report 2018-2019 (Year 1): Youth Driven Focus
A further review of the YDS Program and its expansion through 2018
Interview Highlights w Matt Wolf (Vermont AfterSchool): Importance and Effect of Teen Centers, Youth Driven Focus,
Matt Wolf is a representative of Vermont AfterSchool and someone who works heavily with Teen Centers, from Policy to Programming to the benefits of SEL, Social-Emotional Learning. This was my 2nd conversation with him, which I aimed to do in a bit of a more organized way. The audio for the interview is also here, but this document highlights what I consider my most important things.
Neutral Zone Strategic Plan 2017-2022: Youth Center Administration
Neutral Zone’s focus for the last few years as well as the upcoming ones. While not a guide in any way, it might serve to discuss what their north is, so that it might serve us in our priorities.
The Psychology and Practice of Youth-Adult Partnership: Bridging Generations for Youth Development and Community Change: Youth Development
I think this is the most important document that I’ve found, as it is a comprehensive summary of studies and information regarding the effect of empowering, serving, and allowing youth to be an active part of the community it belongs to. The references articles and studies in it might serve as a deeper dive into its benefits and effects.
Unleashing young people’s creativity and innovation - European Commission: Youth Programming
While a bit broader in its scope, this has useful specific content on programs and best practices implemented throughout Europe that might serve to either inspire some programming offered at the Center. If possible, it would be interesting to reach out to the EU for guidance or some form of allyship.
What Makes For A Successful Youth Centre?: Importance and Effect of Teen Centers, Youth Center Administration
This study provides an insight of communities across Canada on, not only what it means to have a successful youth centre, but specifically what are the concerns that make a you centre a necessity.
YDS Formative Index: Youth Center Administration
A checklist, based on YDS programming as well as the Neutral Zone’s insight, that serves to evaluate youth participation in the Youth Center.
YDS White Paper: Youth Driven Focus
A brief insight on how Youth-Driven Spaces work and the value of adopting this methodology.
Youth Adult Partnership Rubric: Youth Driven Focus, Youth Center Administration
This rubric breaks down “The Psychology and Practice of Youth-Adult Partnership” into very discrete metrics that allow for a further understanding of these mechanics. It might serve not only as a guide in implementing a youth-led endeavor, but also as a constant reference of evaluation, if adapted to Burlington’s needs and
Teen Center Policy Manual: Policy & Rules
A list of rules, regulations, and procedures that might inform our own rule-setting procedure. To note, youth should be included in the building of these rules as they will, socially, be its primary enforcers.
Glastonbury Teen Center Participant Handbook: Policy & Rules
While a bit of a dated document in some of its references (it is from 2016), it has a solid understanding of rules of behaviour vs unbreakable laws, and a proper understanding of where hard lines stand. It also manages to present sanctions as offenses, varying in degrees. Banning someone outright, without the chance for redemption, does nothing for growth, so having offenses with varying degrees of consequence allows for youth to understand its mistakes.
Jamestown Teen Center Handbook: Policy & Rules
In the same vein of Glastonbury, the Jamestown Teen Center Handbook also includes responsibilities and rights, which is an interesting way of presenting teen ownership. Strict, top-down rules do not make for teens feeling like they own or belong in the space, but understanding what they CAN do, as well as what they’re responsible for enables a sense of ownership, essential to proper teen center environments.
242 Interview Highlights: Importance and Effect of Teen Centers, 242 History
This is a very incomplete document that I expect to fill out a bit more in this coming week (Mar 29 - Apr 2) because I consider there’s a lot of meaningful and deep statements that speak to the value of such a space for teens.
Relevant Links
[Community-Based Orgs — Neutral Zone](https://www.neutral-zone.org/community)
Neutral Zone is by far the best example of youth-led teen centers that I have found, and this serves as a good 101 on the importance of why youth-led.
[Youth Driven Spaces Initiative | Center for Youth Program Quality](Youth Driven Spaces Initiative)
A summary of the results of the YDS Initiative, a program made as a result of the benefits evidenced by Neutral Zone.
[AfterSchool Today Spring 2016 Page 22] (http://www.mydigipub.com/publication/?m=&l=1&i=295689&p=24&ver=html5)
A rundown of the benefits of the YDS Initiative and its pillars.
[Teen Centers, Complete with Teens - Youth Today](https://youthtoday.org/2005/11/teen-centers-complete-with-teens/)
A detailed list of youth centers (some operational and some not) that describes how they work, their main obstacles, and how they confronted them.
[Youth-Led Community Building: Promising Practices from Two Communities Using Community-Based Service-Learning](Youth-Led Community Building: Promising Practices from Two Communities Using Community-Based Service-Learning)
A brief summary of a study that supports that youth can lead community building.
[Youth Centers | WBDG - Whole Building Design Guide](Youth Centers)
A detailed description of how to build a youth center, physically and structurally. This takes youth ownership of the space into account, while also considering adult supervision.
[CYPQ Online Store – David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality](David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality)
Set of courses directed specifically at the elements of fostering a Youth Center
[Youth Center Rules — Braintree Community Youth Center] (Youth Center Rules & Regulations)
Set of rules that might serve as reference for an opening discussion on what rules & regulations to implement at the Burlington Teen Center.
Iceland Cuts Teen Drinking with Curfews and Youth Centers: While hard to apply similar programs and rules in the US, it might help to shape some local policy regarding teens.
How Iceland Got Teens to Say No to Drugs: More information on the Icelandic policies and their focus on teens, and how teen programming has helped reduce alcohol and drug consumption in teens, in comparison to the rest of Europe.
Others
I think if anything, it can gain more because all it takes is that right spirit or the right idea or the right group of people to get stuff going again. - Bobby Hackney
So I think there’s an argument to be made that the way 242 ran for the last 30 years is a model to be replicated in other places. - Andrew Paley
In a bizarre full circle, I saw Texas Is the Reason when I was 13 or 14 and talked to Garrett Khlan and thought that was the coolest thing ever and a year ago, I toured Europe with Garrett Khlan and in a month and a half, I’m going to Japan with him. And not because of that meeting – years later, we reconnected and we’ve had a good laugh about it since, but it’s defined my entire life since in some ways. - Andrew Paley
I think that the importance of it went away. Not necessarily went away to the minds of people like myself. But went away to the city officials and went away to people who had spent time there in the past much longer ago than I had been there. And it was kind of this lack of being able to actually accomplish things. It was the lack of having the funds to go out and find those youth and say, “What do you want to see here?” And the lack of having the ability to make those ideas happen. And so in that future city-led youth space, that needs to happen. There needs to be a continuous push from the community. - Brian LaClair