I don't know why but my font is all messed up. :[

Erica Hoffman

Professor Tweed

WST4021

4 December 2011

Activism Log #3

1.    Activism:

This week, we met with Sonia and devised a plan for leading her youth event and youth group on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, we entertained a group of kids from 3^rd grade up to middle school. We played quite a few games with them, such as elbow tag, silent speed ball, a name game, and a few leadership games. On Sunday, Sonia let us lead her weekly youth group for middle school aged kids. There was one boy and about eight girls at the youth group. We talked to them about leadership and helped them construct their idea of leadership using magazine cutouts. The success of our group’s activities this week was our communication and follow through, as well as how much fun we had with the children of St. Matthew’s. We had a lot of fun and they were interested in learning about leadership. I honestly do not think there were any pitfalls for this week!

2.    Reflection:

The activities we participated in this week taught me a lot about how to interact with youth. I learned that if you just engage them in a conversation about leadership, most of the time they will be more than willing to learn about it and engage in leadership. At first, the kids did not seem at all interested in our leadership games, however (as MacNeil states) after engaging them in meaningful and authentic leadership activities, they were very excited with the results. Making the advent chains allowed us to connect leadership to their everyday lives and experiences, as they were able to see how they can practice leadership each day and it related to their religious beliefs and the holiday season they are currently celebrating. We could see them getting more interested in the aspects of leadership required to play the games as they saw that they were actually working. This reminds me of when Van Linden and Fertman explain that “Leadership development may be so subtle that the youths themselves never realize they have leadership skills at all” (24). The children we worked with did not even realize that they had leadership abilities until they saw it manifested physically before their eyes.

3.    Reciprocity:

I truly gained a lot this week. I learned how to engage with members of my community regardless of religious affiliation or beliefs, as well as how to engage children in fun and meaningful activities. It was so rewarding to see their reactions after they successfully tied a knot in a piece of yarn as a team in one of our leadership games. Even though at first they seemed entirely uninterested, in the end all of their faces lit up as they realized what they were capable of accomplishing.

Word Count: 453.

Works Cited

MacNeil, Carole. “Bridging Generations: Applying ‘Adult’ Leadership Theories to Youth Leadership Development.” New Directions in Youth Development 109 (2006): 27-4. Web.

Van Linden, Josephine. Youth Leadership: A Guide to Understanding Leadership Development in Adolescents. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998. Print.