Extra!!! Extra!!!

Youth And Adults Work In Partnership

7:15 AM. That's what time the busses rolled out of Kemptville, Monday morning heading to Ottawa. Filled with delegates, facilitators and staff they were taking part in a mini-conference with adults from government and national youth organizations.

After registering, the adults were lead down the stairs by a youth from their assigned team... blindfolded! Starting with icebreakers, the hosts, TJ and Chris welcomed everyone to the conference and gave a short overview of the morning's activities. Barb led a panel discussion on healthy sexuality with the group from Saturday's panel in Kemptville. This discussion laid the framework for teams to begin small group discussions and craft messages to be used in the Agree/Disagree activity.

Following a short break, which gave the opportunity to showcase the teams various projects and have adults and youth mingle and the Agree/Disagree activity, delegates were encouraged to write themselves a letter that will be used in the research process and mailed back in six months. Stoney and Eric spoke about what was happening in the future of the Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement and the successful morning was wrapped up.

In short, it was a great experiment in youth/adult partnerships and a strong indicator that young people and professionals do have much to share and a desire to sit together to have meaningful discussions. It's exciting to think of what's next for the Centre and the movement of youth and adults working side by side!

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