For Youth

Young Leaders In Action (Grades 9 -12)

Young Leaders in Action is a collaborative effort between the Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley, the Community Foundation of Waterloo/CF and NE Iowa, and Cedar Valley's Promise. The program is designed to develop leadership and citizenship skills by equipping teens with tools to become proactive and to take leadership roles in their communities.

Youth grades study Sean Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens and learn leadership and character-building skills. Additionally, adult facilitators assist the youth in planning and implementing an annual fall and spring leadership conference.

The primary goal of the program is to provide youth with a set of proven tools to deal successfully with real life. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens are essentially seven characteristics that happy and successful teens the world over have in common. The program provides youth with a step-by-step framework for boosting self-image, building friendships, resisting peer pressure, achieving goals, improving communication and relationships with parents, and much more. The habits build upon each other and foster behavioral change and improvement from the inside out.

Youth Leadership Conference (Grades 9-12)

The purpose of the leadership conference is to develop the knowledge, skills, and understanding youth need to become effective leaders within a culturally diverse community. Through a series of seminars and high energy activities, the conference serves to increase youth knowledge and expand fundamental leadership skills. The materials and training that the youth receive give them a set of proven tools to deal successfully with real life.

Conference goals include the following:

1. Increase participants' understanding of the concept of leadership;
2. Increase participants' understanding of and appreciation for cultural diversity;
3. Increase participants' awareness of themselves and how they relate to others;
4. Provide opportunities for participants to apply the knowledge, skills, and understandings through meaningful service to the community
   

Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens (grades 6-12)

Life for teens today is no longer a playground. It's a jungle out there, with tough choices, peer pressure, personal insecurities, and anxiety about what others might think. Then consider feeling of depression, inferiority, and jealousy of others' successes, plus self -destructive behaviors such as vandalism and gangs.

Introduction to The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens workshop from the Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley, based on the best-selling book the same name by Sean Covey and the No. 1 best-selling business book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey, gives young people a set of proven tools to deal successfully with real life. The training is a means for educators, administrators, and superintendents to help improve student performance, reduce conflicts; and to enhance cooperation and teamwork among parents, teens, and teachers.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens Workshop Can Help Youth:

• Gain greater control of their lives
• Improve relationships with family and friends
• Increase self confidence and self-esteem
• Make smarter decisions
• Define their values and what matters most to them
• Recognize and prioritize their goals
• Find balance between school, work, friends , and
  everything else

Workshop Options

Introduction to The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens training can be presented as a one-day workshop in two different forms:

• Habits 1-7 and Agenda Use-Participants discover the "private victory" habits as well as the "public victory" Habits 4, 5 & 6 that deal with relationships and teamwork, plus Habit 7, the habit of renewal.
• Habits 1-3 and Agenda Use-Participants learn the "private victory" habits of self-mastery and how to use their agenda or personal organizer of choice to manage their lives and improve performance.