Youth resilience project year 2

---

Promoting the well-being of youth in Yorkton and encouraging and enabling their involvement in the community are among the focuses of a project of the Society for the Involvement of Good Neighbours (SIGN) which is now in its second year.

Youth Resilience grew out of SIGN’s realization of the need to provide more proactive and preventive ways to increase mental well-being, decrease substance use and reduce negative behaviour among youth. 

To do that, the project works with youth ages 12 to 18 to build resilience and involve young people in activities and decision-making in Yorkton.

Part of SIGN Life Skills, the project has been led by community youth worker Darran Teneycke. 

“This is about engaging youth, building up their strengths. It is not about ‘fixing’ youth,” he points out. “The pandemic has had far-reaching effects, and we need to work together as a community to come out of this in a good way.”

“We need to involve our youth in that.”

Darran’s career has been spent working with young people, most recently as Superintendent of School Operations for the Prairie South School Division in Moose Jaw, and before that as Superintendent of Education for the Good Spirit School Division in Yorkton, principal of Columbia School, vice-principal and principal of Dr. Brass School, grade 8 teacher at Columbia School and phys ed teacher at Yorkdale School.

The Morris Foundation is generously providing funding for the first two years of the project. The foundation is managed by the family of George and Helen Morris. George Morris was the inventor of the Morris Rod-Weeder, and established his company, later called Morris Industries, in Yorkton in 1949.

Darran is working with youth in schools (elementary, high school and community college), existing youth centres and community agencies to build resilience, empowerment, and social and emotional skills through groups and one-on-one. 

The project focuses on building the 40 Developmental Assets – positive qualities and experiences that help young people grow up healthy -- for and with youth in the city. 

For more than 45 years, Search Institute (www.searchinstitute.org) has studied youth development and its connection to behavioural and community change. It emphasizes factors that can assist in healthy outcomes across gender, race/ethnicity and family income differences. 

Half of the 40 Assets are external, focusing on the support young people get from the people in their lives. The other half are internal assets, which focus on young people's commitment to learning, their sense of self-worth, their positive values and the life skills they possess to make good choices. 

Youth Life Skills is a strength-based program for youth ages 13 to 18 years of age. 

It is a preventative and proactive program which focuses on quantifying and developing life skills and developmental assets of youth. The Life Skills program offers youth individual mentorship and opportunities to participate in various group activities. 

The program hours are flexible to meet the needs of the youth and family.