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Richard Goll Workshop – Being the Difference: Awakening Your Power to Influence Positive Change

Wednesday, March 1, 2006

(Howard County Connections)

By Jacqueline E. Burrell

	Standing in the middle of a room filled with white and blue balloons, several adults tried to keep the balloons up in the air. Their arms flailing wildly, they poked and jabbed and swatted. An important teen issue was written on each balloon, so none could be allowed to fall to the floor. The adults weren’t as successful as they’d hope. But when an almost equal number of teens joined in, fewer balloons reached the floor. And when they partnered into smaller groups, hardly any balloons touched bottom. The lesson: when teens and adults work together, collaboratively, they can make a difference. That was the focus behind a recent workshop on youth adult partnerships, sponsored by Howard County Connections.

Led by trainer Richard Goll of Hampton, Virginia and Will Bane, a Hampton, Virginia high school junior, the two emphasized the need for building relationships. Adults should know, they said, that teens are valued resources, with much to contribute.

“The weight really falls on us to provide opportunities,” said Goll, reminding adults that young people as “resources does not mean use. It means partner.” Build relationships, he urged.

“I’m just so glad for this experience, and to be able to help others learn about building assets,” said Bane, who is a paid staffer in Hampton, Virginia’s planning department.

Making a difference in the world is the ultimate goal for most people. How to go about it is where things tend to get stuck, Goll explained.

Preparation is key, Goll told the adults at the workshop. Youth need the skills necessary for decision making, communication and life. Adults need to readjust their attitudes and give youth a real chance.

The challenge is raising the number of opportunities. Calling it a youth engagement pathway, Goll used a pyramid as a model, where he listed Projects, Tasks and Service Learning at the bottom of the pyramid. These are opportunities where youth can serve in a variety of roles. They don’t require much training or time and yet provide positive experiences for young and old alike. Some examples include food drives, mentoring younger kids, visiting nursing homes, community cleanup and the like.

On the pyramid’s middle level stands Input and Consultation. This is where youth serve in an on-going advisory capacity to adults or work in focus groups to identify key issues. More training, time, and guidance is needed at this stage. “Adults need to hear what youth have to say,” emphasizes Goll.

At the very top, of course, is the highest level of engagement, requiring the greatest commitment of everyone. The Shared Leadership pathway is where youth and adults share responsibilities, such as co-chairing committees (which Howard County Connections does) or having youth serve as members on boards of directors (such as those sponsored by Leadership U).

Goll advised everyone to work together and “bust out” an issue of concern at their school, church, or organization. Make a list of all the causes and effects of that issue. Pull out one cause and come up with a plan on how to solve it.

For example, if adults and teens worship separately at a church, identify why that is (cause) and how it translates into relationships at the church (effect). Then come up with how to address that one issue.

“This workshop was so helpful,” says Atholton High School senior Alisha Stephens, who introduced Goll and Bane at the workshop. Stephens, a Connections Action Team member, is also a full voting member of the Columbia Festival of the Arts Board of Directors. “It’s really nice to have an action plan, a blueprint on how to tackle issues together with adults.”

Talking about an issue together gives everyone a better sense of what people think. Then the challenge is to come up with ways to enhance existing programs or start new ones.

That is the mission of CAT, the Connections Action Team, composed of teens and adults from across the county. As ambassadors of developmental assets, they are working on ways to support asset building throughout Howard County, to let everyone know that things are different and that youth helped to make the difference.