Posted on March 7, 2011

Five Town CTC Honors Youth Advocates

One of the first orders of business at each of the quarterly Five Town Communities That Care Coalition meetings is the bestowing of the Five Town CTC Youth Advocate Awards.  These awards are given each quarter to one individual and one organization who meet one or more of the following criteria:

1)    Involved in reducing problem adolescent behaviors (such as substance abuse, suicide, violence, delinquency, school drop-out, and teen pregnancy) among our local youth.

2)    Involved in reducing the Five Town CTC Coalition’s priority risk factors in the local community.

3)    Involved in promoting the Five Town CTC Coalition’s priority protective factors in the local community.

4)    Involved in fostering increased collaboration and cooperation amongst youth-serving agencies, groups, and businesses in the local community.

5)    Involved in fostering improved communications between local youth and their community—including between youth and adults, and between youth and their peers.

6)    Providing opportunities for area youth to learn new skills that they can use in service to their community.

The current priority Risk Factors (to be reduced) are Low Commitment To School, Rewards For Antisocial Behavior, Family Conflict, and Laws and Norms Favorable To Drug Use.  The current priority Protective Factors (to be increased) are Interaction With Prosocial Peers, Rewards For Prosocial Involvement, Prosocial Involvement, and Community Recognition for Prosocial Involvement.

Nominations for the Youth Advocate Awards are accepted from members of the Coalition on an ongoing basis.  Suggestions for quarterly winners are then brought by the Five Town CTC Coalition Maintenance Work Group to the Five Town CTC Board of Directors for final vote.

At the Wednesday, March 3 Coalition meeting the first pair of 2011 winners—The Community School and Randy Wood—were presented with awards by Five Town CTC Board Chair Richard Strong.  The Community School was honored for its many contributions to youth, in particular its commitment to increasing commitment to school amongst its students.  Residential Program Director Joseph Hufnagel accepted the award on behalf of the school.  STAR Program staff member Randy Wood was honored for his work in providing opportunities for youth to learn new skills in the community.  Wood has been part of the staff for the after-school program since the fall of 2008, meeting students at their schools, riding the buses to the program sites, and helping in various classes each cycle.

Joseph Hufnagel (left) of the Community School and Randy Wood with their 2011 Five Town Communities That Care Youth Advocate Awards (photo by Peter Russell).

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