Elevator Speech!

What is Youth Development? 

Youth Development is a variety of many components into one. It is fostering purposeful conversations with young people in a way that they understand and in a way where they can make meaning of those conversations on their own terms. Youth development is not cut and dry, and focuses on leading with you and providing safe spaces for youth to express themselves and their views. Every component of youth work is purposeful both for the youth worker and the youth themselves. There is a concept called "leading with", and this gives youth work much meaning. Leading with teaches young people that they matter and their voices matter no matter where they come from, what their race is, what their religion is or what their sexual orientation or identity is. Youth workers lead with youth in ways that challenge their development and fosters meaningful relationships. 

Ydev Event 2!

Cystic Fibrosis Dinner 

On November 28th I volunteered at a Cystic Fibrosis Foundation dinner in Warwick. Some of you may know what Cystic Fibrosis is and some of you may not. Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disease that affects the lungs and other major organs like the pancreas, it is a build up of thick sticky mucus that can make it hard to breathe. Many CF patients have to take a handful of different kinds of medication a day and perform many treatments each day to ease their symptoms. This dinner was held to recognize the RI doctors and CF clinic and their hard work and new progress with medication for CF. I had the honor of meeting a man named Matt that has CF and we had a great conversation. He told be that as a child it was hard but he always had the support of his family and friends and that has made all the difference in his life. Matt is a flight attendant and wants to inspire others with CF that they can do anything and that they can't let the disease hold them back. Learning about the man with CF and learning all the new medical progress the disease is making was truly inspiring. My sorority is holding an event in March 2018 to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis and I asked Matt if he would come to our event and share his story. He said yes and was thrilled that I asked him and I can't wait for him to inspire others the way he inspired me. At the event I ran into the 5th grade teacher at St. Paul School which is my internship. We got to taking and I asked her what her connection to CF was and she told me that both of her brothers have it and one passed away from it earlier this year and said she loves to come to the dinners and fundraising events because her brother would go to them and she wants to celebrate him. It was nice to see her and hear her story about her brother and I think I might ask her if she would want to do a dress down day at the school and have all the proceeds be donated to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Ydev Event 1!

Lanterns with Henry Barnard Students

On November 14 I attended an event that was led by the Henry Barnard faculty and students. The second grade students were teaching us how to make lanterns for the holidays that will be displayed on President Sanchez's lawn. I was paired with a second grader named Francesca and she was so excited to teach me and help me make my lantern! Since these lanterns were for the holidays, I put designs for Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa and Francesca said to me "I thought you celebrated Christmas" and I told her that I did and how important it is to recognize all holidays because we all don't celebrate the same ones. She didn't ask anymore questions and went back to focusing on her lantern and I could tell that she was thinking about what I had said because she was looking around to see what others were putting on their lantern. This event was a great experience for me and I took it as an opportunity to network. I gave the second grade teacher my email so that way if she ever needed volunteers in the classroom my sorority sisters and I would love to help. I also loved that fact that it was structured in a way that the students knew what they were doing but they could work with who they wanted and choose how they wanted to design their lanterns. The teachers were not guiding them all that much and they exemplified what leading with to me means.

Here is a picture from the event with some fellow ydev classmates, Rachael, my sorority sisters and some of the second graders from Henry Barnard School!

Ydev anchors!

Youth Development Anchors 

Leading with:

Over the course of the semester we have done a lot of work on leading with youth. I believe this is one of the most important anchors of youth development because whenever I am explaining ydev to anyone I always use that term, leading with. In order for me to practice this I have to believe in it and I have to take chances within a youth space when leading with. At times I find it hard because I sometimes put by teacher hat on and try to make sure everything is structured and organized. In my internship I am trying my hardest to lead with the youth in the space but there are a lot of kids and it gets overwhelming sometimes. I have been working on giving them more of a voice and having choices on the different things we do within the space. When we went to YIA as a class and when they came to us I understand the concept of leading with very well because they are older and I am struggling with leading with within a younger age group. 

Purposeful Play: 
Everything we do in life serves a purpose and gives a deeper meaning to the things we do everyday. Play begins from a young age and whether we know it or not we carry play throughout our adult lives. Picture having two kindergarten aged children playing with blocks side by side. One child is carefully placing each block and taking their time to build something while the other child quickly builds something and tears it down in seconds. You might believe that the child who is taking their time is playing blocks the correct way, but there is no correct way. Everything aspect of play in a child's life they are learning from. As we get older we find interest in may things and may times I believe they can be categorized by play. For example, I love to bake, it's fun for me and I am learning a skill that I enjoy! To me that is play and everything I do from day to day has meaning and a purpose fom growing and learning. 

YDev Ideology Inventory

Positive Youth Development

After completing the youth development ideology inventory, I learned a lot about my role as a youth worker. Last fall in ydev we did a similar activity and it turned out that I closely related with positive youth development and a year later I received the same result. This demonstrates to me that I am on the right career path within the youth development field. 

Some of the values of positive youth development that I align with are care, equality, responsibility and strengths.  In a youth space I believe in caring for one another and looking out for each other. Everyone in a ydev space (youth and adults) are equal, no matter  age, race, religion, sexual orientation or gender. Promoting that equality within a youth space and in the community is empowering for not only the youth worker but the youth themselves. I also believe that each person in a youth space should be treated as an individual and be responsible for their words, actions and bodies. In the many social work classes I have taken I have always gravitated towards strengths based practice. I believe in focusing on what youth are capable of and what each member of a youth space can bring to the group as a whole. By focusing on "what they can't do" sets a negative vibe for the youth and the space when we are promoting positive youth development.

I enjoyed reading and learning about the external and internal assets of positive youth development. Those two factors can influence youth in many ways and both positively and negatively. My role as a youth worker is to figure out what assets each youth in my space possesses. I think I would do this by sharing some of my assets hoping that the youth in my space could relate to me and some of my experiences. This would create a safe and positive space for everyone to share.  

Social Injustice

 Earlier this year women's marches took place all over the country and their purpose was to promote women positively and stand up for gender inequality throughout the United States. In the fall of 2016 I took my first gender course and it opened my eyes to the way women have been discriminated against for so long. There were many differing opinions regarding the women's marches and I came to realize this throughout my friend group. When one of the women's march happened in Washington D.C. I read articles and watched many brave women on the news stand up for themselves and women throughout this country and the world who face social injustices. I had a group chat with 6 of my closest friends and they began bashing these women and I became angry. After reading some of the words that were said and my heart sank, I felt like all I had learned in my gender courses meant nothing and I did not know how to respond to her. I simply removed myself from the group chat because I did not know what to say. At this moment I could have used my voice and I could have used the things I learned to take the time to educate them so they could see things from a different perspective. I silenced myself in fear of retaliation from my closest friends ad that was a mistake that I regret to this day. I could have said so much and explained so much about what feminism actually is and why these women feel compelled to stand up for themselves and other women who they do not even know. I have attached the screen shots of our group chat conversation, I would love to know what you all think!

"Feminism is: (a) a belief that women universally face some form of oppression or exploitation; (b) a commitment to uncover and understand what causes and sustains oppression, in all its forms and (c) a commitment to work individually and collectively in everyday life to end all forms of oppression" (Maguire, 1987, p. 79)

Hey everyone! My name is Casey and I'm a fellow Youth Development major who can't wait to graduate in the spring!

I am 21 and my birthday is December 30th and I'm an only child! I live in Cranston and went to Cranston High School West and I have also lived in Scituate, Providence,and North Providence. I currently have three jobs keep me very busy. I am a shift supervisor at CVS, I work as a clerical assistant at the Alumni office on RIC's campus and I work at St. Paul's school in the after school program and as a teacher assistant in the pre-k 3 room. I am also the president of my sorority, Delta Phi Epsilon, which is like another part time job that I love.

I have about eight years of experience working with children and my first job was working at a day care. In high school I was in the child development vocational program and my love for working with children grew. When I came to RIC I was declared an Early Childhood education major and minoring in special ed and I soon realized a classroom setting was not where I wanted to be. I was enrolled in a course called eced 290, one of my early childhood courses, but there was a lot of social work involved in that class and that is when I discovered Youth Development. Now that I am graduating and have my internship in an after school program, I finally know that this is where I am supposed to be. The people who I have met through the Ydev program and the professors who have inspired me all have made such a difference in my life as a youth worker.

The picture above is myself and my sorority's leadership team. It is composed of the president and 6 vice presidents who each have unique leadership roles.

The picture above is my papa and I laughing and being silly. He was my best friend, he passed away in 2005 </3

The picture above  is of my and I and it was taken at our beach house in Narragansett. I am an only child and we have a very close relationship. I tell her everything and trust her with me life. 

The picture above was taken when I graduated from Cranston High School West in 2013. I am with my mom and grammy who both been my biggest support systems in my life so far.

The picture above is me with my two best friends, Amanda and Quizia. I have known them since I was in 4th grade because we attended the same Catholic school and still have remained friends. 

The picture above is of my dog Zoe! She is a pitbull mix and she is about 5 years old! We rescued her from a shelter in 2012 and she is the biggest sweetie you will ever meet!