Notes from the RiseUp Red Wing Youth Council: High School Students Mentor Middle School Students
By Lexy, rising high school senior and Youth Council participant
RiseUp Red Wing's Youth Council, composed of high school students ranging from 8th graders all the way to seniors, is an opportunity for the youth in the community to work together to take the hopes, dreams, and ideas of our community and create an environment in our town where everyone feels safe and welcome. Each student who participates in our Youth Council comes from different backgrounds, living situations, ethnic groups, and even different cliques within our school, which helps represent the diverse perspectives across our community.
One of the actions the Youth Council has taken is volunteering as youth leaders for our local middle schoolers. During the school year, we mentor these students after school twice a week to help with homework, play games, and listen when they just need someone to talk to. The mentors have a lot of fun doing this, and love getting to know some of the younger youth in our town. It also provides the younger kids with a resource that they may feel more comfortable using—since we're pretty close in age to them, we remember what they're going through right now, so we’re easy to talk to.
As a mentor, I was so sad that the school year was almost over, because getting to know and help the middle school kids was one of the things I looked forward to the most every week. As it was ending, the youth leaders and the RiseUp adults running the program began to plan a summer program to create fun summer experiences for the middle schoolers, where they could build stronger friendships with the high school mentors and learn about resources available to them in the community. Some of those experiences included the Anderson Center, the Environmental Learning Center, Art Reach, and the Red Wing Arts Clay and Creative Center. These partnerships provide fun events where students can pick up new skills or discover something new.
Our first activity this summer was the Pride Celebration at Red Wing Arts Clay and Creative Center. It was the perfect event to kick off our summer program. The Pride Celebration was full of welcoming and supportive people, the exact environment that RiseUp's Youth Council wants to provide to the community. I am so happy we all got to experience that kind of space. It's something that everyone needs to be around, especially middle school kids who are just starting to figure out who they are. I aim to create that same kind of positive energy at all of our future activities throughout the summer.