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“Be great” was the chant yelled over and over again by more than 75 teens from all across Europe who attended the annual Keystone Summit June 21 to 26 in Miesau.
Keystone, the Ultimate Teen Program, is a leadership development club sponsored by the Boys & Girls Club of America. Keystoners elect an officer, choose their own activities and implement community service projects.
The week-long leadership summit was hosted by this year’s National Youth of the Year, Shonnetta Henry, 19.
Shonnetta, a sophomore at the University of New Mexico, teamed up with University of Maryland University College to hold a college panel at the summit.
The panel focused on how to balance social activities with school along with expectations for sports, dance and sororities. UMUC also taught how to benefit from financial aid and gave tips on choosing an affordable college.
Shonnetta spoke highly of the summit.
“(It was) one of the best experiences,” she said. “I gained a whole bunch that I will take back to the states and formed symbiotic relationships.”
If asked to do it all over and return next year, she said she’d do it “in a heartbeat.”
During the summit, the days were filled with activities and sessions about social networking, fundraising and health and fitness. There were also interactive forums that were focused around at-risk behaviors, body image and poverty.
To fight poverty, the teens held a fundraiser for three consecutive days in front of the Ramstein Youth Center and raised more than $2,000 for a charity known as Invisible Children. Invisible Children is a non-profit organization that aids children and teens in regions of Northern Uganda. The children are either orphans or live with HIV/AIDS and are desperate to receive a secondary education. By presenting the check to a representative, Keystone sponsored the Visible Child Scholarship Program and also purchased balls and equipment for Uganda’s football, volleyball and netball teams. This is just the tip of the iceberg for Keystone; they are taking the world by storm.
“I really enjoyed the social networking and marketing sessions,” said Caitlyn Knapp, one of the Keystone presidents. “The methods that were used created awareness of tools that can be used to expand the Keystone clubs.”
She realized Web sites, faxing, e-mails and even mass communication vehicles such as radio and television are perfect for the club’s publicity, she said.
Caitlyn said she intends on taking away all that she has learned in pursuit of making events and activities available for the teens, which, in the end, will increase the membership of the club. This is her way of helping her community “be great!”
