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“The best thing was I could have fun and talk about stuff with kids my age without having to worry about adults,” said Chris DeRose, 14. “Oh yeah, and I learned lots of neat things, too.”
Chris was among 10 teens who attended the first European Youth Leadership, Education and Development Summit Aug. 6 to 8 in Heidelberg. The seminar helped teens of U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers learn life, leadership, social and communication skills, plus helped them to develop a better sense of community service.
“YLEADS is a very important program for teens of Reserve Soldiers because of the unique situation they’re in,” said Beverly Arah, the operations manager for Army Reserve Child, Youth School Services. “Many of them are not familiar with the military culture or may not know any other kids from Reserve families. Through YLEADS, they meet other teens who are going through the exact same thing they are. They develop bonds with each other and feel comfortable talking about issues with their peers.”
Ms. Arah said they hold eight YLEADS a year, one in each of the geographic locations of the Army Reserve Command throughout the world.
“Wherever Reserve youth are, we go. We pick out different cities within the region so the kids can also benefit from the cultural experience of the area, as we take educational field trips during the summit,” Ms. Arah said. “We knew there was a need to reach the youth in Europe as they are spread out in different countries and may feel a bit more isolated from friends in the states.”
Each youth attending this summit had different expectations as to what it would mean to them, but the constant was the friendships and fun.
Michael Fargas Jr., 14, said he thought this summit was great because he felt it’s important to learn to communicate with one another and to build friendships.
“Like for example, I’m mostly (quiet) in the school, but here I learned how to communicate better and, you know what, I met more friends here than I would at school,” he said. “It’s been wonderful, and I’m going to cherish this experience my whole life.”
For Elizabeth DeRose, 16, the opportunity to make some new friends was a big plus. She and her brother, Michael, just arrived in Germany July 19, which hasn’t given them much time to meet other kids.
“This was the perfect setup for me. The other kids are great,” she said. “Plus, I’m actually learning some good thing like how to get along better with my brother.”
The different workshops at YLEADS teach many different life skills, with particular emphasis on empowering the youth to become leaders in their community through involvement, community planning, and leadership programs, Ms. Arah
said.
“We have a community services portion where the kids actually work on a project for outreach groups. We have volunteered to clean-up communities and we have made gifts to give to hospitals and places like Ronald McDonald House,” Ms. Arah said.
For this summit, the teens made blankets that will be given to wounded warriors through the Wounded Warrior Ministry Center at Landstuhl.
Daniel Jones, 17, said he thinks the community service part of YLEADS is important. Daniel is also a member of the Army Reserve Teen Panel, a group of teens selected to represent their peers and deal with issues surrounding youth of Army Reserve Soldiers.
“This is a good way for the kids to learn that they can actually make a difference. A lot of the kids feel that some things need to change. They just don’t know how to go about doing it,” Daniel said. “After YLEADS, they learn just how to do it, and realize they can actually make a difference in their community.”
