Taking Them by the Hand

“Mentors become attached to the students and the students 

love having a high school kid be their friend,” says 18-yearold Ryan Wootten of Orlando, Florida’s Teen Trendsetters 

Reading Mentors Program. “They think it is so cool!” 

Ryan first read about Teen Trendsetters in the magazine 

Florida Trend’s NEXT. He filled out an application two years 

ago and has been 

with the program 

ever since.

Teen Trendsetters 

prepares third 

graders for Florida’s 

Comprehensive 

Assessment Test 

(FCAT), a required 

reading and math test that will determine if they go on to the 

next grade. High school students are paired with third graders 

and trained to help them prepare for the test. 

Ryan has benefited as much from the experience as the third 

graders he serves.

ave been able to make friends and touch the lives of third 

graders by being there for them,” he says.

For more information contact: 

Teen Trendsetters Reading Mentors 

924 North Magnolia Avenue, Suite 319 

Orlando, FL 32803 

(407) 650-3899 

floridanext.com/trendsetters

“I h
Enlighten the Community

“Some people didn’t want us to exist,” say members of the 

Liberty High School Civil Rights Team, “but we kept at it, and 

now we’re the only school in West Virginia to have a civil 

rights team.” 

The team promotes diversity with various activities, including 

a schoolwide Racial Awareness Week. They enhance cultural 

awareness and encourage others to “celebrate the differences” 

in a small, mostly

White high 

school. The team 

received a key 

to the city from 

the mayor of 

Clarksburg, West

Virginia, in 2001.

For more information contact: 

Liberty High School Civil Rights Team 

One Mountaineer Drive 

Clarksburg, WV 26301 

lhscivilrightsteam@hotmail.com

“If your actions inspire others to 

dream more, learn more, do more 

and become more, you are a leader.”

-John Quincy AdAms, the 6th

President of the united stAtes
They Got the Scoop

“A great leader is someone who is trustworthy, responsible, 

and honest,” says Nikita Reese, a student at Calvin Coolidge 

Senior High School in Washington, DC.

Nikita is one of the youth from the Latin American Youth Center, 

a multicultural community-based organization that supports 

youth and their family. The center has partnered with Ben & 

Jerry’s ice cream stores to operate and own two PartnerShops 

in the Washington, DC 

area. Youth “scoop 

their way to success” by 

making money working 

behind the counter 

and participating 

in job training and 

entrepreneurial 

education programs.

Reliable and trustworthy

Nikita organizes 

birthday parties, scoops 

ice cream, cleans up 

the store, manages the 

money, and makes cakes

during her work week. 

Through these ongoing 

responsibilities, she’s 

learning to lead.

, 

For more information contact: 

Latin American Youth Center 

1419 Columbia Road NW 

Washington, DC 20009 

(202) 319-2225 

www.layc-dc.org
Be a Reading Role Model

“A true leader is a servant who desires to make a

difference for others,” says Lucas Hunt, a Loretto High 

School senior in Tennessee.

When Hunt realized that many students in his community 

valued athletics over academics, he looked for the reason 

why. He found that funding for school libraries was being 

cut and that many children did not have access to newly 

published children’s literature. He began the Volunteer State 

Readers program, where ninth through twelfth graders from 

Loretto High School volunteer their time to be “reading role 

models” by reading to students at a local elementary school. 

Hunt and other volunteers are making a 

difference for younger children in their 

community by getting them excited about 

academics early on.

“It exposes the children to 

academic role models—which 

is necessary in my community,” 

says Hunt.

For more information contact: 

Volunteer State Readers Program 

Program Coordinator 

Loretto High School 

525 Second South Avenue 

Loretto, TN 38569

“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth.”

-muhAmmAd Ali, world renowned boxer
When Art Imitates Life

“You have to have patience and be willing to sacrifice to be 

a great leader,” says 19-year-old Maurice Kie, who has been 

a member of the Life Pieces to Masterpieces program for 11 

years and was a founding apprentice of the program. 

Life Pieces to Masterpieces empowers African American 

males between the ages of 3 and 21 who live in public 

housing in Washington, D.C., by providing them with 

creative outlets to 

express themselves. 

Members tell stories 

about their life 

experiences, and then 

the group creates an 

art project to recreate 

each story. 

“We come up with a theme, 

paint it, cut it out and 

sew it together,” Kie says 

explaining how the youth 

create using a collective 

process. “It is similar to 

quilting.”

With patience, teamwork, and 

sacrifice, the boys and young 

men create beautiful art.

For more information contact 

Life Pieces to Masterpieces

603 50th Street NE, 3rd floor

Washington, DC. 20019 

(202) 399-7703 

www.lifepieces.org
Finding Their Way

“Before I got into community youth mapping, I didn’t think 

I was going to get anywhere in life, and I didn’t think I was 

going to graduate or anything,” says 16-year-old Vincent 

Burns of Wilmington, Delaware. “Now the school I go to is 

ranked third academically in the Nation.”

When Burns’ probation officer directed him to Community 

Youth Mapping two 

years ago, he says, it 

changed the path of 

his life. “I decided 

I wanted to change 

my life because I 

was tired of getting 

in trouble,” says 

Burns who recently 

participated in 

a national youth panel discussion on Community Youth 

Mappers. “Once I got into this program it kind of opened my 

eyes to a lot of new things.” 

Youth mappers interview businesses and explore 

neighborhoods in search of places for youth to find jobs and 

positive things for youth to do with their free time. Using this 

canvassing strategy, youth identify resources that may not 

be found in phonebooks and share 

information with other youth. 

In the process, they change their 

own lives and the lives of their peers.

For more information contact: 

Community Youth Mapping

Cym@aed.org 

www.communityyouthmapping.org

“Everybody can be 

great, because 

everybody can serve”

-dr. mArtin

luther King, Jr., 

humAn rights Activist 
Be Heard in Your Community

“A leader is someone who not only commands, but can also 

follow orders,” says Sammy Lie-Tjauw, a member of the 

Gwinnett Children’s Shelters Teen Advisory Board.

Youth board members use this motto when lobbying local 

politicians around issues affecting shelters and group homes 

or when planning 

activities with teen 

residents. The board 

is made up of youth 

in the community 

who help make 

key choices for 

the teen center 

of the Gwinnett 

Children’s Shelter. 

Every month they 

participate in a community service project and have group 

discussions with youth on issues like careers, self-image, and 

healthy living. 

Working as a team, the board members learn to lead and to 

follow in order to be heard in their community.

For more information contact: 

Teen Advisory Board

The Gwinnett Children’s Shelter, Inc.

P.O. Box 527

Buford, GA 30519

(678) 546-8770 

www.gwinnettchildrenshelter.org

“A leader has the vision and conviction that a 

dream can be achieved. He inspires the power 

and energy to get it done.”

-rAlPh lAuren, fAshion designer And business mogul
Sharing Knowledge

“Being able to reach the audience you will encounter, having 

perseverance, making decisions and thinking about things 

before you act upon them are all qualities of a good leader,” 

says 19-year-old Eric Jackson.

Jackson, a 

sophomore at 

Morgan State 

University 

in Baltimore, 

Maryland, 

volunteers 5 

hours a day with 

Civic Works as 

an Americorp 

volunteer 

counseling and 

tutoring middle and high school males 

from around the city in subjects that 

range from life skills to mathematics. 

Growing up in the Cherry Hill section 

of Baltimore City, he saw many of his 

peers go in the wrong direction and 

feels more positive voices need to step 

up to the plate for communities like 

the one he grew up in. 

The program helps youth like Jackson

lend his advice back to his community.

For more information contact: 

Civic Works 

2701 St. Lo Drive 

Baltimore, MD 21213

(410) 366-8533 

www.civicworks.org
Turn Off the TV And Get Fit

“I think a leader is someone who has a big heart to reach 

out to people, and they have no problem taking criticism,” 

says 15-year-old Colleen St. Onge, president of the 

Waainiigaanzijig Tribal Youth Council.

The council started with the idea of helping people make one 

simple change toward more active lifestyles for its “Celebrate 

Fitness” campaign. Knowing people would be reluctant to 

give up television altogether, the youth council developed 

the “TV Remote Turn In” campaign to encourage people to 

get up and switch 

channels instead of 

sitting and clicking a 

remote. Community 

members who turned 

in their remotes could 

earn prizes. The council 

also hosted basketball 

games, snowshoeing, and 

ice skating. 

Colleen’s “big heart” 

has helped hundreds of 

people in her community 

take small steps towards 

a healthier lifestyle.

For more information contact: 

Youth Education and Activities Program 

The Waainiigaanzijig Tribal Youth Council

Sault St. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians

Lambert Tribal Center 

St. Ignace, MI 49781 

www.unity.org

“Since you get more joy out 

of giving joy to others, you 

should put a good deal of 

thought into the happiness 

that you are able to give.”

-eleAnor roosevelt, humAnitAriAn
Creating a Community That Suits You

“A great leader is a person who sees a problem and instead 

of trying to fix it, works to eliminate it by going to the root 

of the problem,” says Hampton Youth Commission member 

Chrystal Hollowvay. 

The 24 high school youth on the Hampton Youth 

Commission speak on issues that are most important to 

them and their peers. 

Chrystal also serves on 

a subcommittee that 

is developing a teen 

center they hope will 

feature a cybercafe 

and recording studio, 

among other amenities. 

“We are trying to 

develop a teen center 

that is a positive place where teens can go without feeling 

like they are under the scrutiny of adults,” Chrystal says. 

Youth on the Hampton Youth Commission have found a way 

to go to the root of the problem, to affect public policy and 

play a formal role in their city’s decision making.

For more information contact: 

Hampton Youth Commission

Hampton, VA 23669

(757) 728-3285 

www.areyouinthegame.com

Here are a few Web Sites that you can help youth interested 

in becoming leaders in their communities.

Idealist (Action Without Borders) --- www.idealist.com 

Learn and Serve America --- www.learnandserve.gov 

Youth Service America --- www.ysa.org 

Big Brothers Big Sisters --- www.bbbsa.org 

National Youth Leadership Council --- www.nylc.org 

Sound Out --- www.soundout.org 

Youth On Board --- www.youthonboard.org
For more information on positive youth statistics 

and Positive Youth Development, please contact 

the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth:

NCFY 

P.O. Box 13505

Silver Spring, Maryland 20911-3505

Phone: (301) 608-8098 

Fax: (301) 608-8721 

Web site: www.ncfy.com

E-mail: info@ncfy.com

Take the Lead was developed by JBS International, Inc., 

for the Family and Youth Services Bureau; Administration on 

Children, Youth and Families; Administration for Children 

and Families; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 

under contract number GS10F0285K to manage the National 

Clearinghouse on Families & Youth