Written by Isioma, a senior in high school
Going into the Youth Exploring Stewardship (YES) Youth Advisory Council (YAC), I was not very experienced or knowledgeable about environmental principles. I was, however, interested in participating in growing in my leadership skills, and as a result of this council, I was able to expand on what leadership is and how it corresponds to working in a team. Our meetings occurred every Friday and were placed into groups based on what caught our attention. I was on the website design team, where we assisted the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education (CAEE) in selecting what we thought would be best for engaging other youth. It was through this YES YAC that I was opportune to be an Intern at CAEE. Aside from our mandated groups, collectively, we engaged with “lessons” that were student-led. These lessons focused on dissecting leadership and its many facets and our roles as youth to take on corresponding tasks.
The YES Coalition was a fantastic opportunity to work with others, exposing us to the various leadership traits and the best individuals to connect and lead with thus highlighting each other’s skills. For example, we conducted one activity when we were shown multiple slides with different characteristics given a specific scenario. Based on the section we landed on (after contemplating a reasonable amount), we were able to see what kind of leadership role we carried. As previously mentioned, the lesson explored how best to utilize our traits with others for a superb outcome. In all, the YES YAC Coalition was an exciting experience that focused on putting the youth in charge and helping develop our leadership skills.
