Statewide Training for SNAP-Ed Local Implementing Agencies

Recruiting and Engaging Youth

Facilitator’s Guide

This material was produced by institutions that represent SNAP-Ed in California, known as CalFresh, with funding from USDA SNAP-Ed. These institutions, the California Department of Social Services, the California Department of Public Health, UC CalFresh, California Department of Aging, and Catholic Charities of California, are equal opportunity providers and employers. CalFresh provides assistance to low-income households and can help buy nutritious food for better health. For CalFresh information, call 1-877-847-3663.

Table of ContentsGeneral Information...............................................................................................................3

Preparation............................................................................................................................4

Agenda..................................................................................................................................5

Facilitation Guidance.............................................................................................................6

Suggested Physical Activity.................................................................................................10

Suggested Ways to Evaluate..............................................................................................11

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General InformationTarget Audience This Training is designed for SNAP-Ed State Implementing Agencies,

Local Implementing Agencies, their partners and subcontractors.

Overview

Purpose

Duration

3

PreparationTrainer materials needed A/V needs

laptopprojectorspeakersflip chart pad and easelmarkerspostersIndex cardsWorkbookpencils/pens/markerssticky notesmanipulatives (things to touch/play with)blue tapesnacksPPT

Materials for Trainees Print:Trainee Workbook Trainee YPAR Binder - YPAR Binder Card Stock YPAR ShuffleSixteen Candles handout questions for flip chartHart’s Ladder Scenarios

Links used in PPT DayOne Complete Streets Video - https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR03H0JU5MM

Preparation prior to training

Room Setup Pods or table groups of 6-8

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AgendaTime

Guidelines Section Leader

8:00am Set-Up

Registration

9:00am – 9:30am Welcome/Intros and sixteen candles qs

9:30am – 9:50am Group Agreements

9:50am – 10:05am Why Engage Youth?

10:05am – 10:20am Break

10:20am – 10:50am Defining YPAR

10:50am – 11:10am YPAR Stepping Stone Shuffle (mention binder)

11:10am – 11:40am Hart’s Ladder

11:40am – 12pm Recruiting Youth (move up if done with morning early)

12pm -1pm Lunch

1pm – 1:15pm I love my people who ( Energizer)

1:15pm – 1:30pm Facilitating Youth Groups

1:30pm – 1:40pm Check in/Check out

1:40pm – 1:55pm Understanding Youth Language

1:55pm – 2:05pm Break

2:05pm – 2:25pm Addressing Challenging Situations

2:25pm – 2:55pm Choosing an issue

2:55pm – 3:00pm Partnerships

3:00pm – 3:15pm Project Ideas

3:15pm – 3:20pm Resources

3:20pm – 3:30pm Affirmation Circle

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Facilitation Guidance

Title Welcome/Warm-Up Activity

Time 30 minutes

Facilitator

Materials and Preparation Flip chart with sixteen candles questions

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Left side Right Side Do: Set up room, check link to video, draw YPAR FlipChart for Defining

YPAR. Draw flipchart questions from sixteen candles for pre activity.Use below statements on flipchart for preactivity while participants are arriving. Have them finish the statement on sticky note and put on flipchart. Use there answers to help with icebreaker.

1. When I was sixteen things going on in the world (social/political) included:

2. When I was sixteen after school/work I would hang out at:

3. When I was sixteen in my neighborhood I had easy access to the following grocery stores, markets, community gardens, restaurants and cafes:

Say: Good morning everyone we are excited you are all here today to learn more about ways to successfully recruit and engage youth. We’ve designed a very engaging learner centered training for you all so you’ll see throughout the day all the activities you’ll be doing and we’ll be modeling are activities you can either do with your young people or will help you grow in your understanding of how to work with youth. We will be spending a lot of time together today so before we get into logistics we want to get to know you all a little better. Instructions: Explain to participants you are going to play a game of popcorn with a ball. Trainers model by introducing themselves, organization they are with and a memorable group they were a part of as a teen This could be any type of youth group including a close knit group of friends. Or share something that stood out to them when completing sixteen candles questions as they came in. Then pass the ball to a participant Instructions: Have all participants do introductions

Do: Have participants open to p2 of workbook and review agenda.

Ask: What are you most looking forward to today? What questions do you have if any?

Bathrooms are located: Water:Breaks:Lunch:

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TitleGroup Agreements

Time20

Facilitator Need a separate scribe for this activity

Materials and Preparation Flip Chart

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Left side Right Side

Say: Now we are going to get into an activity called Group Agreements. You can find this on p2 of your workbook as well as in the binders we’ll be passing out later on today.

This activity is designed to create a safe space within groups and help with accountability. Group agreements are like ground rules for our meetings and trainings that we can all agree to follow.

How many of you have done something similar with the young people you work with? Great! Let’s brainstorm some agreements for our training group today and then talk about what you’ve experienced with the young people you’ve done this with.

What agreements do we want for our group today? [Chart participants’ answers.] What does this agreement mean for you? Why is it important to have this agreement in this space? What else? DEBRIEF: Does everyone like these group agreements? [Have participants show their agreement-raise hands, fists, thumbs up, sign the flipchart paper, etc.] Does anyone disagree with any of these, or want to change anything, or ask any clarifying questions? When doing this activity with your young people you’ll want to post your group agreements during your first month of meetings and revisit if participants are having a hard time following group agreements. SAMPLE AGREEMENTS: *** Take ideas from the group, but feel free to add if something’s missing. One Mic (one person speaks at a time)

Step Up, Step Back (if you’re a person who talks a lot/takes up a lot of space, step back;if you don’t speak very much, step up)

Confidentiality (what’s said in the room stays in the room)

Don’t Yuk Someone’s Yum (let people express their ideas)

Challenge the idea, not the person (express disagreement with people’s ideas, whilestill respecting the person)

TitleWhy Engage Youth?

Time 15

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TitleWhy Engage Youth?

Facilitator

Materials and Preparation

Left side Right Side Ask: Why youth? Why is engaging youth important to YOU?

[Ask for volunteer. Below are examples that can be provided to start conversation off, if needed.]

•Partnerships between youth and adults ultimately make programs more successful.

•Youth know youth! Youth have unique perspective and can be honest about what they need & want.

• If you exclude youth you are failing to recognize the value of their expertise and the impact they can have on developing youth-appropriate interventions. When you do this, you are left to rely on adult interpretations of their realities, which is risky because their needs and priorities will be misinterpreted.

•Youth are ready to take on leadership roles and have valuable insight.

• Engaging youth as partners, leaders, and decision makers can help to ensure that prevention and community development efforts are well aligned with youth priorities and needs.

•Youth are incredibly powerful spokespeople. Stakeholders listen to youth.

Say: Thank you all for sharing! These are important reasons to engage youth.Break 15 min

TitleDefining YPAR

Time 30

Facilitator

Materials and Preparation Flip Chart

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Instructions:

Say: Today we want to introduce you to the YPAR framework. You can use this framework as a process to walk your young people through completing a project that will make an impact on their communities. The YPAR framework will give youth the opportunity to engage leadership, critical thinking, problem solving, strategic planning and much more. Instead of stealing the learning from you all today and talking at we’d like to do an activity that you can also do with your young people to help them better understand YPAR.Do: Organize participants into four small groups.• Create a sheet of butcher paper for each of the four following terms: Youth-Led, Research,Participatory and Action. Each term should be written in large font at the top of the butchersheet. Place the four labeled butcher sheets around the room in a way that the participantscan easily move from one butcher sheet station to the next.• Have each group start at a butcher sheet station and write definitions for the terms on the sheet using words or pictures.. Scribe on 1st chart for 4 min, rotate,2nd for 3 min, rotate 3rd for 2 min, rotate and 4th for 1 minute. • Rotate until every group has had the chance to brainstorm for each of the four terms.• Ask the participants to get back into a large group and then discuss each term.

Prompts for Introduction to YPAR Concepts Activity:a. What is Youth-Led?•What does it mean for a process to be youth led?b. What is research?• What is your experience?• Who does it?• Why do it?c. What is participatory?• Defined. What is action?• Definee. Put it together…• Youth Participatory Action Research is…• YPAR Key Concepts (handout)

YPAR Process:Say: The YPAR process is exactly what it sounds like. Young people, with support from adult allies, take on a participatory role in our democratic society by identifying and researching an issue of importance to them and their community, and through action build their capacity to share their expertise and take leadership in overcoming the issue.YPAR also promotes a sense of belonging among team members as well as within their community, it provides the 11

TitleYPAR Stepping Stone Shuffle

Time 20

Facilitator

Materials and Preparation Stepping Stones

Left side Right Side Say: Now we are going to do an activity called the YPAR Shuffle. We’ll

are going to split you into two groups and it will be your job to put the YPAR stepping stones in order. These are the steps from beginning to end that you will take with your young people to complete a project. The first group to complete the sequence correctly wins.

Say: Here are the stepping stones in order and this is what you’ll find in the YPAR binder you’ll be receiving today.

Would any of you put these in a different order? Why?(order may be slightly different depending on the group and project)

TitleHart’s Ladder

Time 30

Facilitator

Materials and Preparation Scenarios – 1 per table group

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Left side Right Side Do: Explain each rung and how we want young people to eventually in

the top 4 rungs to have more opportunity to grow as leaders.

Do: Pass out one scenario per table group. Ask them to decide as a group what rung the scenario is on and how they would bump it up a rung.

TitleRecruiting Youth (Move before lunch if end early)

Time 20 min

Facilitator

Materials and Preparation

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Left side Right Side Do: prior to lunch if time allows

Have 4 flip charts: •2 with the question “Where might you recruit youth?”•2 with the question “How might you recruit youth?”

Say:In a moment you are going to be split into 4 groups. 2 groups will have the question “where might you recruit youth?”, the other 2 groups will have the question “how might you recruit youth?”. As a group, brainstorm all the possible answers to your questions and write them on the flip chart. Groups 1 & 2: you have the question “where might you recruit youth?”. Think about partnerships, places you might find youth to recruit. Groups 3 & 4: you have the question “how might you recruit youth?”. For this question think about this… you already have a group of youth, but HOW do you get them to want to come work with you? Partnerships are also key for recruitment. Additional Recruitment Ideas:

•Partner with School Based Health Centers •Partner with Tobacco and Alcohol Prevention•Speak at a high school rally •Make the project part of service/volunteer hours•Offering a stipend •Build relationships – gain trust, find out what is

important to themImages: found in inspiring youth as partners on PHI site but CDPH materialLUNCH – 1 hour

I love my people who…(Energizer) 10 min (See activity in binder)

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Title Facilitating Youth Groups

Time 15 min

Facilitator

Materials and Preparation

Left side Right Side SAY: So now we are going to talk about facilitating youth groups. Here

we have some general tips for working with youth. You want to think about: when, where and how will you met? What communication channels with you use? How will you organize your meetings? How will you celebrate your wins (big and small)?What else might be important to consider when working with youth?

Tips for Working with Youth handout in the workbook. Image – Berkeley’s YPAR Hub.

SAY: Now let’s do a quick activity. Individually, read through the “How adults can be youth allies” document in the workbook. Circle, highlight, or underline what stands out to you. DO: Give participants a few minutes to complete the activity. ASK: Have participants share what stood out to them.

TitleCheck in/Check Out

Time 10 min

Facilitator

Materials and Preparation

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Left side Right Side SAY: Next let’s want to talk about an activity called check-in/check-out.

This can be found in your workbook, and also in the YPAR binder. The purpose of this activity is to make sure you are not diving straight into work, instead you are connecting and building a relationship. Checking-in and checking-out builds trust, unity and compassion.The idea behind checking-in and checking-out is just like it sounds. You check in with everyone when the meeting starts and check out with everyone as the meeting ends.

With a partner, review the check-in/check-out handout. Together talk about: which questions might you use? Do you have others?

TitleUnderstanding Youth Language

Time 15 min

Facilitator

Materials and Preparation

Left side Right Side SAY: Next we are going to do a fun activity about youth language! The

purpose of this activity is to check our understanding of current youth language. We want to be up on youth language, not necessarily so we can use their language, but just so that we can understand their conversations.

Explain instructions (read screen). SAY: Words are going to appear on the screen, if you know the word or phrase, take a step forward. If you don’t know, stay where you are. Be warned! If you step forward you might be asked to share the definition with the group!

DO: Display one word at a time, after everyone has taken a step forward (or not), ask someone who took a step forward to share the definition. Then, display the correct definition on the screen.

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Break 15 min PA Shuffle/Break

TitleAddressing Challenging Situations

Time 20 min

Facilitator

Materials and Preparation

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Left side Right Side Say: We’d like to talk now about some techniques you can use to

engage the young people you are working with. These techniques can be used when addressing challenging situations in some of your discussions. This simple formula can help diffuse a situation where negativity may arise, help to get others involved in the conversation when you have one person monopolizing the conversation or help when your conversation are getting off track.

Say: The first technique is affirmation and this is just a statement letting your young people know you appreciate who they are and what they have done. Turn to p13 of your workbook. You’ll see here the different types of affirmations. Using an affirmation encourages other group members to speak up. This can also be used when facing a challenging situation. For example if you have someone monopolizing the conversation making sure to affirm the person helps them feel recognized but after you affirm you’ll be able to use a bounce back to hear from others which we’ll talk about in a moment.

The other thing about affirmation is that we want to make sure you know affirming does not always mean agreeing. So you can use it as a way to thank someone for sharing but not necessarily agree whole heartedly on their perspective.

How many of you hear already use this technique? Who do you use it with?

Say: Another technique used in challenging situations is reflection. This lets your group members know that you are listening and you understand them. If you have someone that comes to your group with negativity addressing their issue in the beginning will help them to move on so the group can stay on task.

Let’s turn now to p14 of your workbook to look at some examples of this.

Work in pairs to come up with responses to the Group Member sample comment.Say: So now we know how affirmation and reflection can be used. You usually want to follow these up with a bounce back inviting other members to engage in the conversation. If you do run into an issue with getting off track you’ll want to affirm/reflect and then remind the members what topic you are trying to tackle for the day before bouncing back again.

P15 of your workbook gives you some examples of how to bounce back Say: The last technique you can use is just to thank and move on to keep the momentum going with your meeting. Coordinating time with youth can be challenging so you want to make sure you make the best use of

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TitleChoosing an Issue/Community Mapping

Time 30 min

Facilitator

Materials and Preparation

Left side Right Side Say: We’ve talked a lot about communicating with young people so now

we want to take some time to focus on how to help your young people choose issues in their communities to work on that are important to them. There are a lot of different ways to choose an issue for a project. If you look under Stepping Stone 3 of your binder you will find different activities to use. Today we’ll be doing a modified version of community mapping.

Say: In your table groups draw a picture of a community similar to the one you work in. If your group members work in different communities talk about similarities in your communities and draw those. Then identify improvements you’d like to see made in your community that will help increase healthy eating and active living.

Do: Have each group share out what improvements they’d like to make to their communities.

TitlePartnerships

Time 5 min

Facilitator

Materials and Preparation

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Left side Right Side Say: Let’s turn now to p18 of your workbook to look at who you might

partner with. After doing the community mapping we want you to think about what improvements you’d like to be made and who you might partner with.

Working in table groups complete the handout in workbook.

For example: Goal: Improve env at school to get more PA using stencils. Partner: County with stencils, parents, principle, lowes. Engage: Hold meeting, handout flyers

TitleProject Ideas(Complete Streets/SLM)

Time 15 min

Facilitator

Materials and Preparation

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Left side Right Side SAY: Now we would like to show you a few examples of possible

projects. This first example shows a project from start to finish. A Day One youth team at Mountain View High School in the city of El Monte selected a YPAR project that advocated for safer, more pedestrian friendly streets to promote physical activity and active transportation. The youth planned their project during weekly lunchtime meetings. Which included healthy food demonstrations, practice in public speaking and leadership skills, as well as stakeholder and community engagement strategies.

DO: Play Video.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR03H0JU5MM

SAY: Another example of a possible project is a Smarter Lunchroom Movement project. ASK: What is the Smarter Lunchroom Movement?

DO: Thank participants for responses, read screen.

ASK: How might we make SLM an YPAR project?SAY: Those are great ideas. DO: Display the info on the screen one bullet at a time and read it.

TitleResources

Time 5 min

Facilitator

Materials and Preparation

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Left side Right Side Say:

We have many successful locals that are excited to share the work they are doing with youth. Peer Exchange Program is a way for you to connect with locals via phone, web-based or in person to learn how they are having success doing youth engagement. For example we just had a GoTo meeting with LA county’s subcontractor who shared how they used photovoice with youth on a walkability project. We have flyers for this so make sure you complete one today to stay connected.

Mention that we will be sending out an email with links to resources mentioned throughout the day and that have come up.

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TitleAffirmation Circle

Time 5-10 min

Facilitator

Materials and Preparation

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Left side Right Side Say: Have participants make an inner circle and outer circle. Tell the

Inner circle to close their eyes. Read the following affirmations while outer circle walks around inner tapping some on the shoulder to affirm the statement they heard. Outer circle stops when they have rotated once. Read next affirmation. See Affirmation activity for more details.

Tap a person on shoulder who comes to mind when you hear the statement. Tap as many people as you would like

Affirmations: Tap someone who (Grp 1)

Someone who is a leader Someone who taught you something important Someone you respect Someone you appreciate Someone with good ideas Someone who represents the group well Someone who has inspired you

Affirmations: Tap someone who (Grp 2) Someone you wish you knew better Someone you respect Someone you learned something from today Someone who has inspired you Someone with a good sense of humor Someone who has brightened your day Someone you appreciate

Debrief:

1. How did you feel when someone tapped your shoulder?

2. How important is it to affirm the contributions of group members?

3. What are some other ways to affirm each other?

Explain that is activity can be done with youth and questions can be adjusted to the comfort level of the group.Closing:

Say: Thank you for joining us today. We enjoyed our time together and hope you all learned a lot from our time together. We’ll be emailing you additional resources.

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Suggested Ways to Evaluate

1. Please respond to the questions below with the appropriate answer:

As a result of attending this training session I am better able to:

a. Objective #1

Strongly Agree ☐ Agree ☐ Disagree ☐ Strongly Disagree ☐ N.A. ☐

b. Objective #2

Strongly Agree ☐ Agree ☐ Disagree ☐ Strongly Disagree ☐ N.A. ☐

c. Objective #3

Strongly Agree ☐ Agree ☐ Disagree ☐ Strongly Disagree ☐ N.A. ☐

Please check ALL of the training activities below that were EFFECTIVE in meeting the course objectives.

This activity effectively contributed to the course objectives:

a. Activity #1 ☐

b. Activity #2 ☐

c. Activity #3 ☐

2. How likely are you to recommend this training session to someone else?

Very likely ☐

Somewhat likely ☐

Not very likely ☐

Does not apply ☐

3. What about this training session did you especially like?

4. What do you think would make this training session better?

5. Any other comments?

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