Publicity
At-risk youths in Boys & Girls Clubs program
learn the values of kindness
Life lessons
By Alicia Doyle
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Those filled with rage learned how to be positive, honest and forgiving. Some who believed crying was a weakness learned
that tears can represent a symbol of healing. And all of them learned that by letting go of the past, they can heal and move on — and ultimately achieve anything they set their mind to.
For the 27 children and young adults who recently went through an intensive two-day workshop designed for at-risk youths, it was all about realizing their full potential in an effort to leave their problems in the past.
“When the youth realize that they are not alone in their feelings, and that other people have had similar life experiences, there is a huge feeling of connection and community,” said Jani
McGuire, CEO and founder of Awakening Young Minds — AYM — a program offered for the
past two years at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme.
“Rival gang members, kids who would never choose to hang out together, let alone talk to one another, are calling each other family,” McGuire said. “Walls come down, judgment goes away and love overcomes hate. They see and hear the stories of struggles and pain, and with that learn to have compassion and empathy toward one another.”
Those chosen
The most recent AYM workshop, on Dec. 12 and 13, involved 16 boys and 11 girls, ages 12 to 20, who spent eight hours each day engaging in one-on-one sharing, small group work, game playing and other activities.
The youths are specially selected from a group of youths who have had serious delinquency problems and would most benefit from the proven results of the workshop.
“We chose the youths who we feel need assistance in letting things go so they can move on to
a productive life, and those kids who need to believe in themselves,” said Erin Antrim, director
of delinquency prevention at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme. “We have young people who deal with a wide range of issues and we try to select those who could benefit the most.”
AYM uses a teaching tool called experiential learning, which includes a series of individual and group processes geared to be both thought-provoking and action- oriented, said McGuire, who has been working with experiential learning since 1992.
“This setting creates results much faster than one-on-one counseling, and because experiential learning is often self-initiated, the youths are immediately able to retain, integrate and apply the concepts they assimilate during the two-day training, and continue to do so years later,”
McGuire said.
“In other words, they will never forget their two-day experience in the AYM program.”
Learning to let go
Christina Olivares, 18, learned “not to dwell on the past or blame other people for our life; our decisions are based on our own choices.”
For her, the hardest part of the two-day process was “all the tears. Even though they were good tears, they gave me a headache.”
Nevertheless, she said, “it opened up my eyes to a lot of things. I look at life in a more positive perspective now.”
Eduardo Enriquez, 17, said that, thanks to AYM, “I was able to put some very negative things in my life in the past. I’ve learned that loving helps you succeed and interact with others. I discovered that holding anger inside is very bad.”
For him, the most challenging part of the workshop was “leaving the negative things that I had experienced in the past, but thanks to all the wonderful people in the workshop, I was able to
do that.”
Richard Garcia, 19, said AYM taught him how to let go of things that happened in his past, and the overall importance of letting go in general. “It helps kids with their future,” he said, “because it’s hard growing up in these neighborhoods nowadays.”
Alejandra Gentry, 20, said the workshop “changed my perspective toward myself, my goals, and my future. It also helped me to connect with other people in a way that I never have been able to. AYM allowed me to release things that I’ve been holding in my whole life, and I finally feel like
my heart can have peace.”
Goal is to heal
From the start, AYM creates a safe and nurturing environment of non-judgment, McGuire said. “The teens are treated with respect and are requested to return that respect,” she said. “There is a level of trust and honesty that the teens see right away. They respond to this honesty and want to create that in their own lives. They also soon realize that the team of coaches that are there to support them see only their potential, not their problems.”
The ultimate goal of AYM is “healing of our youth,” McGuire said. “To let all our youth know that they matter, they are loved and that, whatever their circumstances are, they can overcome them.”
For more information about AYM, visit http://www.awakeningyoungminds.com. To inquire about the program at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme, call 483-1100.
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At-Risk kids attend 2-day workshop
By Gareth W. Dodd
October 25, 2009
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme on Saturday hosted a group of teens who have had serious delinquency problems for a two-day intensive workshop designed by Awakening Young Minds.
"AYM is specifically designed to address the behaviors of teens," said Thousand Oaks resident Jani McGuire, AYM Founder and Facilitator. "The many issues they are faced with both directly and
indirectly, such as low self worth, abandonment. substance and sexual abuse, peer pressure and divorce, create behaviors that are often misunderstood."
McGuire said the workshop activities are thought-provoking and action-oriented.
"These processes awaken the young mind to new choices while simultaneously creating an opening
for change," she said. "AYM believes early intervention combined with effective follow-up and consistent mentoring is the key to successful and rewarding future for our youth."
Halfway through the first day of the workshop participants spoke of their strengths, weaknesses and goals, Chrystal Fontenot said she would be "talking more" with her mother.
"I haven't done that in a while," Fontenot said. "I'm hoping I can talk to people - my friends - about
what makes me mad and what makes me sad. My dad, my friends and me are having fights. Their parents don't like me, say I'm a bad influence. But I actually keep my friends out of trouble. My friends tell me
I'm good, but I'm really tense around parents" she said.
Fontenot, 17 lives in Oxnard and attends Pacifica High School. She plans to attend UC Berkeley and study music.
"What I have to work on is staying in school," said Devante Bryant, 15, a student at Adolfo Camarillo High School. "I get really angry and want to fight when I am challenged with racist words and other stuff like that."
He said he knows what he needs to do. "I have to avoid the bad people at school, stay away from them.
I just have to walk away from them, be a bigger man. I came (to do the workshop) because my mom inspired me to come to break the cycle," he said.
Pedro Ayale, 20, of Oxnard attended an AYM workshop two years ago and experienced positive effects from it. "The workshop helped me cope with past issues and gave me a jump start to a new life," Ayala said. "Now, I work at Pacific Clinics where I'm a peer counselor working with the homeless, disabled and people on probation. I'm also with the Clergy Counsel and speak to gang members at community block parties."
"AYM is an amazing and life changing experience for youth 13 to 18," said Tim Blaylock, chief professional officer of the Boys & Girls Club.
"AYM teaches kids to leave the past behind and empowers them to reach for a better life, through hands-on interactive communication. I have seen it work with foster youth, kids on probation and youth from backgrounds that represent every social ill that plagues our society."
© 2009 Scripps Newspaper Group — Online
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