Fall 2026 Offerings

Building Community focuses on promoting a climate in which youth can feel part of a group. Community building can take place in both structured and unstructured ways.

Participants will: learn methods for building supportive, youth-centered relationship; be prepared to ask effective questions, listen actively to youth, and encourage young people by tapping their intrinsic motivation; leave this session with practical skills that can be implemented immediately.

Workshop Facilitator(s): TBA

Why should your program support youth voice? To build youth motivation; promote learning and self-direction; and improve programs and communities. Supporting youth voice and choice doesn't mean relinquishing all control to youth. This interactive workshop guides staff to support young people by providing opportunities for voice and choice. With proper support and scaffolding over time, young people grow in responsible decision-making and leadership.

Participants will leave this session with practical skills that can be implemented immediately.

Workshop Facilitator(s): TBA

‍Leadership and responsibility opportunities are not only foundational to high-quality programs, but are also important social emotional abilities for young people to build, develop, and practice. In this workshop participants will explore how responsibility and leadership fit within a broader social-emotional learning (SEL) framework and develop practical skills to model roles and responsibilities and support young people in leveraging their strengths, interests, and leadership style as part of groups and relationships. All of this supports youth social development.

Participants will practice applying techniques learned to their programs with an eye toward facilitating young peoples’ ownership.

This workshop is part of the Weikart Center's SEL Methods series which you can learn more about here.

Workshop Facilitator(s): TBA

Structure and Clear Limits in a youth program lay the foundation for a safe environment that supports young people.

This interactive workshop helps out-of-school time staff establish appropriate structure (routines and rituals) and clear limits (norms and behavior guidelines), fostering a feeling of fairness and predictability that supports young people to explore and express themselves in a conducive learning environment.

Participants will leave this session with practical skills that can be implemented immediately.

Workshop Facilitator(s): TBA

Do you communicate with youth in a way that makes them feel supported and heard? This workshop provides strategies for carrying out positive, purposeful interactions with young people through asking effective questions, letting young people speak, and making specific observations about their decisions that encourage them to succeed.

Participants will leave this session with practical skills that can be implemented immediately.

Workshop Facilitator(s):

Teamwork – for some of us the word generates excitement, for some of us dread. With time, support, and facilitation youth workers can help young people have both strong teambuilding skills and a sense of trust and group identity.

Participants in this workshop will learn and apply group norm building and facilitation techniques. Time will be spent applying and scaffolding techniques to support young people in managing their communication styles and applying reframing conflict skills.

This workshop is part of the Weikart Center's SEL Methods series which you can learn more about here.

‍Workshop Facilitator(s): TBA

Conflict is an inescapable part of any youth program. Reframing Conflict is a set of proven strategies that can operationalize conflict experiences and help create a safe program environment that respects individuals, encourages different perspectives, and builds communication skills.

This workshop provides a six-step, youth-centered, nonthreatening way of resolving conflicts that occur in youth settings. It is a problem-solving approach that seeks to turn conflicts into learning opportunities.

Participants will leave this session with practical skills that can be implemented immediately.

Workshop Facilitator(s): TBA

Active Learning occurs when young people actively process, rather than passively receive information. Adults can promote Active Learning by providing content that is challenging, meaningful, and focused on skill-building, by providing strong support for youth as they learn.

This workshop provides practical strategies for actively engaging young people in their own learning process by providing meaningful, challenging content with strong adult support.

Participants will leave this session with practical skills that can be implemented immediately.

Workshop Facilitator(s): TBA