Summer 2026 Offerings

This workshop helps 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.

As programs work to facilitate skill building for young people, youth workers must think about their readiness to facilitate cognitive skill building with young people. In this workshop, youth workers will take time to identify their own strengths, needs, interests, and constraints related to learning and cognitive development. Additionally, participants will strengthen their understanding of how their background, experiences, privilege, bias, and/or discrimination have affected their attitudes toward learning and their expectation about other’s learning.

This 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.

This workshop introduces methods for building supportive, youth-centered relationships and prepares participants to ask effective questions, listen actively to youth, and encourage young people by tapping their intrinsic motivation.

It is in struggle that we all grow. Helping support young people through that struggle helps promote that opportunity for growth and learning. In this workshop, participants will practice fostering growth mindset to help young people persevere when they struggle and explore strategies that staff can use to support them. Participants will identify nuances for how these strategies may apply to work with the young people they work with in balanced, equitable ways.

Pre-Requisite: FASA of Cognitive Development

Problem solving is the ability plan, strategize & implement complex tasks. Youth workers have the opportunity each day to build problem solving opportunities into programs and support young people with in- the- moment problem solving, all to support skill building. In this workshop, participants will learn the basics of how our brain solves problems, and will practice a model for helping young people define and explore problems, preparing them to take action and learn from them. Participants will apply the skills and content to problem-solving with young people in their context.

Pre-Requisite: FASA of Cognitive Development

This workshop explores staff practices to effectively support young people with academic efforts at any time by framing academic support as an opportunity to build relationships and nurture positive growth, beyond getting the work done.