the BEST part of our week
...or one of the best parts! Katie Rice and I have recently been attending a training by the BEST Institute in Boston, a program run by The Boston Foundation. It's been nice to be a learner for a few hours each Tuesday, as we've considered best practices in the field of youthwork and how to creatively and thoughtfully implement and run our youth programs.
Some ideas we've been considering:
* How to have a range of offerings in our Neighborhood Youth Ministries, sometimes running full-service programs, other times giving support to our youth so they can test their own abilities and shine, and still other times creating space for opportunities where they can springboard into their own ideas and efforts with minor direction/oversight from our staff.
* How do we promote resiliency (the ability to thrive amongst risk factors) in our youth?
* What level of decision-making is possible for youth? Should they hire/fire staff or sit on boards? While that might not be a direction The Boston Project ultimately follows, it is our desire to clearly hear from the community and let that have an influence in shaping what we do. How are we doing this, or how do we want to expand this idea?
We've also been challenged and excited to be the only two members of our class of thirty members or so who are working for a faith-based organization and to talk about the work of The Boston Project with colleagues who are interested.
Please pray with us and for us as we finish the training in the coming month- for the relationships that develop from the BEST Institute and for the ways we can integrate the ideas from BEST in our ministry.
