On May 26th the UBHCHY Coalition will be hosting its annual Upper Bucks Youth Summit at the Upper Bucks YMCA. This year, participating schools include Milford Middle School, Palisades Middle School and Strayer Middle School.
The summit provides an opportunity for middle school students to attend and “showcase” their efforts as part of their school’s social norms project. These projects are lead by members of the school’s “street team”. The members of “street teams” are responsible for initiating, planning and implementing their schools project. Social norms campaigns are designed to educate others that the majority of people usually decide, “to do the right thing most of the time.” Past campaigns have focused on reducing underage drinking. This year, the campaigns have focused on preventing bullying.
The Upper Bucks Youth Summit will feature two keynote youth speakers: Nate Fosbenner, a rising sophomore at Elizabethtown College and Nora Katz, a rising senior at Palisades High School will speak on the topic of making wise choices, good friends and adjusting to high school and eventually college.
Having these young role models make the keynote presentations to middle school students will help reinforce the notion of “positive peer influence.” The transition to high school from middle school is perhaps one of the most important milestones in a teenager’s life as they make more concrete decisions about relationships and healthy choices.
During the day, participants will also be able to attend workshops on the topics of teamwork, safe Internet use, healthy asset development and making healthy choices.
