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Youth programming ramping up at FCSS

Survey shows students want more access to sports, art, life skills
westlock fcss
The Westlock & District Family and Community Support Services plans to bring more youth-focused programming to the area.

WESTLOCK — The Westlock & District Family and Community Support Services has three new programs in the works targeting youth this month.

They’re planning to start Passport to Your Best Self, geared toward bettering mental health with things like fitness, yoga and mindfulness, or art. 

Over the summer, Adulting 101 will be the practical accompaniment, teaching youth over the course of six to eight weeks things like budgeting, basic car maintenance and healthy cooking. 

FCSS will also start a one-on-one youth outreach program for people aged 16 to 21 to support the transition to adulthood and fill in a gap in existing community services. 

All programs are dependent on COVID-19 restrictions. 

Emma Langevin, community youth coordinator at FCSS, said the three new programs come after 245 Grade 7-12 Westlock-area student survey revealed what that age group thinks is missing. 

“Our goal with this survey was to gather the opinions of youth in terms of what types of programming/volunteering opportunities they would be interested in, and what they felt the biggest issues were for youth in the community,” Langevin said. 

“We felt this was a necessary first step before we developed any youth programming, because we wanted to ensure everything we did was informed by what the youth expressed they want and need.” 

The Top 3 issues the respondents identified were mental health (38 per cent), boredom (32 per cent) and substance abuse (30 per cent), according to a copy of the results Langevin provided. 

In terms of programming, most said they wanted more fitness- or sports-related activities (about 130), although art (about 80) and mental health (about 60) ranked high as well. 

For life skills, the results were “balanced” between cooking, housing, automotive, finances, post-secondary, employment and mental health. 

More than half of the students surveyed said they have volunteered before. On their list of priorities for volunteering opportunities, skill sharing ranked highest with 110 students asking for those kinds of opportunities. Close to 90 students wanted to help seniors or the environment, and about 70 wanted to tutor or mentor others. 

Most respondents, 44.5 per cent, didn’t have an answer when asked if they felt supported or valued in the community. The rest were almost evenly split between not really to not at all, or a lot to very much, although more didn’t feel appreciated. 

For over a year, FCSS has been focusing more on youth in Westlock. Langevin’s position is new, and the board also added youth members. While programming for seniors is abundant, and kids have their share of summer activities as well, the teenagers were left with fewer recourse than other age groups, which FCSS is now trying to fix. 

Andreea Resmerita, TownandCountryToday.com

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