'Thriving in a Virtual World' was theme of 32nd annual Youth Conference
Press release:
The Genesee Youth Conference Committee sponsored its 32nd annual Youth Conference. Although the event was not held in the same capacity due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Youth Conference Committee worked with the school districts to make this a virtual event for the students to participate in.
The virtual event took place March 8th through March 12th where students were able to access the Youth Conference website for an entire week and watch as many workshop videos as they would like.
After each workshop video there was a short survey for students to complete. By completing the survey, the student would then be entered into a drawing for a gift card. The committee also reviewed what schools had the most participation and treated them with a pizza party!
This conference is offered on an annual basis to local seventh- and eighth-grade students in Genesee and Orleans counties in an effort to address pertinent social issues of interest to youngsters of middle-school age. Based on the survey results, approximately 80 students participated in this virtual event.
Virtually Thriving
This year’s theme of the conference was, “Thriving in a Virtual World.”
A variety of human services organizations in Genesee County contributed to this virtual event by making an interactive video that was then put on our Youth Conference website. Workshops were tailored to be interesting and engaging while being taught valuable lessons. Workshop topics were: overcoming barriers in a virtual world; healthy relationships; virtual career exploration; yoga; geocaching; internet safety and more.
The committee received positive feedback from students about the virtual workshops.
One student said “I learned what a scary place the internet can be.” Another student commented on the virtual career exploration saying, “I didn’t realize how many jobs there are out there.”
An organization called Playworks participated in our virtual event whose mission is to help kids stay active and build valuable social and emotional life skills through the power of play. They gave students ideas on games that they can play with others virtually.
One student said, “That workshop taught me that it is OK to take a break to regain focus.”
The Genesee County Park provided a geocaching workshop, which is always popular. Students said they didn’t realize how to use a GPS other than from getting from one place to another.
One student said, “I had no idea you can geocache everywhere.” Another student said, “Geocaching was more interesting than I had thought.”
Pizza Pie Prizes
Emily Pietrzykowski, from Alexande,r was the winner of a gift card for her participation in our Virtual Youth Conference with her thought provoking feedback she gave on the surveys after participating in the workshops. Congratulations Emily!
We also had three schools with the highest participation amongst their seventh- and eighth-grade students. Those schools are: Pavilion Central School, Le Roy Central School and Alexander Central School. Each one of those schools were provided with a gift card for a local pizzeria to facilitate their own pizza party with the students! Congratulations!
Members of the Youth Conference Committee are extremely grateful to the workshop presenters for their time and hard work putting these videos together to educate our students and making learning fun.
The Genesee County Youth Conference Committee is comprised of representatives from the following agencies: Genesee County Youth Bureau, Genesee County Job Development, YMCA, RESTORE and Reality Check.
