Tuesday, July 26, 2016

July Update


      The month of July has been a very productive month because I was able to get actual feedback from teens and young adults from the local and surrounding areas and host a kickoff event on July 14th, at the Belle Glade Teen Center where over 40 people ( mostly teens) were in attendance.



The Kickoff included : 
  • A PowerPoint Presentation that reinforced my purpose for hosting the event and a call to action from my peers. 
  • Refreshments for the people who attended
  • Conversation on what groups/committees should be created to plan my event
The Kickoff allowed me to realize that there are several aspects of event planning that must be taken into account and has allowed me to take on a more accurate timeline that includes my date changing from a mid-October date to an late winter/early (January-March) Spring 2017 date. 

Timeline for Glades Teen Summit ( Still susceptible to modification)

By the end of May:
·         Attended the 31st National Preventing Crime in the Black Community Conference
·         Analyzed what aspects of the conference should be implemented into Glades Teen Summit

By the end of June:
·         Begin portfolio
·         Decide on a time period

By the end of July:
·         Have an event kickoff
·         Decide on a location
·         Create various committees

By the end of August:
·         Decide on an actual date
·         Compile a list of ALL that will be invited to attend the event

By the end of September:
·         Send out letters to local businesses, potential speakers, principal, and teachers asking for their participation in the event.
·         Begin making flyer prototypes and marketing process (have at least two sample flyers made).

       By the end of October
·         Reach out to vendors to see which ones would be available for the event.

             The timeline of what will occur from November into the year 2017 will be uploaded as soon as I can assure the steps I'm taking are leading me in the right direction. 

I            I am currently working on building a portfolio that details the work that is going into making the Glades Teen Summit happen. 

      My goals for August are as follows :
  1.  Blogging more often about my ideas for the Glades Teen Summit and the progress updates at least once a week/bi-weekly.
  2.  Deciding on the actual date for when I wish to have the summit
  3.  Mastering my focus on balancing my academic life ( as a high school senior) and the Glades Teen Summit 





Focusing on What Matters: Glades Teen Summit Focus Group

June 30th, 2016

Focusing on What Matters: Glades Teen Summit Focus Group

                Today a focus group was held at the Gove Elementary Boys and Girls Club in Belle Glade, Florida. The purpose of the focus group was to gain input from teens from the local area (Belle Glade, Pahokee, South Bay) and surrounding areas (Eastern Palm Beach County). The teens ages ranged from 15 to 20 and they were asked to fill out a questionnaire that focused on pinpointing specific examples of what can be better in their communities. The form had the following questions:

1.       What are three things that are detrimental to the Glades (Eastern Palm Beach County) community?
             1.
             2.
             3.

2.       What can be done to improve your local area?
             1.
             2.
             3.

3.       Do you think that having a summit that addresses these issues will be beneficial to the Glades community?




All in all, 26 teens and young adults took the survey with:

  • One being 15
  • One being 16,
  • Nine were 17 
  • Seven were 18 
  • Five 19 year olds 
  • Three 20 year olds


14 of the 26 teens were from the Glades area and 12 of  26 were from Eastern Palm Beach County communities (Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, West Palm Beach, and Riviera Beach.)

 18 teens believed that violence, particularly gang and gun violence, was a major issue that was detrimental to their local areas with 12 of those teens being from the Glades and 6 being from surrounding areas.

 18  teens believed that drugs/illegal substances was also a factor in that was detrimental to their local area.
22 of  26 teens thought that having a teen summit of the magnitude of the Glades Teen Summit would be beneficial to the Glades area.

Based on the information found from the focus group questionnaire, it can be concluded that there are various issues affecting Palm Beach County communities, with the Glades being in dire need of assistance.

This issue is very beneficial to me and my affiliates in planning the summit because it shows what issues must be focused on and thoroughly addressed at the summit.  It also allows us to estimate teen turn out because we got a glimpse of a general opinion from teens themselves.