SR Vol 27 No 3, July 2009 - Nova Scotia Barristers' Society
SR Vol 27 No 3, July 2009 - Nova Scotia Barristers' Society
SR Vol 27 No 3, July 2009 - Nova Scotia Barristers' Society
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Youth Work that works<br />
Including young people in the<br />
conversation – it works!<br />
If I were asked to describe the recent Youth Work That Works<br />
(YWTW) conference in one word, I would have to use the word<br />
extraordinary. Extraordinary can be defined as either very unusual<br />
call it Youth Work That Works, because it works.<br />
We manage to work together in a fun and interactive way. We<br />
learn more and more about each other as the days go on and most<br />
importantly, we learn more and more about ourselves and we begin<br />
to look at what we have to offer.<br />
Young people have so much to<br />
offer, but their opinions and voices<br />
are often seen as inferior to the<br />
voices and opinions of adults.<br />
Being a youth host this year was incredible. It was amazing to observe<br />
the evolution of the conference from the beginning to end. It is always<br />
encouraging to meet adults who want to know how they can work<br />
better with youth and are not afraid to ask for help.<br />
I left the conference feeling overwhelmed with joy, and hopeful that<br />
those who attended would go back and apply what they learned to<br />
their own work with youth.<br />
Young people have so much to offer, but their opinions and voices<br />
are often seen as inferior to the voices and opinions of adults. My<br />
lifelong goal is to break down the barriers that prevent people from<br />
communicating effectively together because I believe we all need each<br />
other. <strong>No</strong>w more than ever.<br />
LaMeia Reddick<br />
YWTW Youth Host<br />
or remarkable. YWTW is both. It is unusual because it is<br />
not like most conferences, where people come expecting it<br />
to be the regular sit-down, listen-to-the-presenter, look-atthis-Powerpoint,<br />
take-notes type of conference. It’s fun to<br />
watch the participants’ reactions when we whip around the<br />
talking piece and encourage them to let their guard down.<br />
Youth Works That Works is remarkable because there is<br />
something so powerful that comes out of getting people<br />
with a common interest together to talk about things that<br />
are important to them. Getting youth and adults together<br />
produces amazing results in an atmosphere where everyone<br />
feels that what they have to say is valuable. This is why we<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2009</strong> 29