Youth Leader Training

One of the most amazing things to me about Young Women Camp is that we entrust the Youth Leaders with so much responsibility. In order for them to succeed they need training and a proper orientation towards their roles. I like each meeting with the youth leaders to focus on one or more of the following sections.  

Here are the main principles I want the Youth Leaders to understand and practice:

1. Be Spiritually Prepared

• Prepare all year long by regularly reading our scriptures, praying, and keeping a journal 
•  We need a close relationship with Heavenly Father to serve his children
• Go over principles of effective scripture study, likening the scriptures to ourselves/campers
• Being a Standard bearer and example- let the campers see you can be righteous and still be fun and give them examples of including others, being kind, etc. 

2. Plan with a Purpose -

• To Teach effectively, the learner must learn the skill, see it done, practice it, then review
• Plan activities by first asking "What do we want to happen?" This helps us plan activities that are meaningful, based on the needs of the group, reinforce principles and lessons. 
• Determine the goals of the activity- this helps you know if it was successful. 
• Make the plan with several ideas and pick one
• Carry out- list all tasks, delegate, give deadlines to stay on track, do it! 
• Evaluate- Have the campers think about the activity and think how they feel about it. Recognize the efforts of all who helped. 
• As youth leaders, evaluate-What can we do better next time? What worked? 

3.  Conducting a Meeting

• Proper order of a meeting/activity- order activities so energy is increasing or decreasing
• Find prayers and song ahead of time
• Encourage reverence with quiet music before, calm tones as you conduct
• Telling everyone "Be quiet!" isn't effective. Teach simple rhymes or calls to get a group's attention.

4. Build Caring Relationships 

• Develop a climate of trust- be kind, respectful, not critical
• Be observant- notice their individuality and gear your lessons towards their interests and their knowledge base and experience. 
• Spend time with them- ask questions, share personal stories, don't separate yourself
• Love them- pray for them, be supportive and encouraging 
• Don't judge them- Some campers will be brand new to church and others will have lots of gospel knowledge. Some come from homes with large problems, others have quiet home lives. Some may have anxiety or deep insecurities you can't see. Don't judge their actions on your limited knowledge of them. 
• Focus on your camper's experience- when you are thinking of how they feel and what they are experiencing and not how you look or sound, you can devote all your energy towards success.