Youth invades Town Hall.

More than 100 junior high and high school students from around the state gathered at the city of Mesa's Red Mountain Multigenerational Center this past January. The teens were chaperoned by the city's staff who graduated from NRPA's Adult Leadership Training in Mesa, Ariz., this past November.

Students from Surprise, Marana, Tucson, Chandler, Fountain Hills, Queen Creek and Mesa met to confer about current issues such as violence, media influence and recreation. After several hours of discussion, the teens were treated to recreation time, which included a rock climbing wall, billiards, pizza, basketball and other games.

Now that the teens have touched upon daily issues, they will go back to their youth groups and decide which issues are most dominant in their community. From there, they will work together to find how they can make a difference by volunteering.

The "Town Hall" is just one phase of a national program called National Youth Congress (NYC). The NYC is a program that encourages teenagers to get involved in their community, practice leadership skills, and introduces them to the world of parks and recreation. The NYC was initiated in response to the large number of recreation professionals who will be retiring in the near future.

The NYC is split into three main components. First, teens participate in the Town Hall Forum, where they discuss both the positive and negative events that happen in their daily environment.

The second component is leadership and community service training. For example, Mesa held a teen leadership training during last year's spring break. During the week, the teens learned about leadership, communication and community service through lectures, games and group discussions. In addition, the participants created their own community service project. Mesa's teens chose homelessness as their issue, and for their final project, they planned and executed an afternoon of recreational activities for the elementary students at a local transitional living facility.

The third component of NYC is workforce development. This phase helps teens get actual work/volunteer experience in the recreation field while being mentored by recreation staff. Mesa's NYC participants were invited to enroll in Mesa's summer teen volunteer program called Leadership in Training. The Leaders in Training volunteer up to six hours a day, and five days a week for the elementary summer camps. For two months, the Leaders in Training assist the day-camp counselors in planning, leading and evaluating camp activities. Many leaders stay for several years and eventually become city of Mesa summer staff.

For more information about the NYC, contact NRPA or visit the Web site at www.nationalyouthcongress.org.