Published: June 25, 2009 07:41 am      

Lafayette youth gather for Dowling Park summit

The Youth Advocacy Partnership held its 2009 Summer Summit youth training event in Dowling Park's Advent Christian Village recently. Students came from three adjacent counties including Lafayette, Suwannee and Hamilton for the three-day summit.

"I'm always amazed at the ideas and potential that our local youth have," said Youth Advocacy Partnership Director Steven Schneitman. "It's clear that our kids want to make a difference in our community."

The Youth Advocacy Partnership is a Live Oak-based not-for-profit organization with a focus on encouraging local youth to become active in improving the community. YAP works with several groups of young people locally to develop local service projects and build marketable skills in the process.

The Summer Summit focused heavily on approaching local issues by changing the environment in which the negative behaviors take place. Barbara Cody a 2009 Suwannee High graduate, worked as a staff member.

"I'm always happy to give back to my community," Cody said. "Working on problems that me and my friends see, is really rewarding", Cody said, "It's nice to know that some adults in our community actually believe in us. We can all be heroes, and that's really cool."

For more information about the Summer Summit, other YAP programs, or future youth trainings, visit www.youthadvocacy.net or contact Schneitman at 386-362-2121.