Youth Conference Planned at Shaker Village
HANCOCK, Mass. — More than 100 students from high schools around Berkshire County will be participating on Friday in the third annual youth conference designed to bring the region's youth together to explore shared issues and opportunities.The daylong event will take place at Hancock Shaker Village with workshops and tours, culminating with an evening concert that's open to the public.
"Sustainability is going to be a big part of this," said Tynan Whalen, a Monument Mountain Regional High School senior who's been part of the planning committee, in tune with the conference's location. "They're going to give tours showing the different ways Hancock Shaker Village maintains its sustainability and about its ecological impact. We hope that will make an impact on the kids there."
Whalen and Andrea Therrien of the town of Florida, a senior at Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public School in Adams, have been working for months on organizing the conference with representatives from regional youth and community organizations.
The process has included youth and adults in presenting a variety of workshops that are educational and interesting. The Berkshire Youth Development Project is a collaborative effort of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, the Pittsfield Prevention Partnership and the Railroad Street Youth Project/South Berkshire Youth Coalition.
The conference, "The 411 in the 413," was held last year at Mount Washington's YMCA Camp Hi-Rock. Each high school is invited to send up 10 students and two chaperones. Workshops range from the arts to relationships to stress to local and global challenges. Groups and individuals are invited to submit presentations.
"We got a really good response, there were so many we had to turn down a few," said Therrien. "It was great to see what so many people wanted to do. We looked at the [submissions] and we all voted on the best."
Both teenagers are working with the Berkshire Youth Development Project through internships with collaborating organizations. Whalen has been active in the Railroad Street Youth Project since the age of 13.
"I realized how many resources Railroad Street offered — mentoring programs, I even took a culinary program, and the [International] Day of Peace event they have every Sept. 21," said Whalen, an aspiring hip hop musician. "... They gave me an opportunity to perform at the U.N., at the headquarters in New York, with my music and stuff."
BaRT requires its students to do an internship in their senior to graduate, said Therrien. The school hooked her up with Kate Merrigan and the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition. "They're really great," she said. "I've had just as much input into the planning [of the forum] as anybody else."
Therrien's responsible for making sure everone's where they should be; Whalen, who was a keynote speaker last year, is more focused on making sure the concert runs smoothly with Ruralliance Productions.
"High school students from all around Berkshire County are going to be there. We have bands from North County, from South County," he said, adding its not just about making music. "They get to meet each other and create new opportunities for each other and share what's happening."
Both students are taking away valuable lessons from their nonprofit internships. For Therrien, who will study nursing at Russell Sage Colleges this fall, it was an opportunity to meet people and get a firsthand look at the work that goes into any collaboration.
"I'm a very personable person, I do listen to others but this was a really different experience," she said. "And it made me become very organized. I liked getting involved ... I can use that in future."
Whalen will be going off to the New School in New York City to study sociology, a discipline he says fits well with the way he uses lyrics to express his ideas. His focus? "Hip hop, peace, activism."
Therrien and Whalen are hoping their peers gain insights from the conference that will help them as much as they gained from planning it.
"I just want all of them to feel extremely empowered," said Whalen. "There are a lot of resources for whatever their passion is, they can find it there."
The youth conference is closed to the public but the concert at 7:30 p.m., "What's There to do Around Here?" is open to the public. The cost is $5 and it will be held in the Round Stone Barn.
It will feature Higher Organix, Twisting Karma, The Aposoul, Youth Alive, Eli Catlin, Reason837, Checker Chance, The Interlopers, Space Jam, Ruralliance Productions and Soultube Music. Proceeds from the concert will support next year's youth conference.
