OLD TOWN – They boarded the bus eagerly, anticipating free food and an afternoon outside the classroom. By 10:15 a.m., 32 Old Town High School students realized they were in for even more surprises, including six adult facilitators who wanted to hear what they had to say – for four hours.

On May 5, the River Coalition and the Old Town Public Library served as hosts for “Stop, Collaborate and Listen,” a teen forum involving high school students. The forum, held in response to youth interest and desire to engage in community development, provided an opportunity for conversations exploring the possibilities of change in communities to better serve the area’s teen population.

Joe Gallant, principal at Old Town High School, embraced the chance to promote student voice, allowing them to be a part of the daylong effort at the Old Town Public Library.

“Stop, Collaborate and Listen” was facilitated by Mike Crooker, Micah Robbins and Chelsea Moeller from the River Coalition; Valerie Osborne and Cindy Seger from the Old Town Public Library; and Kevin McPhee from Student Aspirations at the University of Maine.

Students were asked to weigh in on topics regarding current and future opportunities in Old Town and the area. They discussed their roles in academic and outside communities, appealing for more involvement and support. They asked to be included in cultivating a better experience for local youth, and for the community in general.

The students said they needed to be surrounded by people who love, care for, appreciate and accept them. They need to know that they belong and that they have something to offer to the community.

They need to have adults encourage them to get involved and do their best. The facilitators acknowledged that students need a variety of learning experiences emphasizing belief in their abilities to make positive changes in the community.

Students said they wanted a place to go, such as a teen center, where they can hang out. They want to be involved in the community, either through mentoring younger children or service learning projects. The consensus was that high school students in the area have a lot to offer and little has been done to tap into this resource.

Perhaps the most urgent task is rebuilding a sense of community in which everyone accepts shared responsibility in fostering a strong environment so that teens can play a more vital role. In a sense, the group wanted to set priorities so that clear actions could be taken.

While emphasis was placed on types of programs that could be offered to teens, there also was emphasis on youth development to equip community-based organizations, the high school and other institutions to be more effective in their work with the teen population.

At the end of the forum, the River Coalition recruited some of the participants to be a part of the Youth Advisory Council, established by the coalition and made up of high school students. The council’s mission is to identify problems and assess student needs to develop programming and allocate resources. At least two members will become members of the River Coalition’s board of directors.

“The idea of the Youth Advisory Council is to give our youth a voice and ownership in addressing the issues that impact the youth of our communities,” said Michael Crooker, executive director of the River Coalition. He added that the next step was to bring together the same group of high school students and key members of the community to broaden the scope of the discussion.

The emphasis for the next forum will be to create a vision for healthy communities that reaches beyond student programs and schools to focus on mobilizing and equipping all community sectors to reclaim their responsibility to “be a village” for young people.

A combined meeting of teens and members of the community will provide each group the opportunity to get to know each other better, and to learn about their perspectives and hopes.