In this 13-minute conversation with Cezanne Allen, learn about the upcoming 8-month live and online campaign of the Bainbridge Healthy Youth Alliance, called: “Beyond the Report Card: Cultivating What Matters”.

Participation is being offered at no charge to parents, grandparents, coaches, teachers and anyone else interested in helping kids thrive.

The campaign, which starts October 4th, includes a print booklet, weekly blog posts, relevant articles, weekly Facebook posts, monthly BCB podcasts, and handouts at events.

In addition, on Nov. 9th, there will be a guest lecture by Michele Borba PhD, author of “Unselfie”.

The aim of the Alliance is to create an 8-month learning adventure leading to a community culture where every child has what they need to thrive, connect, contribute, learn and prepare for a fulfilling career.

The Healthy Youth Alliance is a collaborative partnership of organizational leaders, teens, parents, teachers and individuals working together for positive youth development. For this project, Raising Resilience (where Cezanne comes from), joins with the School District, Rotary Club, Bainbridge Community Foundation, Bainbridge Youth Services and the local Boys and Girls Club.

From October to May, the campaign will devote a month to exploring — online and in live events — each of eight traits of a healthy state of mind: empathy, curiosity, sociability, resilience, self-awareness, integrity, resourcefulness and creativity. Those traits are derived from a framework developed by local developmental psychologist Marilyn Price-Mitchell, PhD.

Much of the learning will focus on practical ways that those 8 healthy traits can be nurtured by parents, guardians, teachers and anyone working with youth.

National trends show that 12th graders with “high” quality of life scores, reflecting their perception of their own mental and physical health, is trending downwards. These trends are reflected in the UCLA American Freshman Survey, which shows that the emotional health of incoming college freshmen is at its lowest level in three decades.

Bainbridge Island is notable not just for academic excellence in its schools, but also for being a community that cares about the wellbeing of its kids. That caring goes beyond external success evidenced by grades, extra-curricular achievements and accomplishments. This campaign is designed to help our youth discover their basic goodness and understand that “success” is not just what they do, but who they are.

Because participation is mostly online, with coordination of all resources through BHYA’s web page, there are no prescribed meetings or workshops requiring attendance. Participants can access materials online at their own time and convenience.

For further information, visit the website of the Bainbridge Healthy Youth Alliance.

Credits: BCB host: Channie Peters; BCB audio editor and social media publisher: Barry Peters.