Coordinator: Lisa Nesser

Support staff/ volunteer: Currently looking to train one of the teens that has been in our project for an extended amount of time to take over this role.

Mission
To encourage our teens to take on more responsibility in their community, and to inspire them to reach for and achieve their goals in life, raising their self confidence and giving them the skills to succeed.
Target Group
Teenage members of our community.

Objectives
1 Leadership
We encourage our teens to take a leadership role. The older students have set them an example by working hard and giving back to our community. The younger children, parents, and all members of our community look up to them for inspiration. We aim to keep this momentum going for our teens, to show them that they too can achieve their goals in life. We support them in whatever they wish to do, including continuing with further education, teacher training, or vocational training.

2 Community Responsibility
Some of our teenage members wish to take on more responsibility in the community. So that they gain experience in teaching or looking after children, we have a mentor program for these teens, for them to learn how to lead the younger children. When we have participated in Chiang Mai city wide tree planting and cleaning up days, we let our teens organize our activities and lead the younger students. From larger events to daily mentorship and guidance in the classroom, we groom them to be strong, responsible leaders for their community.

3 Projects
We create teen led group art and music based projects, such as a recent mural workshop in the classroom spaces. The teens were given creative control and had to plan and implement their proposed project, leading the younger students along the way.
As part of our Cultural Preservation Project, we have a teen traditional dance troupe. This activity encourages our students to take pride in their culture and to show off their skills on a grand stage during Shan festivals and holidays, the younger students are always in awe of them at this time.

Ongoing/Current needs
We desire to have regular meetings/lectures and workshops from Directors or staff of other organizations and institutions of higher learning in Chiang Mai to serve as examples for our students of what they can aspire to become.

Budget
Currently we have no budget for this project. We have not attended any conferences or been able to send our students to outside workshops or meetings because of this.

Future Projects/Aspirations
We aspire to be able to send our teens that show great leadership skills to national conferences in Bangkok and even regional conferences so that they can work with Thai nationals and other young change makers in their peer group. They can then bring their knowledge back and share it in a presentation for their peers and families.