Fostering Service and Community Engagement in Youth: A Valley Guardians Event
By: Hailey Wesloski
Teaching the values of service and community engagement to teenagers is vital for their overall development. These principles empower teens to understand the importance of giving back, fostering empathy, and developing a sense of responsibility toward their community. By participating in service activities, teenagers learn to appreciate the needs of others and recognize the impact of their actions. When teenagers volunteer, it boosts their self-esteem and prepares them to become active, caring citizens as they grow, nurturing a lifelong commitment to helping others. Giving back to the community is also a great way to see all of the people around you, help others, and feel the holiday spirit.
On November 23rd, the Valley Guardians Executive Leadership scholars helped prepare food baskets full of thanksgiving foods and ingredients to give to 12 families in need. Helping put together and create the meals were 28 coaching students, of those 11 were VG scholars and 22 family members. Students and parents enjoyed donuts, fruit, and drinks while talking to get to know one another better and foster a caring atmosphere. Once everyone had arrived we jumped right in to explaining the activity and sharing details about the thirteen families that were receiving meals. Parents of all of the scholars and companies all over the valley donated $2,040 to cover the cost of food for all twelve families or 34 people fed. 
Students got a list of special circumstances, kitchen situation, requests, and dietary needs and were tasked with coming up with a shopping list to make the family a thanksgiving meal. Parents helped guide students on what to purchase and once all of the groups were done planning they drove to the store to purchase the items and try to make the most of their budget to get the family food.
Once done shopping the groups came back to LeadAZ Private School and started to decorate their baskets. They created leaves, snowflakes, turkeys, and many other festive items out of cardstock. The groups had the best time thinking of ways to make the baskets look extra special for the families. It was amazing to see the collaboration between the adults and students. Parents were encouraged to help deliver the baskets and three families stepped up and took full responsibility for the delivery. Then after all of the baskets were done and the students and their families were done decorating the instructors and parents set off to deliver the baskets to the families who were grateful to everyone involved to help give them a thanksgiving dinner this year!
Events like these play a crucial role in instilling a sense of service in young individuals. The Valley Guardians Leadership Program provides children with valuable opportunities to engage with their community, nurturing their growth as empathetic and responsible citizens. Students learned that in order to succeed they need to be able to problem solve and communicate with the people around them! The scholar students appreciate the Valley Guardians donors for all of their efforts in making a difference in the community as well as in their individual lives!
The Valley Guardians Leadership Program
The Valley Guardian program is a multiyear coaching program for underserved students in the community. It was created by successful business people in the valley. They got together and formed a non-profit to find ways to fund developmental programs for kids in underserved communities. This program was aimed toward the underserved kids in the valley who have good hearts and have a desire to be successful and be mentored. The kids who are a part of this program have access to all different kinds of services like professional coaches, coaching calls, getaways, leadership education and training workshops, access to professionals in the valley, college and career readiness and more. The Valley Guardian program started with a single school of 6 students, and overtime has grown to 13 schools, 7 districts, and 49 active students. Overall there have been 120 students who have benefited from this program.
The Valley Guardians program offers over thirty online and in person workshops per year. We do many different types of workshops per year including things like arcades, parks, hikes, parties, and online leadership training. Many of the kids who come are not very social and are looking for a place to feel comfortable and be able to meet new people while being themselves. When they come to programs they have a great time. The way we set them up makes kids feel comfortable, whether we ask them what they are interested in doing or set them up to meet new people through social activities at the beginning of each event. The students find they feel connected and accepted through the program.