YouthUp Holds First Violence Prevention Ceremony of Completion for SOAR Academy Students
YouthUp Staff
YouthUp, Inc. held its first Ceremony of Completion for 14 students at SOAR Academy YouthBuild who completed the organization’s Anger Management/Conflict Resolution classes. The event took place at the Hutchings Career Center, home of SOAR Academy, on January 19, 2023, at 10am. Navicent Health Foundation provided funding for the classes and Atrium Health Navicent President Delvecchio S. Finley presented the graduating students with their certificates and a gift. “By completing this curriculum, these students are taking a positive step toward future goals and the skills they learned will help to achieve those goals,” said Finley. “Atrium Health Navicent and the Navicent Health Foundation are proud to be partners in giving these students the tools they need to live healthier, more successful lives for years to come.”
Prior to the presentations, Lt. Reggie Thomas of the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office spoke to the students, encouraging them to overcome any obstacles they may face and achieve their dreams. Following the event, lunch was served, catered by Famous Mike’s on Poplar Street that included baked chicken, field peas with snaps, creamed corn, dinner rolls, pecan pie and sweet tea and lemonade.
“We are so proud of these students,” said YouthUp Executive Director Amanda Smith. “It has been a joy teaching these skills to the students and we expect great things from these young men and women as they begin engaging with their communities.
Smith founded and created YouthUp, Inc. in September of 2022 as a means of addressing the high violent crime rate in the community. The curriculum is evidence-based and includes such topics as the Anger Meter, Anger Cues, Anger Control Plans, and the Conflict Resolution Model. These skills enable young people to recognize building anger by physical and cognitive cues, create a calm-down anger control plan, and develop peaceful mediation and compromise techniques to resolve differences with others. YouthUp, Inc. is dedicated to providing a course of lessons that help students control their impulsivity and think before reacting to potentially violent situations, often through situational role play. Students act out anger-inducing situations, observed by other students, who offer suggestions on how responses could have been more positive. De-escalation techniques are provided, and additional role play then provides practice opportunities for students.
Of the fourteen graduating students, eleven have accepted the invitation to become members of the first Youth Leadership Council, the youth division of YouthUp, Inc. This group of young people will learn leadership skills and engage their streets, blocks and neighborhoods through activities such as backyard BBQs, youth rallies, sports competitions, fundraisers and community cleanups, all alcohol/drug and weapon-free with an emphasis on nonviolence and peaceable solutions.
For more information on how to volunteer and become part of the solution, email Amanda Smith at youthupmacon@yahoo.com or call (478) 733-8602.
