Keino L. Fitzpatrick Sr. & Aaron E. Johnson
Our Mission:
Youth C.A.S.T. Leadership Network is a youth driven full service
development model that will establish and provide a range of
supports and services that will focus on creating a high-quality
extended social & educational environment relating to
supporting positive social emotional learning experiences for
youth in grades 6th through 12th
Our Goals
• To engage with community groups, school administration,
businesses, and local government for overall youth
achievement and success.
• To focus on the change of both internal and external
relationships through the action of leading a group of youth
as community and schools begin to give youth a model or
system they can sustain after implementation.
• To encourage youth, community, and schools together to
recognize the importance of leadership while advancing
their effectiveness to develop a leadership model recognized
through youth lead activities and actions of service learning,
advocacy, and civic engagement opportunities.
Our Process
• On May 24, 2012, approximately 40 community leaders and
concerned citizens came together as part of the City of
McKeesport’s Mayors’ Select Committee on Crime and Violence.
This committee was selected to be a part of what was dubbed
“Planning the transformation of our City” as working together for
a better McKeesport. Those in attendance represented the local
government, school district, faith-based groups, law enforcement,
youth organizations, businesses, social service agencies,
universities, libraries, community organizations, and parents.
Our Key Partners
City of McKeesport, Mayor’s Office
Urban Achievement
Aristotle’s Education Emporium
Bethlehem Baptist Church
McKeesport Area School District
Saturday Light Brigade
McKeesport YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh
Larosa Boys & Girls Club of McKeesport
Pitcairn Pa. Circles Initiative
National Center for Innovation & Excellence
Carnegie Library of McKeesport
What is Leadership?
• Leadership connotes releasing of energy, building,
freeing, growing
(Peters and Austin, 1985)
• Ability to influence the actions of others
(Halloran and Benton, 1987)
• The ability to motivate
• Everyone has leadership potential
(Bennis and Nanus, 1985)
Why study youth leadership?
• Youth are in need of leadership positions
– Home
– Community
– School
• To asses whether adolescent have the right “tools” for
success
– Student-Parent surveys & Focus Groups
– Exploratory Learning Experiences
Supports Youth Developmental process
Youth Leadership Research
• Three Stages
– Awareness
– Interaction
– Mastery
• Five Dimensions
– Leadership Information
– Leadership Attitude
– Communication Skills
– Decision-making Skills
– Self-management Skills
Awareness
• Focus on initial awareness of one’s leadership potential
and abilities
• Youth in this stage:
– Do not think of themselves as a leader
– Do not feel capable of being a leader
Awareness
Interaction
• Growth in leadership skills occurs and confidence
solidifies through interaction
• Youth in this stage:
– Have a limited definition of leadership
– Believe that the leader is “in charge”
– Need adult support and guidance
Mastery
Adaptive Leadership
Developing Others
Values Differences
Integrity
Lifelong Learning
Development
Credibility
Character
Outcome Concern
Info Sharing
Decision Fairness
Relationship Mgmt
Organizational Justice
Social Awareness
Self Awareness
Self Mgmt
Emotional Intelligence
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Youth-Driven Development
Stop, Look, Lead – SL2
Our F.L. Ambassadors’ Objectives
• To increase their adaptive leadership skills which will enable them to
become meaningful community assets.
• To envision leadership by establishing the dynamics of adaptive
leadership as they experience leadership within their community.
• To provide opportunities and support to utilize their knowledge and
skills of adaptive leadership to their peers outside of Youth C.A.S.T.
• To provide real-life situations where youth can demonstrate through
active participation their engagement of the adaptive leadership model.
• To increase their sense of community and shared responsibility within
Youth C.A.S.T.
The Five Dimensions of Youth
Leadership Development
Information
SelfManagement
Decision
Making
Attitude
Communication
Leadership Information
• What adolescents know about leadership and leaders
• Accurate information is critical in this process
• Adults help teens discriminate information and navigate
barriers
• What adolescents know about leadership is limited
Leadership Information
Black Male Experience- “McKeesport Voices”
Victorious Leadership 2.0 Workshop
Leadership Attitude
• Adolescents’ dispositions, thoughts and feelings
towards identifying themselves as leaders
• Attitudes are learned and applied
• Attitudes are constantly altered and enhanced
Leadership Attitude
Exploratory Leadership Experience- Youth Ville, Detroit
Communication Skills
• The exchange of thoughts, messages and information
• Process of sharing ideas and reflection
• Includes both verbal and nonverbal communication
Communication Skills
General life lessons and outlook from boys and men
Decision-Making Skills
• Choosing between competing courses of advocacy and
action
• Creates a discrepancy between transactional and
transformational leaders
• Decision-making is a process that becomes part of
problem solving skills
Decision- Making Skills
Youth-Driven Name, Logo, &
Brand Voting for Project
Implementation
Self-Management Skills
• How adolescents react to and deal with the stress in
their lives
– Ability to regulate stress
– Staying flexible and directing behavior in a positive
manner
• Pertains to issues of autonomy and locus of control
Self-Management Skills
Ambassadors visitation to Detroit
City Year
Ambassador visitation to Indiana
University of Pa
Youth C.A.S.T. Model
• Home
• Community
• School
Home
To provide a “conscious process” framework for working with
families. By providing workshops and opportunities, to engage
families in relevant discussions and projects within the
community and school.
Family Engagement at the August Wilson CenterPittsburgh, PA
Community
• We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about
progress and prosperity for our community…our ambitions
must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs
of others, for their sake and our own.
Cesar Chavez
Community
Thanksgiving day dinner Community
Service for homeless
McKeesport Holiday Parade
Engagement
School
• “A student never forgets an encouraging private word, when it is
given with sincere respect and admiration.”
William Lyon Phelps
School
Youth-Driven Exploratory Leadership Tour
University of Pittsburgh
Evaluation Process
• Assessment Findings
• Application
• Experiences
• Support
• Roles
Youth C.A.S.T.
National Center for Innovation and Excellence
• Rapid Assessment Procedures (RAP), which
include a combination of focus groups informed
by brief-time limited interviews informed by fieldbased observation
• Relationship between their stages of
development, their leadership development,
and type of leadership experiences
Assessment Findings
• According to our findings, the next step in the program
overwhelmingly seems to be building in rich activities
that can engage the youth on multiple levels. These will,
in turn, be the catalyst youth identified as critical to the
expansion of the program.
Application-- Moving youth through the
stages
• The importance of
(experiences)
• The role of adults (support)
• Roles in youth, community
and school (partnerships)
Youth-Driven Exploratory Leadership Tour
to IUP with Community Activist Michael
Skolnick
Experiences for Youth- Exploratory
Leadership Opportunities
• Knowledge
• Skills
• Practice
Youth C.A.S.T. Trip to Don Bosco Hall,
Detroit
Support-- The Role of Adults
• Mentoring/Guidance
• Resources
• Role models
Resources (books, CDs, Story-Box
units, website) that (1) document and
celebrate experiences and (2) serve as
resources for the community at large.
Roles in Community and School
Partnerships
• Allow youth the means to
develop leadership skills
through practice
• Make it authentic &
meaningful!
Community and School
Celebration
Youth C.A.S.T. Panel Session