HI-Y Leadership Center

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HI-Y News:

Order HI-Y Items

Various HI-Y items can be ordered from our office. Just print out this HI-Y Store Order Form and mail with your check to the HI-Y office.

Welcome New Groups Participating in HI-Y Programs

Columbus YMCA (Hilltop Branch) brings 2 students to our annual Fall Conference at Willson Outdoor Center and will be participating in the Ohio Youth In Government program.
Lima YMCA is beginning the Youth In Government Program by working with the local schools in the Lima Community; they already have 15 students signed up and excited to participate in this years Youth In Government.

New Affiliations

Community Service Achievements

For the 2007-2008 School year:
Ohio - Napoleon HI-Y completes the most commmunity service hours at 1451.5 hours
West Virginia - Elkins Middle School HI-Y completes the most community service hours at 1073.5 hours
Combined hours reported for Ohio and West Virginia HI-Ys are 7434 hours.

Honor HI-Ys

Ohio - McClain recieved their 33rd year of being an honor HI-Y.
West Virginia - Wirt county recieved their 26th year and Tyler Consolidated recieved their 1st year honor HI-Y.

Got HI-Y?

If your school, church, YMCA or community does not currently have a HI-Y or you just want to know more about the benefits of HI-Y and how you can get involved, call us or with your questions or comments.

E ngaging youth in positive actions to influence the life and work of our homes, schools and communities describes the Ohio-West Virginia YMCA's focus from its 1867 beginning.

This YMCA works to strengthen and expand the base of ethical civic leadership working to renew family, school, business, organizational and community life across Ohio and West Virginia, the region and our nation.

The active HI-Y service-learning model guides all we do. Leadership develops by connecting meaningful community service with personal and group growth, civic responsibility, community building and reflection.

HI-Y (HIgh school Ymca) grew out of a confrontation between three students and their teacher, D.F. Shirk, in 1889. The Chapman High School (Dickinson, Kansas) science teacher walked in on the students smoking cigars at a local general store. Shirk took the cigars from the boys and challenged them to do something better with their lives. The boys challenged the teacher to help them. Shirk agreed and together they began meeting with other students to talk about their lives, future goals and how to improve their school and community. Today, as in its very beginning, volunteer service is HI-Y's foundation.

Youth initiating action with adult advice and mentoring remains the central expression of HI-Y's founding values...youth are important to themselves and the world and are best served when they themselves serve.

Simply put, a HI-Y experience makes differences in the way we live as demonstrated by ...

• How we behave
• How we treat others
• How we accept our responsibilities
• How we appreciate our heritage
• How we live in the world
• How we work to create better futures for all
• How we become lifelong good citizens of our communities

All our programs bring these values to life through four well-tested principles:

On-going process: Leadership preparation is a process, not an event. It must involve chances to apply what is learned in real community situations and draw upon an on-going network of support and guidance.

• Local school and community HI-Ys are civic leadership laboratories where youth with supportive adult advisors initiate their own approaches to engage peers in community building, civic responsibility, personal and group growth, and service. Horseshoe, Youth in Government, Model United Nations, Cave Lake, youth job training and all HI-Y programs engage youth in a process of leadership development.

Learning by doing: Leadership requires action and is therefore best learned by doing. Experiential community-building activities allow participants to work in teams, develop plans of action, test and refine their approaches, build confidence, uncover the rewards and challenges in making differences for good and discover their potential as citizen leaders.

• HI-Y groups, Youth in Government, Horseshoe and Cave Lake, Model United Nations, Youth Action Council, youth job training and learning camps are some of the ways youth learn by doing through the HI-Y model.

Time away: Preparing young people to be more effective citizens and leaders requires removing them from the distractions and influences of day-to-day life; giving opportunities to gain greater perspectives on themselves, the issues facing their peers and the society at large, and the many ways their talents are needed as responsible members of community.

• Horseshoe's residential camps, Youth in Government, Model United Nations, and HI-Y conferences are examples of effective "time away" leadership building experiences. Our new Cave Lake Center for Community Leadership will bring these "time away" opportunities to thousands more.

Making a real difference: The true value of leadership training must be measured by the differences participants make in their homes, schools, communities and world.

• The differences persons make because of their HI-Y experiences are significant. Local HI-Y civic entrepreneurship improves schools and communities, Youth in Government generates significant legislative ideas including the 16th amendment to the United States Constitution and sees graduates using strengthened citizenship skills in community life, Youth Opportunity Camp children turn lives to better futures, Model United Nations opens a world of international understanding including career options, Horseshoe and Cave Lake participants return home motivated, better prepared and committed to lead more responsible lives using their talents to make differences for good.

Local HI-Y Teens -

• Organize, manage and lead their own local HI-Y;
• Recruit and develop members into a self-governing group;
• Select and support officers, committee chairs and special project leaders;
• Conduct meetings and committee work to make and carry out decisions;
• Establish their unique goals to achieve HI-Y's purpose;
• Identify the kind of school and community they want, create, plan and carry out volunteer-service initiatives to achieve their vision and then reflect on their work to strengthen future actions;
• Learn to think and act entrepreneurially;
• Translate program and organization into a budget plan;
• Work with adults;
• Build school and community civic leadership;
• Participate in away from home HI-Y leadership conferences to broaden member views of the world, strengthen individual and group skills and involve their HI-Y in the growing HI-Y network working to build better futures for all.

HI-Y gives teens the tools and desire to become citizen leaders. Local schools, YMCAs and community organizations get started in HI-Y by finding an advisor and teens who want to make a positive impact in their community.

Through monthly meetings and service initiatives teens experience:

• training on holding effective meetings and successful recruitment of peers for HI-Y
• the opportunity to develop and plan local service projects based upon local assets and needs
• training on bill/resolution writing, the state government and United Nations process, and how to effectively win support for an idea through Youth in Government and Model United Nations preparation
• a safe educational out of school experience.

Students work together to learn about their school and community, what they like and what they want to improve. Staff and volunteers then work with them to develop and implement projects to make positive change in their school and community.