CAPA City is an interactive five-day youth leadership conference, loosely modeled after a conference developed by Bonnie Hedrick, PhD and Robert Canning of the Ohio Resource Network (ORN) at the University of Cincinnati. The primary goal is that the participants leave the conference equipped the skills to advocate for change and impact a community wide issue.

CAPA City 2008 will focus on service learning. This model allows the youth and their respective groups to become involved in the community where the conference is being held as well as continuing to create community engagement at home.

Service learning is a part of a youth development philosophy that promotes engaging youth in constructive activities that build on their strengths and interests. The service learning that will occur at CAPA City will educate youth on how to better serve their communities, work together in a collaborative spirit, and take these skills home to share with their individual youth groups.

Each CAPA City morning will begin with a workshop where service learning tools and philosophies are learned. After the workshop, participants will go into their small-group “system” meetings where they will focus on learning and skills application in one particular community facet (city government, law enforcement, media, medical, social services, business, parks and recreation, education, arts and faith based).  In their respective systems, participants will apply the tools learned in the daily workshops while they are touring system facilities within the community, interviewing system professionals, and engaging in system work.

Next, participants will return to a daily large group “Town Hall” meeting during which participants will raise concerns and share their system experiences to locate patterns and resources across systems.

Lastly, participants will gather in their “Home” communities with their adult advisors to apply to their “Home” communities what they have been learning in the workshops, their respective systems, and the Town Hall meetings.

The  conference will impart the six basic parts to a quality service learning experience: 1) identify/select a need or needs, 2) find community partners, 3) align service with educational goals, 4) manage project, 5) reflective learning and 6) celebration.

CAPA City 2008, is hosted by the Coalition for Youth Enrichment (CYE) of the Community Partnership (a committee consisting of various local youth serving organizations) at Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio, June 16-20, 2008.

For further details contact Kathy Schnapp at the Community Partnership at 419.866.3611.

Do you have a group that is interested in attending CAPA City 2008?
CLICK HERE FOR ONLINE REGISTRATION

CLICK HERE FOR THE ADULT LEADER REGISTRATION FORM

Program Sponsors:
City of Toledo Youth Commission, BGSU (PCA/CITE Grant), The Community Partnership, Mental Health and Recovery Service Board