Wedgwood Q & A: Positive Youth Development

We recently sat down for a conversation with Gina Boscarino, a Group Specialist within Wedgwood’s Positive Youth Development  programs. She’s been a part of the team here at Wedgwood for 10 years. In that time, she’s impacted the lives of thousands of kids and shares some of her insights from working with teenagers.

Q: What drew you to working with teenagers and working in Wedgwood’s Prevention and Positive Youth Development (PYD) department?

Gina Boscarino: Well, I’ve always had a passion for helping others and working with teenagers. I was also very excited about the fact that Wedgwood is a Christian organization and being able to use my faith at work, which is very attractive to me.

 

Q: Are there things kids are facing today that are the same as what they were dealing with when you first started at Wedgwood 10 years ago?

GB: Kids are always dealing with the same things – bullying and not getting along and having unhealthy relationships. I think a lot of it is magnified now because there’s social media. Anything bad that happens with other kids at school gets blasted all over the internet. And I think that can be a huge issue.

 

Q: So how do you and your team work to address these consistent needs while also helping kids as they face new challenges?

GB: Some of the strategies that we’re using are the ones that we’ve been using for a while:  we’re still doing our in person groups, we’re still doing our classroom sessions. But also, we’ve been able to work a lot of the technology into this at well. Wedgwood’s Teen CHARGE group is very active on social media. There is a lot of opportunities to spread messaging there. We also have the ability to do groups and individual meetings virtually.

 

Q: It’s interesting that you are using social media to help tackle some of the issues that social media is kind of presenting in kids. What changes do you see in kids as they participate in PYD, and prevention programming?

GB: I think for a lot of kids, just realizing that there are more options out there than they realize. Kids can think that this is what teenagers do, its normal to these choices, everyone is going to drink and get involved with this kind of stuff. They’re really surprised when we say – hey, you don’t have to do that, you have a choice.

 

Q: It’s hard to believe kids have not been told that they can make their own choice, and do what they think is right. You mentioned, one of Wedgwood’s PYD programs is a student leadership group called Teen CHARGE, which you lead, can you talk about what this group is, who’s a part of it and what the group does?

GB: Teen CHARGE is made up of teens from all around the Kent County area, who apply to be part of our group. We meet a couple times a month, and our primary goal is to create positive media messaging for other teens. Our Teen CHARGE group decides what issues are the biggest and most important for their peers, and then creates social media graphics, videos, or even PSAs, anything to try to help get some education and awareness out there. We also some service projects in the community. We just try to encourage them to be good role models for their peers. Anybody that’s interested in Teen CHARGE can check out our website – www.teencharge.org. We generally accept applications at the beginning of the school year, but we’re open to taking them at any time if kids are interested!

 

Q: We all know that the last year and a half has been pretty challenging. How have you seen it impact kids? And how have you in your team been able to help provide support as they work through and overcome these challenges?

GB: I think the biggest challenge, and everybody can probably attest to this, is mental health. It has been a huge struggle for kids. It’s been difficult especially for kids when they are stuck at home, and things at home are not great. We’ve done a lot to just provide some fun for kids and for families – even some of it has been virtual. We’ve done virtual game nights and trivia competitions, as well as socially distance in-person activities. Giving kids and families a space to relieve that stress, to get out of the house and do things together is really helpful.

 

Q: Where are you finding hope and joy lately?

GB: I’m definitely finding hope and joy in the students that I work with, they inspire me so much. They are facing so much, and yet they have a lot of hope for the future. They have a lot of good ideas, and they really want to make a difference.

 

Q: A lot of your work is within the public school system. How are you and your team embracing and carrying out Wedgwood’s mission to extend God’s love and provide distinctively Christian services in a way that is respectful to the requirements of the settings that you are in?

GB: I think it can all be summed up with the single verse 1 Corinthians 16:14 –  “Let all that you do be done with love.” We just love these kids and show them kindness. We don’t have to necessarily talk about the Bible or anything. Most of kids already know that’s what we believe, because they know that we work for Wedgwood. It tends to be something that we don’t actually speak about, we show them in our actions.

 

Q: Is there a story of a kid that you’ll never forget?

GB: There’s a lot of kids I’ll never forget! I had a student that I worked with that was had some issues in middle school and was getting in trouble for using substances at school. I continued to work with him into high school and honestly, his attitude did not get any better. A few years went by where I didn’t see him and we ended up running into one another. He was like a completely different kid. It was like a light was shining in him. He wasn’t doing these things he’d been doing before, he was hanging out with different people. When I asked him about what it was that changed, he said it was because he’d found God. That was just really beautiful. He shared that he wanted to be a leader for other kids and help other kids that were like him. And he said that he said, “I feel like I’m a leader. And I feel like God’s given me this so I can help others.”

 

Q: Oh, that’s beautiful, and a good example of how sometimes our work is ‘seed-planting’ and you don’t necessarily know the impact it’s going to have further down the line. What a great story. Is there one thing you want to make sure people know about Wedgwood

GB: I always tell people that Wedgwood is an awesome place to work. Everybody is so nice. The fact that it is a Christian organization means that it’s a place where we can practice our faith, and we can provide support for one another while providing support for these kids. It’s just an amazing thing.

 

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You can check out the full Wedgwood Coffee Break Conversation with Gina on our YouTube Channel or wherever you get your podcasts.

 

 

Learn more about how Wedgwood’s Prevention & Positive Youth Development programs are making a cycle-breaking impact in the lives of kids right here in the Greater Grand Rapids area at www.wedgwood.org/services/community-programs/positive-youth-development/

 

 

Programs like Wedgwood’s Teen CHARGE are made possible through donor support! Give today and plant seeds of hope for tomorrow!