This blog post was written by Tom Langseth, Senior Vice President of Distribution Relationship Management at Allianz Life of North America. He is also on the Youth Frontiers board of directors. Below he shares his thoughts about what it means to be a person of character. READ MORE
Recently, I led a Youth Frontiers Respect Retreat® with more than 200 ninth-graders. Our goal was to get the each student to see what it would be like if everyone in their class respected each other. At the end of the retreat, we invited students to share how the day impacted them. One student, who didn’t seem like part of the “in” crowd, got up to speak. He said to his classmates, “People ignore me at school, and it’s a lonely place for me. Today was the first day in a long time that I felt respected. Thank you.”READ MORE
A friend of mine recently sent me the link to a blog post that resonated with me. It was written by Glennon Melton, bestselling author and founder of the blog, Momastery. Her blog focuses on her inpirational, and often hysterical, journey as a woman, mom and wife. In a recent post about the start of a new school year, Glennon shares a great story about a teacher who understands the importance of connection. It’s a message that is at the core of what we do at Youth Frontiers – inspiring connection and building community. Enjoy her post, reprinted here with her permission:READ MORE
The end of our Respect Retreat® is a powerful time for students. Kids start to realize the impact of bullying – not only on the bullied, but also on the rest of the school and even on the bullies themselves. It’s not uncommon for chronic bullies to get up and apologize to the people they’ve picked on and also to their classmates and teachers. They also often promise that they are going to be better people going forward.READ MORE
One of the things that we say on Youth Frontiers Respect Retreat® is that you don’t have to like everyone, but you do have to respect everyone. I recently heard a story from a parent that illustrates this small, but important truth. READ MORE
By Joe Cavanaugh, Founder & CEO
The year was 1979. I was working as a youth minister at Our Lady of Grace Church in Edina, Minn. My job was to help lead 200 high school students on a week-long ski trip to Colorado. For the many adult volunteers who led these trips for years, the toughest part of the trip was always the 30-hour bus ride. By hour 14, we were close to going crazy. Boom box wars battled Led Zeppelin against ABBA. Hormones raged as teenage boys and girls tried to “snuggle” in their seats while we patrolled the aisles and tried our best to keep them apart. No one ever slept.READ MORE