Annual Youth Conference event engages 128 students in service

SPARTA — One hundred and twenty-eight students, representing 10 area high schools, attended this year’s Pass It Along Youth Conference on Oct. 3. This event, held at the McNeiss Auditorium at Sussex Technical High School, brought together youth from across the county to focus on service, leadership, and community engagement under the theme Superheroes of Service.

The 2013 lineup included inspirational speaker Shaun Derik, from the group Youth to Youth International, who amped up attendees by speaking about the power of learning, practicing, and performing positive habits. His delivery engaged the audience in active learning, both mentally and physically, and served as a springboard to engage the attendees in the many service projects put together by the Youth Conference committee.

On-site service projects ranged from writing letters to soldiers, to creating a dream wall, to handcrafting peace cranes to send to the White House. Breakout sessions encouraged students to reflect on many themes related to community service, to share their ideas and feelings, and cultivated participation at a deeper level from all in attendance.

In the spirit of youth volunteerism that Pass It Along works hard to foster, the conference planning committee was comprised entirely of high school students who donated their time and effort to begin planning over the summer under guidance from Pass It Along Annual Events Coordinator Lynn VanNosdall.

VanNosdall said of the event, “The student leaders who planned the event should feel happy at their success today; they created a lot of awareness among their peers.” She added, “Everyone present could see the significance behind each planned service project, and could feel that projects not only helped brighten [others’ lives], but could also touch their own. I saw a lot of love, caring, and thoughtfulness in these young people, and as a world, I think we are going to be in great hands in the future.”

For more information, 973-726-9777, or email info@passitalong.org.