Earlier this month, more than 100 teens and adults converged on the Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center to learn, share and be a part of the solution to make Redmond a better place for youth.

The theme of this year’s youth summit was “What’s the Point,” finding meaning in what you do. The focus was on developing the meaning in all that youth are involved in and expected to do.

“Teens have so many things that have been defined to them as priorities and many times they don’t see the value in it and when they aren’t ‘successful’ as defined by those telling them what ‘success’ is, they give up,” said Ken Wong teen programs administrator for the City of Redmond. “As adults we have to do a better job at helping our youth to develop their passions so they do find meaning and value in what they do and that sometimes we do drop the ball or are not as successful as what others think we should be.  What is important then is what we learn from that instead of just failure and give up.”

The breakout sessions allowed teens to hear from experts about the topic area and also ask questions that they had and then develop possible solutions. There was a mix of students from middle and high school.

Sessions included one about life after high school, where high school teens heard helpful tips about what to expect after they get out of high school and move on to their next stage of life. There was also a session about budgeting and the value of money. In another session the teens heard tips on how to deal with pressure from parents, peers, teachers and others and what to do with it then it gets overwhelming.

At the end they came up with ideas that the Redmond Youth Partnership Advisory Committee (RYPAC) could take back to work on for the next two years.

The youth summit occurs every other year and this helps to direct the work of RYPAC.