Kids gathering the Assets for Themselves!
What if every youth in Houston knew the building blocks of a successful future? Perhaps we could give them a list and say, “Here is what you need to succeed.” Most young people do want to be academically and socially successful, they just haven’t had parents or people in their lives that have been able to share those building blocks.
There are 40 building blocks that have research behind them. They are the 40 Developmental Assets © from Search Institute. The more of these building blocks a youth has the greater their chance for success and staying away from risky behavior. Many of these “assets”(blocks) are things that can be added by the youth, such as joining organizations, participating in sports, reading. Other assets come from other adults in their life, this might be a teacher, youth worker, Sunday School teacher, aunt or uncle.
These may seem like common sense but if you have not been raised with them, it is good to have a list. The 40 are broken down in to 8 categories: Support, Empowerment, Boundaries and Expectations, Constructive Use of time, Commitment to Learning, Positive Values, Social Competencies, and Positive Identity.
That is what Link Up Greater Houston is all about.
What we want Link Up Greater Houston to accomplish is:
1. To inform more young people and adults about the 40 Developmental Assets;
2. To inspire young people to add the assets that they don’t have;
3. For every adult who works with youth to know the importance of building positive, caring relationships with all youth; and
4. To inspire relationships with young people by adults and also to let young people know that they can help their peers.
Tristan Love Tells His Story
Link Up Greater Houston 2011 was on October 1 at the University of Houston. The 2011 Keynote Speaker was Tristan Love, a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School in Houston. As a freshman in high school he was kicked out of one school for participating in a gang fight. He was introduced to the 40 Developmental Assets as a sophomore, and it became his road map for determining what he should do in high school. Seven years later he is the Student Government President at Wiley College after 3 years of successful debate experience with the new “Great Debaters Team”.
LinkUp Houston Drew a Large Crowd Seeking the 40 Developmental Assets
Following the motivational keynote, students and youth workers attended 2 workshops. More than 20 youth-serving agencies and non-profits came together to plan the day and provide the workshops. These included Communities in Schools Houston, as well as Children at Risk, the City of Houston Health and Human Services, City Parks Department, Girls Scouts of San Jacinto Council, Harris County Dept. of Education (CASE), Harris County Triad, Mission Houston, Neighborhood Centers, Project Grad, University of Texas Health Science Prevention Research Center, the YMCA of Houston and the YWCA.
By Pat Rosenberg, another CIS Happy Board Member!
