Members of the Wood County Teen Institute gathered Saturday at Eastwood High School for their first
leadership retreat of the year on Oct. 17.
Teen Institute is a youth leadership group with an emphasis on being drug and alcohol free. Students in
grades 9-12 from nine county school districts and Penta Career Center attended the day-long training to
learn techniques to spread their anti-drug and alcohol message to their peers.
Those who attended the retreat were broken into smaller groups called family groups.
Two senior members of North Baltimore High School’s Teen Institute – Jennifer Noykos and Megan Moser –
were chosen to be co-faciltators. These groups met throughout the day to discuss issues that are going
on for them. Groups were also cycled through different workshops to help them learn different leadership
skills.
The three workshops shared a variety of techniques, including team-building activities led by Mike
Godfrey, a teacher in Eastwood’s gifted and talented program. In this workshop, TI members learned how
to implement team-building skills that would allow them to help their group to feel more like a unit and
work more effectively as a team.
The second workshop, presented by Debbie Marinik, the community organizer for the Reducing Alcohol Abuse
in Secondary Schools grant through the Wood County Educational Service Center, helped teach youth how to
be a part of a dialogue night in their respective school districts.
Dialogue nights are opportunities for youth and parents to discuss important topics, so that both
generations have an idea of what the other side is.
The last workshop, led by the Penta Career Center presentation team of Teen Institute members, was about
how to give an effective presentation. This included techniques to prevent losing the audience, using
appropriate visual aides, and basic skills such as eye contact, vocal projection, and body language.
Pizza was served for dinner, followed by a group photo scavenger hunt. The evening ended with social time
and a dance.
Teen Institute is funded by a grant through the Wood County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health
Services Board.