Blogs and News
Resilience in Youth
Setting the foundation for resilient and thriving youth better prepares tomorrow’s leaders to navigate life with greater ease and bloom into thriving adults.
Read more to learn about the importance of resilience in youth and unlock strategies and tools to implement within your classroom.
Wellbeing for Teachers: Essential Strategies for a Balanced Life
For the sake of our educators, students and schools, it’s time to support teacher mental health and wellbeing.
Take the time to read tips and ways to support a teacher in your life and for teachers, ways to prioritize your own wellbeing!
Strategies for Effective Youth Leadership Development
Introduction Investing in youth leadership development is an essential skill that plays a crucial role in the success of youth individually, and our society, collectively. At The Spark Initiative, we believe that everyone has the capacity to lead, whether...
Understanding and Supporting Youth At-Risk
Youth at-risk typically refers to young individuals who face a higher probability of experiencing negative outcomes in various aspects of their lives due to factors such as poverty, family instability, involvement in the juvenile...
Essential Life Skills for Teens: A Guide for Parents and Educators
In today's rapidly changing world, the journey from adolescence to adulthood presents a myriad of challenges and opportunities for teenagers. As parents and educators, guiding young minds toward independence and success requires equipping them with essential...
Trusting My SPARK-Six Years Later
Whether it be a young child in elementary school struggling to fit in or an incarcerated military veteran that lost hope somewhere along the way, being involved with the people in my community has always been important to me. It doesn’t matter what someone has been through, how they look, or the decisions they have made—everyone has a SPARK inside and everyone has something valuable to offer this world. I am lucky to have this awareness, but not everyone has had the chance to learn this yet.
Finding Freedom in Jail Through Forgiveness
As Chad and I finished an Insight to Well-Being class last week with a group of women at the Falkenburg Road Jail, we reflected on the insights that were discovered with this group. One being the Power of Forgiveness.
The Significance of Mentoring Programs for Youth
Introduction Imagine not knowing that you don’t have to be a product of your environment. Imagine not knowing that you have unlimited creative potential of the universe inside of you. Imagine not knowing that beyond all thinking of right and wrong, there is...
The Key to a Successful Youth Mentoring Program
Youth mentoring programs are structured relationships in which an experienced and knowledgeable adult provides guidance, support, and assistance to a young person. These programs are designed to help young individuals develop specific skills, overcome challenges, make positive life choices, and reach their full potential. Youth mentoring programs can be designed to decrease school dropout rates, improve behavioral outcomes and improve academics, or increase self-sufficiency.
Can a Dragonfly Change the World?
I remember whenever I used to hear the word motivation, it would strike me as something I needed to work on or strive for. Or that it was something that I needed to search for or build up. Most of the time, when people hear that word, they think it means to put in hard work or even just have the energy to tackle the laundry piled up in the hamper… at least, that is how it looked for me.