Our Senior Youth are hosting a conference at FUSS beginning tonight. The conference, called a "con," is organized and led by the youth and our senior youth host one here every other year.
These youth conferences provide an opportunity for UU youth in our St Lawrence District to meet, worship, learn and socialize together. Our youth plan the workshops, meals and other programs and get adult volunteers to help.
This year's con includes a coffee house, a ballroom dance workshop led by Frank and Angela Calabria, an Our Whole Lives class for senior youth led by trained facilitators Randy Jennings and Jackie Citriniti, yoga with yours truly (me!). The youth are planning an interactive Candyland game. They'll plan and lead worship services together. They will have the opportunity to hear Union College student Taif Jany speak on his experiences living in Baghdad during the Iraq war and talk with him about it. Taif is one of only 15 students from Iraq allowed into the United States to attend college.
Our youth-led Cons are a great example of youth empowerment and creating opportunities for youth leadership. Cons connect our UU youth with other like-minded UU youth in an environment that is safe and well supervised. The importance and power of those connections can not be underestimated.
