By ANN RICHARDS
Brittany Peacock-Scott, a shy 14-year-old looking for a job, signed up for the Summer Youth Initiative (SYI) in 2001, hoping to earn a little money of her own.
What she did not expect was to become involved in the Mott Foundation Leadership Academy (MFLA) -- an experience she says has influenced her life in ways she never could have anticipated.
“The leadership academy brought out qualities I didn’t know that I had,” said Peacock-Scott, who is now a junior majoring in the elementary education at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant.
This summer, Peacock-Scott returned to Flint to serve as an assistant facilitator for MFLA, working with a diverse group of more than 200 SYI participants. She says the leadership training component of the SYI is of great importance to young people, many of whom are far more intimidated by new experiences than their surface behavior would indicate.
“They come into the program not wanting to interact with people they don’t know. They are afraid they won’t know how to respond to new situations, and it embarrasses them. We start breaking down that fear right away with games and other activities. It’s amazing how much you can learn while you’re having fun.”
MFLA was initiated in the summer of 2000, five years after SYI was created in response severe cuts in federal funding for summer employment programs for young people. Currently, it is administered by the Genesee Chamber of Commerce (See related story at mott.org).
Alice Hart, former vice president of the Community Foundation of Greater Flint, which originally operated the Mott Foundation-funded program, created MFLA in response to requests from young participants for something more than job placement and experience.
Hart tapped into an existing leadership development curriculum developed by Karianne and David Martus, who operate several youth leadership programs through contracts with a variety of Flint-area nonprofits.
“We wanted to incorporate something into the program that would help young people deal with what keeps them from succeeding,” Hart said. “We realized that we couldn’t change a young person’s outlook in eight weeks, but we could start them on a path -- and link them with other activities throughout the school year that would continue to motivate them.”
MFLA activities -- a combination of games, role playing, volunteer work, goal-setting activities and problem-solving exercises -- are designed to help students discover hidden strengths and talents and provide a safe environment in which to use them. Evaluation data (www.sph.umich.edu/prc/projects/past_projects.html) from past summers confirmed MFLA’s positive effects on certain risk behaviors, Hart said.
Practical information about time management, life planning and budgeting also are incorporated into the curriculum.
“I just blew through my first few paychecks,” Peacock-Scott admitted. “Through MFLA, I learned to set a little aside for later, how to set up a savings account. To this day, I save a part of every paycheck.”
MFLA participants also create their own road maps for the future, Peacock-Scott said.
“We write down what we want to do and list the obstacles that get in the way. Then each year, we update our map with things that we’ve accomplished, our new goals and personal obstacles that we need to deal with.”
The most important lessons she learned from her MFLA experiences are a little more difficult to describe, Peacock-Scott said.
“You don’t realize what you’ve learned until you have the opportunity to use it later, when you go to school or are hired for a real job. When you’re put in a new situation, you’re more confident about how to act and what to say. You understand what it takes to get along with people you don’t know.”
As a facilitator for this year’s program, Peacock-Scott witnessed similar behavior.
“It’s was interesting to watch how our students began finding things in common with each other,” she said.
“Through MFLA, they learn that it’s possible to work with anyone. Everyone thinks of teamwork as something you do in sports, not in real life. You have the opportunity to figure out what you do best in a situation. You learn you can’t always be a leader, but there are important roles for everyone.
“It’s about developing trust -- in yourself and other people.”
That comes in handy after leaving MFLA.
“MFLA isn’t just fun, it’s about learning. It’s about how to keep positive and stay focused. There aren’t many programs like this for teenagers.