By Desiree Williams
Zionsville Community Schools will host Derek Peterson, a child/youth advocate, on Aug. 3 at the Zionsville Performing Arts Center to discuss webs of support and how to raise youth to their highest potential.
Peterson said his mission, Integrative Youth Development, is not a program. Programs are dedicated to stopping certain behaviors in teens, like bullying, alcohol use or tobacco use. His work measures the effectiveness of those programs.
“We are looking at a total well-being model, and that’s what our scale represents,” he said. “It means healthy, strong kids, which means they can cope with anything that comes their way.”
Instead of directing time and money into preventative programs, Peterson identifies what to put on the other side of a scale to empower a child to rise to his or her highest potential.
Peterson’s scale highlights seven “phactors” that correlate to a child’s success. Phactor Red, the rule of five, states that every child should have five or more caring adults in his or her life who will push the child to succeed. The adults become anchors in the web of support.
On his visit, Peterson will discuss the importance of “re-membering,” which is the process of recognizing and remembering a child’s web of support as well as expanding that child’s web by encouraging them to become a member of the community again through more connections.
Lynn Kissel, ZCS community relations coordinator, said it’s important for students to understand the need to build a web of support throughout their lifetime.
“They’ll always be in a new place of growth and an opportunity where they may be stepping out into a new city and a new college where (they) don’t know anybody, but (they) need to build a web now,” Kissel said.
Peterson will work with ZCS staff and teens during a three-hour workshop in the morning. In the evening, Peterson will lead two 90-minute presentations for the public at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The event is free and child care is available for guests who sign up online. For more, visit icar-us.com. Register at zcs.k12.in.us.
