The Ashland Communities for Children is an example of a youth-driven C4C. The group was one of the earliest to join the initiative, coming on board in 1997. In the four years since the group joined the C4C effort, many things have changed – but not the faces within the group. The group consists of seventeen students. Ninety percent are juniors who joined the group when they were in middle school.

Adult support is always present, but the group is very much student-led. All major decisions about the group are made by the youth and all plans are developed by youth. There are seven different paid positions within the group for students. Through these positions, students take on roles of being Youth Coordinators, media contacts, treasurers, school board informants and web site designers. These "jobs" teach responsibility to the youth, making them responsible for deadlines, money and the public’s image of the group.

The Ashland C4C has worked hard over the last several years to make an impact not only on their town, but surrounding communities within their county. In 1998 they implemented the Search Institute Survey in their school. While some results were very positive, some of the survey statistics were alarming. Students used the survey results to take the group in new directions.

With OSA Youth Voices grant funding, the group wrote, filmed and produced three public service announcements that aired on local television stations throughout Maine. This process was several months in the making and the students faced many challenges along the way, working around sports and work schedules – a problem commonly found in every school.

This year, the students have had two major projects. The first was in cooperation with Maine Youth Voices and Maine Public Broadcasting System. Students took their previous acting experience to the next level, creating a fictional situation to warn about the dangers of underage drinking. Students worked with PBS to script and film the piece, adding suggestions for editing, camera angles and soundtrack material. The segment was taped in February and was aired on PBS in May of 2001.

The last event of the year was a county wide chem.-free dance. The group took several months to plan and prepare this event, working with a business owner in the Presque Isle area to create a central location for teens to spend a chemical free night of dancing, playing pool and hanging out. This event drew over 300 students from eight area schools.

During the past year the high school decided to appoint the Ashland C4C group as the youth decision-makers on the use of the Drug Free Schools funding that came to the school. When the students began their work with Communities for Children, there was an honest effort from the youth to make a change in their community. With the help of C4C, students have now reached that goal and moved on to making a change within their county and their state. Students have proved that youth are the most valuable natural resource that Aroostook County has to offer. C4C has helped to make that possible.

Contact Ashland C4C