Service Learning Project

Courtney Anderson

• Youth group at Zion Presbyterian Church• Open to youth in grades 5-12

Friday Night NOIZ

THE GOAL

• To give our older junior high & high school youth more of a leadership role

• This had to be done by giving them responsibility, but still being a responsible leader myself

• Operation Christmas Child is a shoebox drive organized through Samaritan’s Purse

• They collect shoeboxes packed with Christmas gifts for les fortunate children

WHY I CHOSE OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD

• The organization provides very specific guidelines

• With an average of 20 kids a night, it was easy to split them into groups

• The groups all were able to have one “youth leader” to guide them through the process

• It was an endeavor that budget-wise was acceptable to take from the youth group’s budget

TEACHING LEADERSHIP

• The group leaders were instructed to be in charge of the money, brochures, and boxes

• There were no instructions given on how to make decisions

TAKING A STEP BACK

• By handing over responsibility to the youth leaders, I had to first give that up

• Although a “laissez-faire” leadership approach would usually be frowned upon with a group of teenagers, this was what needed to happen

OBSERVATIONS

• Personality types matter when picking leaders • It isn’t just age, but maturity level that can

determine a great young leader• Girls and boys tend to stick with their own groups,

especially when it comes to decision making• Everyone had difficulty comprehending that all

the responsibility was on the youth• Under stressful situations, youth can succeed if

you let them think through solutions on their own

Friday Night NOIZ’s

OPERATION CHRISTMAS

CHILD