Each session of the NCUFY Summer Internship concludes with a presentation which allows the interns to reflect on and share the work they have done. Because of the pandemic, the 2020 Summer Internship was conducted via Zoom, which allowed us to record their presentations and share their work more broadly.
The theme for Session 1 was Family Connections Are Prevention. The interns began by learning about public health and prevention work. They explored how building strong family relationships can serve as a “protective factor”, helping teens make smart choices around drug and alcohol use. Participating in group exercises, the interns reflected on their own memorable family moments. Then they used their time to brainstorm ways to help our community build family connections, particularly during the pandemic. They came up with two projects – the NCUFY Family Cookbook and the NCUFY Family Craft Booklet, the latter of which is discussed in their presentation. Both projects can be found on the website’s Youth Projects page.
The theme for Session 3 was Peer Relationships as Prevention. The interns began by learning about refusal skills, including the importance of sticking to your beliefs, values, and decisions. They discussed as a group the “whys” and “whens” of teens beginning to think about or use various substances. They worked together to develop a series of needs assessment questions, with the goal of encouraging their peers to investigate the values they hold that help them to say no. They created a survey of their needs assessment questions, which they then distributed amongst the community. To take their survey, click below, or find it on our Youth Projects page.
