High school seniors in Lowndes County are learning to take care of and better themselves and their communities.
The Y Teens Life Skills class — offered through a partnership of the YMCA with the Lowndes County and Columbus Municipal school districts — currently is preparing students from Columbus, New Hope and West Lowndes high schools for life after graduation.
“I taught computer science (at the college level) for 18 years and spent a lot of time with college freshmen,” said Yolonda Troupe-Williams, the Y Teens Life Skills instructor. “All of the things I saw them make mistakes in, these are the things (about which) I’m getting an opportunity to talk to these young people, so they won’t make these mistakes.
“I’m taking all I’ve learned and bringing it back to the community,” she added. “It’s all about getting yourself prepared for life after graduation.”
Each semester, Troupe-Williams teaches 10 students from each participating school; in the spring, she also will teach students from Caledonia High School.
Currently, the life-skills class meets on Mondays at West Lowndes High School, on Wednesdays at Columbus High School and on Thursdays at the New Hope YMCA.
Troupe-Williams and the students discuss a variety of topics, including college entrance exams, finding scholarships and the YMCA motto of having a healthy spirit, mind and body.
Finding balance
“Having a balanced life is what we talk about, making wise choices and making sure or understanding that the senior year is a time for you to shape your destiny,” Troupe-Williams said.
The Y Teens Life Skills students from New Hope High School Thursday talked about their expectations for the class.
“I’m expecting to learn life skills, so when I get out on my own this summer, I’ll be prepared,” said Shalonda Rice, 18, who plans to pursue a career in accounting or teaching mathematics.
“I guess to have good college skills and I think it will prepare me for the future,” Kiara Gilliam, 17, said of her decision to take the life-skills class.
“And to get me good colleges to go to,” Gilliam, who plans to study at the University of Birmingham (Ala.) to pursue a career as a registered nurse or physical therapist, added.
Jaquari Ferguson, 17, plans to study music and songwriting at Mississippi State University and is taking the class to “build a knowledge of what to do as far as applying for college and financial aid.”
College prep
“(I want to learn) skills that will better myself in life and have more knowledge about college,” said Sandy Taylor, 17, who plans to attend the University of Tampa (Fla.) and pursue a career as a pediatric nurse. “It’s for you to know what you’re going into and to get your thoughts together.”
“I’m taking this class because I hope to get more knowledge about the way college is going to be,” said Amber Porterfield, 17, who plans to attend the University of Alabama and pursue a career as a voice/choral teacher. “I want something to look good on my college application. I’m thinking (Troupe-Williams) is going to help prepare us for life and college and give everything that’s important to us to help organize our life in a better way.”
The students also develop service projects to aid their community; the projects then are judged by members of the YMCA board of directors and YMCA staff.
Brighter Days
Last year’s winning project, by Tiffany Harrell of West Lowndes High School, was implemented over the summer at the Frank P. Phillips Memorial YMCA in downtown Columbus.
Harrell’s project — Y Teens Knocking It Off — centered on “knocking off unhealthy eating habits” and “working together to shed unwanted pounds,” said Troupe-Williams, noting the second-place winning project — Brighter Days, developed by Caledonia High School student Maggie Wester — also was implemented.
For the Brighter Days project, boxes were placed at Caledonia High School and on the Mississippi University of Women campus for depositing cards with the name and address of someone deserving of recognition for a contribution to the community.
Words of encouragement
Each month, the Y Teens send an “encouragement card,” to the suggested individuals, letting them know their efforts are appreciated, Troupe-Williams said, adding Y Teens Life Skills students currently are partnering with MUW on a project to feed the hungry.
“We talk about service learning, how to give back to your community,” she explained. “(And) how wonderful it is to be a volunteer. It helps build a résumé and they have academic and extracurricular activities to show they are giving back to the community and they are well-rounded teenagers, moving ahead in life and shaping their destiny.
“Who can do it better than one teen knowing how to reach another teen?” she continued. “It’s been wonderful. I enjoy getting with them each week. We talk about all sorts of things, even down to how we deal with different things in life. We just talk about all of these different things that young people would run into and give great options about how they could be handled.”
Kristin Mamrack is a staff reporter for The Commercial Dispatch.
