The small community of Boothbay Harbor, Maine, primarily a summer destination for tourists and part-time residents, might not be a location that immediately comes to mind when considering mass media. Yet, the Boothbay Asset Builders community initiative has done much to incorporate their local newspaper and television station in their asset-building efforts.
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It all started over ten years ago when Boothbay Harbor counselors Jeanne Tonon and Linda Lupton discovered the Developmental Assets framework and became instantly taken with the idea. “This whole approach was intuitively correct for us in terms of who we are as individuals, but also as professionals, because it looks at strengths, and if you look at strengths, you’ve certainly minimized the at-risk behavior,” says middle-school counselor Lupton.
The pair worked to expand asset building into their work and the work of their peers in their school district. The district superintendent got involved around five years ago, and Boothbay Harbor’s asset building went into in full swing with a Search Institute survey. The small community was surprised by the results and immediately began working with youth to design a youth summit to address the issues presented by the survey data.
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Five years later, the yearly youth summit is still going strong and the community has seen many positive changes from the survey results, including the building of an ice rink, the development of a youth leadership group called “core leaders, ” and student-designed workshops for teachers on the Developmental Assets. “It is starting to feel like the assets are really getting embedded in the community,” says Lupton.
How has asset building expanded from the work of a couple school counselors to a community-wide effort? According to Lupton, this is partly due to the local newspaper, which has always had a strong focus on kids. “I’ve been here 18 years and it was absolutely, unequivocally the case. Philosophically, they are invested [in youth].” The Boothbay Register has consistently been receptive to story ideas brought forth by the initiative, and has published several articles on asset development.
Read about another community who partnered with their local newspaper
The paper’s focus on youth and the Developmental Assets has several sources. One such source is a number of parents on the newspaper staff who act as liaisons for the young people in the community. The youth, especially those in high school, also approach the Register to cover events, which makes the paper all the more willing to help out. “It’s not just adults driving the relationship with the newspaper, the youth are too,” says Lupton. “The desire to write about our young people is really embedded in the culture of the paper. We are really lucky to have a newspaper that is so willing to collaborate.”
The Boothbay Asset Builders have also been fortunate enough to have a local cable access station that works to involve youth. The station has gone out of its way to create films with and for the young people of the community, including filming the youth summit every year.
Hear what the attendees of the youth summit had to say about their sparks
The students at the high school have been able to get involved through their media courses and more focused mentoring around camera work and movie making. Students have also been able to get in front of the camera to do everything from sports reporting to hosting their own show.
The station is even conveniently located near where youth spend the most time—-the schools. “The studio space is right in the YMCA across from the schools, so it is geographically placed right where the youth are located. The station will even reach out to the kids at the Y,” said Lupton.
Boothbay Harbor’s asset builders use media in a way that gives youth a voice and a presence in the community. “We are not a community free of problems and need to remind ourselves to be intentional about what we do,” says Lupton. “I can’t say enough about the assets, they give voice to youth, which is very important.”
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