For Advisors
Teen Institute Information for School Advisers
About Vermont Teen Institute:
Vermont Teen Institute is a week-long training program that aims to provide education and support to young people in the areas of substance abuse prevention, suicide prevention, wellness & self-care, healthy relationships, and positive psychology, among other topics. The program hires both students and adults as staff to help lead workshops, build community among participants and staff, and facilitate small group discussions called family groups. The program encourages schools to send students who are interested in becoming leaders in their schools and communities and who are committed to promoting positive change. These students should be passionate about making a difference and should have a desire to learn and grow both personally and professionally. Vermont Teen Institute welcomes students from diverse backgrounds and experiences and provides a safe and inclusive environment for all participants.
Sending Students:
We encourage school advisors to be selective in choosing which students to send to Vermont Teen Institute. Participants should be mature enough to engage in discussions about emotional topics such as problems their peers face and suicide prevention. The program provides advisors with a participant application packet to facilitate the application process at their school. The application packet includes information about the program and the expectations of participants, as well as an application form that asks participants to describe their interest in attending the program and how they plan to use what they learn in their school and community. If advisors have any questions about the program or the application process, they are welcome to reach out to the Vermont Teen Institute team for support.
Running A Teen Institute Chapter in Your School or Organization:
To run a Vermont Teen Institute Chapter in your school, the advisor should encourage interested students to attend the week-long training program. During the program, participants will generate ideas for activities to do at their school. The advisor will then support students in planning and implementing these activities through regular chapter meetings. We suggest that each chapter completes at least two prevention activities, works on two policy changes, and does two community-building activities each year. It's important to note that participants don't have to have attended Vermont Teen Institute to be part of the school chapter, but we encourage schools to send as many students as possible to be trained. While there is no cost to schools for the training this year, we ask schools to set aside $5000 annually to send up to six participants to Vermont Teen Institute to help offset the costs of the training. By running a Vermont Teen Institute Chapter, your school can help empower students to become leaders and make a positive impact in their school and community.
Advisors Attending TI as Staff:
We encourage, but do not require, school advisors to attend Vermont Teen Institute as adult staff at least once. By attending the program, advisors will gain a better sense of the experience that participants have and will share a common experience with them. This can help advisors create a similar sense of community with the school chapter and better support their students in implementing the activities and changes they learned about at the program. Of course, our staff is always here to support advisors and school groups in any way we can. By attending Vermont Teen Institute as an adult staff member, advisors can gain valuable skills and knowledge that they can use to help empower students and make a positive impact in their school and community.
Recruitment Tools: