Youth Power is a free after-school and summer program for middle school youth. Youth Power addresses the needs of youth to be involved in positive constructive activities after-school and during the summer to teach life skills such as team building, social competency, drug resistance skills, positive decision making, in the context of providing youth with the opportunity to contribute to their community.

Youth Power runs 11-weeks during both a spring and fall session. The program meets three days a week (Tuesday through Thursday) and runs from school dismissal to 5:00 p.m. The weekly schedule for Youth Power consists of two-days of a drug prevention/ life-skill program coupled with a third day of community service.
In the spring, the program is housed in Staunton at the Nelson Street Teen Center. Students are picked up from Shelburne Middle School, Beverley Manor Middle School, Wilson Middle School, and Stuarts Draft Middle School immediately after dismissal. The program is open to all students at these schools. In the fall, the program is housed in Waynesboro at the Rosenwald Community Center. Students are picked up from Kate Collins Middle School, Wilson Middle School, and Stuarts Draft Middle School, and Stuart Middle School immediately after school.

Students must complete an application form and return it to the Office on Youth.
Click to download a Youth Power application.

Youth Power is a free summer-camp type program open to all middle school aged youth in Staunton, Waynesboro, and Augusta County. Youth Power runs for 8-weeks during the summer. Youth participate tow-days per week. One day, youth are taught a life-skills/substance abuse prevention curriculum. The second day, youth participate in community service projects.

Free transporatation is provided along with lunch each day.

Students must complete an application form and return it to the Office on Youth.
Click to download a Youth Power application.

S.P.O.K.E.S. stands for Supervised Program Offering Kids Effective Skills.

S.P.O.K.E.S is designed to give positive opportunities to youth to learn skills, give back to their community, feel valued, and work with an adult mentor. S.P.O.K.E.S refurbishes abandoned bicycles and then gives them away to needy children or others in the community. To-date approximately 40 bicycles have been repaired and distributed.

S.P.O.K.E.S is housed at the Waynesboro Boys and Girls Club. Youth in this program work with OOY staff, Boys and Girls Club staff, and community volunteers to learn bicycle repair and other needed life skills.

The S.P.O.K.E.S. program works in conjunction with the Waynesboro Boys and Girls Club to offer program to teens after school three days a week. Participants participate in bicycle repair as well as structured times for completing homework and peer tutoring at the Boys and Girls Club.

For more information on the S.P.O.K.E.S. program and teen programming at the Boys and Girls Club contact the Central Shenandoah Valley Office on Youth at 540-942-6757 or 540-332-3806.