Photo by Jens Schlueter/Getty Images
Photo by Jens Schlueter/Getty Images
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The Junior League of Lafayette is launching a new teen program.

This program is aimed at empowering high school girls with the skills that they need to be effective leaders and volunteers in the community.

This new program will be called Spark Teen Board. The program will be open to high school junior and senior girls. At the moment there are 12 spots available on the board. The program will run from September to May of 2023. Applications are being accepted until June 30, 2022.

 

The Junior League of Lafayette is entering the group's 65th year and leadership has spent a lot of time realigning the focus of the league and its community programs. Spark Teen Board was just what the Junior League of Lafayette was looking for as they had noticed that there was a lack of leadership opportunities for teen girls.

President-elect Monica Zuschlag said, “Junior League members noticed a lack of leadership avenues for teen girls outside of school and church-based activities and wanted to create a space that drew girls from across Lafayette Parish and helped build their sense of community investment.”

The Junior League of Lafayette took the idea of the Spark Teen Board from the Pensacola league, they then reviewed the objectives and curriculum from the United Way of Acadiana’s Leader in Me program and built out a well-rounded program that would fit Lafayette. This collaboration included a team of people from the League League of Lafayette, United Way of Acadiana, and high school counselors.

The Spark Teen Board will meet monthly and will allow for the girls to get to know each other with an ice breaker, a guest speaker, and small group discussions. Some of the topics that will be covered will be financial literacy, building your leadership style, advocacy, and diversity.

“We want them to see women in leadership roles who are out there in our community that are doing big, great things…If Carlee Alm-LaBar can do it, they can do it too. If Angela Morrison, who was our first Black president of Junior League of Lafayette, can do it, then they can do it too. I think it's important for girls to see people in the community who look like them doing the job that they want to do,” -Monica Zuschlag

At the end of their term, the 12 Spark Teen Board members will be eligible for two $1,000 scholarships created exclusively for members of the board.

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