Charlottesville Training Institute

The Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program channels the surging energies of junior youth.
Junior Youth Groups are facilitated by “animators”, often in their late teens or twenties, and are open to young people ages 12-14. Junior Youth Groups (JYGs) assist youth to navigate through a crucial stage in their lives. Groups of participants engage in activities such as discussion, drama, artistic expression, cooperative games, study, and acts of community service. Junior Youth possess altruism, a sense of justice, eagerness to learn about the universe, and a desire to contribute to the construction of a better world. This program helps them form a strong moral identity and empowers them to contribute to the well-being of their communities and the world at large, by developing their character, intellectual capabilities, power of expression, and capacities for service to society, the participants come to see that they can become agents of positive change in the world.

ELEMENTS
Junior youth groups meet once a week, though sometimes more, typically over a three year period and study materials that have been specifically developed for ages between eleven and fifteen. Studying occupies only a portion of the time the junior youth spend together. During the rest of the time, groups consult on and plan service projects, participate in sports, and engage in cultural activities, such as drama and crafts, suited to their immediate surroundings. In addition to these weekly meetings, groups attend special events and undertake acts of service to the community.

ENVIRONMENT
The group offers a space in which the junior youth can develop patterns of thought and behavior that will characterize them throughout their lives and understand the world around them. The atmosphere of these groups strives to be joyous and friendly where the junior youth can enhance those qualities and attributes that a life of service to humanity requires. In such a setting, the members of the group, free from the fear of criticism or ridicule, can express their thoughts on complex questions. They learn to listen, to speak, to reflect, to analyze, to make decisions, and to act on them.