2014 Youth SummitClick here for the registration form.

The Hartsville Police Department in partnership with Coker College, Hartsville Boys & Girls Club and Florence-Darlington Technical College Hartsville Campus will host the 3rd Annual Youth Summit on Saturday, Nov. 8 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Davidson Hall of Coker College, 300 E. College Ave. in Hartsville. Registration begins at 9 a.m. for this free event, which includes lunch. Preregistration through the Hartsville Boys & Girls Club is recommended to ensure enough food will be provided.

The 2014 Youth Summit aims to facilitate teens’ identification of the challenges they face in our community and to explore opportunities to address those challenges. All Darlington County youth, ages 12 to 18, are invited to participate. Church youth groups as well as nonprofit, youth-serving organizations are encouraged to bring their youth for this full day designed to facilitate personal reflection, teambuilding, goal setting and problem solving skills in our youth.

“We want to better understand what issues our teens are facing that can contribute to peer pressure, drugs and teen pregnancy so they can guide us in coming up with a better thought process for dealing with these issues,” Hartsville Police Chief James Hudson said. “The 2014 Youth Summit will bring teenagers together to think about their environment, to identify what is important to them, the challenges they face, and to brainstorm solutions to overcoming those challenges. This event provides a chance for teens to express themselves while also showing them the local programs which can support youth-led projects addressing their concerns.”

The teens will participate in problem solving, initiative activities designed to challenge them physically and cognitively to work together towards setting goals, brainstorming solutions, implementing their ideas and evaluating their progress. The event will culminate with the youth identifying an important issue which they would be willing to address with community service work during 2015 through the support and guidance of local youth programs. Out-of-school-time programs will be available for youth to sign up to attend. The teens will reconvene once a quarter to share their progress, brainstorm new ideas and remain connected in their pursuits.

The event will feature guest speaker Jamir Jumoke of Wilmington, N.C. who, after serving at Cape Fear Community College as President of the Student Government Association, President of the Male Minority Mentoring Program, and President of the Sociological Association, was awarded the 2013 Cape Fear Leadership Award. Jamir also earned the 2014 Dallas Hearing Achievement Award for the state of North Carolina. He is now a student of criminology and leadership studies at UNC Wilmington and has co-founded a community organization called SOUL (Supporters of the Urban League), teaching residents in urban communities how to operate sustainable social programs. Jamir is a musical artist and co-owner of a clothing company called SoulLife Apparel.

Preregistration for the Nov. 8 Youth Summit is recommended to allow for adequate amounts of food and supplies. The registration form is available by clicking here. To register individuals or groups, contact Dianne Montgomery at the Hartsville Boys & Girls Club at (843) 332-1400 or dmontgomery@bgcpda.org.