Sammamish teens to get first ‘Challenge Day
June 10, 2008
By Emily Keller
Mentors will help teens
discuss their problems
Being a teenager is no easy feat. That’s why Sammamish youth advocates are teaming up to make things a little easier.
This summer, Sammamish will have its first Challenge Day, an event for middle and high school students to bond and break down social barriers. Organizers say the event helps teenagers cope with pressure from parents, teachers and peers, and prevents negative behaviors like drug use, self-mutilation and bullying.
Brooke Bachesta, a 16-year-old sophomore at Eastside Catholic High School participated in Challenge Day earlier this year. She said the most memorable part of the day was an exercise in which facilitators tell participants to cross a line if they can answer ‘yes’ to any one of a series of questions like whether they have lost anyone to gang violence, have divorced parents or have been judged for their height, weight or skin color.
Sosie Sagherian, a Sammamish Challenge Day organizer who participated in the event last November at Snohomish High School, also praised that exercise.
“What’s really powerful is there’s 100 people and adults and there’s not one single person who doesn’t cross the line,” said Sagherian. “Everyone crosses the line and you realize that people are not perfect. Everyone’s not living this happy, happy life all the time.”
Armen Valenti, a 13-year-old student at Inglewood Junior High and Sagherian’s son, said he hopes the get-together will help his peers deal with the pressures from schools and other sources that sometimes leads to social isolation.
“You don’t have anyone to talk to and it just bubbles up, like homework, family matters, just getting filled up until you’re anti-social,” said Armen, describing the experience of isolation.
Councilwoman Michele Petitti, who works for the event’s local sponsor, Friends of Youth, said she hopes the event will encourage teenagers to speak up when their friends have problems.
“We’ve had a lot of eating disorders, suicidal and cutting stuff,” Petitti said, referring to self-destructive behaviors and self-mutilation. “Their friends know what’s going on with them.”
Petitti said she also hopes the event will help teenagers confront personal issues that could otherwise pester them later on.
“I think it’s really hard to be a teenager,” said Petitti. “I know a lot of adults have baggage from their high school years.”
This will be Sammamish’s first Challenge Day. Activities will include ice breakers in the early part of the day and small groups later in which teens may be asked to finish the statement “If you really knew me…” Teens sometimes answer with information about a relative who passed away or an eating disorder that they have, Sagherian said.
Bachesta praised the outcome of Challenge Day but also acknowledged that some social barriers remained at the end.
“I think it helped everyone get to know each other better,” said Brooke. “It wasn’t like an immediate quick fix or anything. We still have our groups of friends we hang out with.”
Organizers said they are unsure exactly what issues teens will confront.
“It’s not that I think there’s any huge problems up here on the plateau,” said Sagherian. “I think it’s the same problems that everybody has and just because it might not be the same poverty struggles that other communities have doesn’t make a difference.”
Petitti said Sammamish’s successes can contribute to the pressures that teenagers face.
“There’s a lot of pressure on our kids,” said Petitti. “We’re a pretty high caliber community and we expect all of our kids to be high achievers like we are and a lot of our kids are late bloomers.”
She also said the community doesn’t do enough to reach out to some groups of teens.
“We’re not celebrating kids that are artistically inclined,” Petitti said.
Challenge Day takes place from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. August 20 and 21 at the Pine Lake Covenant Church, 1715 228th Avenue Southeast. There will be two paid facilitators from the Challenge Day organization in California on-hand for students who become emotional and need someone to talk to.
The event is open to Sammamish students entering the 8th through 12th grades this fall. Attendance is $25. Students from other cities are put on a wait list and may be able to register later in the summer.
Thanks to an anonymous donor, organizers will welcome 50 teens for free on the basis of financial need.
There are spots for 100 teenagers per day and 25-30 volunteers, who listen to the students but do not counsel them.
Organizers are still looking for sponsors and donors for the event, which will cost $3,000 per day to host. They are hoping to hold the event in local schools in the future.
For more information or to register or volunteer visit www.friendsofyouth.org or contact Michele Petitti at 869-6490 ext. 338 or Sosie Sagherian ssagherian@comcast.net.
Reporter Emily Keller can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or ekeller@isspress.com.
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I think that challenge day is this great thing that can and most of the time will change kids if they want to be changed it really changed me.