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Six months ago, young leaders hatched some wonderful plans at the Michigan Middle School Leadership Initiative (MMLI) at Miniwanca.

These middle schoolers were concerned about their peers’ mental health, so they decided to give them outlets for movement and self-care during the frigid Michigan winters.

MMLI takes place at Miniwanca each October and teaches middle school students how to be active participants and agents of positive change in their local communities. During MMLI, each school group creates a plan to address a community need, and the Miniwanca team follows up with them throughout the school year.

The MMLI group from Mona Shores Middle School in Norton Shores pulled off a wildly fun In-School Snow Day for their fellow sixth graders, complete with sledding, snowshoeing, and snowball fights. Teacher Nichole Kinder-Butterfield says they had a blast energizing their community.

“Every time we have attended MMLI, kids return from camp with such pride in their ideas and plans,” she says. “This year was no different. These kids saw a need for more physical activity for sixth graders, and they delivered! They were confident, thoughtful, and proud! This did come with challenges, which was so fun to watch them work through. The growth they make as leaders is profound.”

At Nellie B. Chisholm Middle School in Montague, MMLI students – dubbed the Hope Squad – hosted the Wildcat Wellness Walk, where more than 80 people walked out their stress and focused on mental and behavioral health.

“Watching the small group that attended leadership camp bring back their ideas and enthusiasm and share it with the whole group was exciting,” says teacher Tressa Hain. “They planned the whole thing with little help from us, and we are so proud of them for the passion and work they put into such an amazing community event.”

Tressa and Nichole have participated in MMLI for several years and seen the program’s impact extend far beyond middle school.

“The biggest lasting effects we see are the confidence in themselves and the understanding that their voice does matter and that they can make positive changes in their school and surrounding communities,” Tressa says.

Nichole has seen the program’s influence continue to adulthood. “There are now staff at Shores that I brought to MMLI when they were in middle school years ago, and they still bring up the impact of this experience,” she says.

MMLI is funded through a combination of generous donations from local community partners like the Oceana County Community Foundation,  the White Lake Community Fund through the Muskegon County Community Foundation, the Mason County Community Foundation, individual school funding, and the American Youth Foundation.

MMLI returns to Miniwanca this fall. For more information on how your school can participate, email Michael Harter, Director of Conferences, Community, and School Programs, at mharter@ayf.com.