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About 40 students recently gathered for the Michigan Middle School Leadership Initiative, a youth empowerment program at Miniwanca. In four days, they built a community and discussed how to create positive change at home, all through play, fun, and reflection in the outdoors.

MMLI returned to Miniwanca this October for the first time since 2019. Students from four schools participated: Notre Dame Preparatory School in Pontiac, OJ DeJonge Middle School in Ludington, Pentwater Public School in Pentwater, and Whitehall Middle School in Whitehall.

Miniwanca’s Michael Harter, who serves as Director of Conferences, Community, and School Programs, said the goal of MMLI is to teach middle school students how to be active participants and agents of positive change in their local communities.

“By bringing together students from different schools in Michigan, our goal is to create an active community of middle school-aged leaders who are equipped with concrete leadership tools and ready to act should the opportunity present itself,” said Harter.

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

Whitehall teacher Aaron Boyd returned to Miniwanca for his 11th MMLI. “It’s a great opportunity for schools to get outside of their walls and explain how to go about student leadership,” he said.

Miniwanca staff facilitate four days of community building and leadership development activities specifically developed for children in grades 6, 7, and 8. Advisers from each school observe the activities or partner with Miniwanca staff to aid in the curriculum, tailoring it to meet their students’ needs.

“The favorite moments are definitely watching the kids laugh and engage in their positive communities,” Boyd said.

MMLI lays the foundation for continued leadership opportunities when the students return home. “During MMLI, each school group creates a plan to address a community need,” Harter said. “The Miniwanca team meets with each school quarterly to follow up on those projects, debrief, and reconnect on lessons learned at MMLI.”

Pentwater teacher Kelly Sisung said her students plan to create a support group that, with the aid of a counselor, helps their peers navigate stressful situations and resolve conflicts. This was the first year Sisung experienced MMLI and Miniwanca, and she was impressed at how much the program impacted her students.

“The confidence my students gained in themselves has stayed with them and the staff, and I see it in their daily interactions with the rest of their peers,” she said. “They are more willing to listen to others before they speak, and when they do speak, they do it in a way that reflects that they heard what the other person said.”

Harter said Miniwanca is thrilled to bring MMLI back to west Michigan, and he looks forward to welcoming more students next year. “As we are rebuilding the program, we hope to add more schools in 2025,” he said. “I encourage any interested schools to reach out for more information.”

Sisung hopes to bring more Pentwater students to MMLI at Miniwanca next year and urges other schools to join, too.

“Other schools should consider sending their students to MMLI because seeing your students in a different environment is an incredible opportunity,” she said. “As a result of being in that different environment, they sometimes show hidden aspects of themselves. They then bring that back to school and can be a catalyst for change.”

To learn more about MMLI, contact Harter at mharter@ayf.com.