Students from L.V. Rogers Secondary School and youth service providers from Nelson’s Youth Interagency Committee have been busy working on Nelson’s first Youth Week event.
Youth Week embraces the fundamental idea that youth are an integral and valuable part of our community, deserving of a celebration. On Friday from 4 to 9 p.m. the Nelson and District Youth Centre will host a skateboarding competition, DJs, dancing, food, door prizes and more. Youth ages 12 and up are welcome to come out and enjoy this free event.
Youth Week is a provincial celebration of youth held annually during the first week of May. It is a week of fun, interaction, and celebration intended to build a strong connection between young people and their communities and to profile the issues, accomplishments, and diversity of youth across the province.
In 1995, a small group of municipal planners and youth recreation leaders in the Lower Mainland stumbled across an idea they thought might be an “interesting little project.” At first, discussions revolved around the idea of organizing a Youth Day. However, this was not big enough for the ambitious group, so they decided to make it an entire week. Thus, Youth Week was born. It began with a small handful of municipalities launching a new and exciting initiative to promote partnerships with youth, adults, businesses, government, schools and the media – A Celebration of Youth.
Twenty years later, Youth Week has become an international celebration to promote awareness of youth. It is an opportunity for people around the world to learn about, and from, the youth of their community. Until May 7, youth in BC will embrace the spirit of Youth Week by participating in activities and events organized by youth for youth, while honouring and celebrating their diversity and their many contributions to their communities.