If you’ve ever joined a kid-grit training, you’ve heard us proudly say that our work supports people ages 5 to 105. And recently, we were reminded just how true that is.

A few months back, we were invited to lead a pre-conference workshop at a national event in Orlando, Florida. The room was filled with about 18 certified teachers and out-of-school-time program administrators. What we didn’t expect? A youth leadership group also attending the conference had told their middle and high schoolers to pick a session to sit in on—and two young men walked into our workshop: one in 7th grade, the other in 10th.

 

Our session was focused on building student relationships and youth-centered facilitation—so we got creative! Thankfully, we had a few student-friendly handouts and a robust list of activities in our veins, so we quickly adapted. We asked all participants—including our two surprise guests—to reflect on powerful relationships with teachers or mentors. The young men’s answers were honest, sweet, and full of heart. Their presence lit up the room.

 

 

Our final activity wasn’t exactly youth-friendly. It involved a text-based reading passage at the university level, and facilitation strategies that we couldn’t easily change in the moment. Thinking fast (and spinning around like a ballerina), we swapped in a prompt from our Creative Writing for Mental Health curriculum. The students were asked to interview a feeling—and then write as if that feeling was responding back.

 

 

The 10th grader wrote something beautiful and brave—and he volunteered to share it with the entire room. His words stunned everyone. His willingness to be open, vulnerable, and real was something we’ll never forget.