See video footage of the students accepting their award at www.boothbayregister.com

Tue, 11/03/2015 - 4:30pm

KATRINA CLARK, Staff Reporter

Having fun at the Leadership conference. Back row, from left: Jacob Bishopp, Tammy Blackman, Cameron Crocker, Kacy Pound, Nate Sample, Sam Betts, Noah Sherburne, Nick Simpson, Savannah Sedivy, Anne Barker. Front row, from left: Emma Hodgdon, Molly Thibault, Lillian Sherburne, Draco Peaslee and Zach Blackman. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register

The Student Health Advisory Board winners of the 1015 Maine Youth Action Network) Impact Award for Group Achievement. From left: Lillian Sherburne, Anne Barker (family nurse practitioner at BRHS) Draco Peaslee, Tammy Blackman (Social Services at Boothbay Region Elementary School), Sam Betts, Cameron Crocker, Molly Thibault, Zach Blackman, Nate Sample, Noah Sherburne, Savannah Sedivy, Nick Simpson, Emma Hodgdon, and Jacob Bishopp. Not pictured: Kacy Pound (student health center secretary). KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register

Emma Hodgdon, left, and Lillian Sherburne, right, are good friends who both attended the “VOEP”ing workshop during the conference. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register

Twelve students from the Boothbay Region High School Student Health Advisory Board were honored with the Maine Youth Action Network (MYAN) Impact Award for Group Achievement in Augusta on Friday, Oct. 30 for their work creating “Wellness Day” at BRHS.

The award was given to “a school or community-based group in Maine that exemplifies youth-adult partnership and has creatively made a measurable difference on an issue of importance in their community or the state as a whole,” according to an email from Nicole Manganelli, MYAN Youth Engagement Coordinator. The award was presented during The Youth Leadership Summit at the Augusta Civic Center, attended by more than 270 high school students across Maine.

Wellness Day took place last school year on April 10, and was a day to promote and explore living a healthy lifestyle. There were multiple sessions kids could choose to participate in, including yoga, Zumba, learning about healthy food choices, basic weight training and Tai Chi. Last year was the fifth annual Wellness Day.

The students also received the award for their work with local convenience stores to reduce tobacco marketing and their work on making local beaches tobacco-free zones.

Students honored included Sam Betts, Zach Blackman, Lillian Sherburne, Jacob Bishopp, Noah Sherburne, Savannah Sedivy, Draco Peaslee, Emma Hodgdon, Cameron Crocker, Nick Simpson, Molly Thibault and Nate Sample.

Those who worked on Wellness Day last year but were not in attendance include Grant Giles, Kenny Hicks, Sinead Miller and Brenna Alley.

This year, the host committee, which helps out a great deal with planning the Leadership Summit, consisted of eight kids including BRHS students Molly Thibault and Jacob Bishopp.

“We do a lot with social media, and we plan activities that are fun for kids that also help engage and empower them,” Thibault said. “There are tons of breakout sessions and activities that we planned. There's even a group here from Long Creek (a juvenile detention facility) on passes doing a presentation.”

Thibault also attended a session on climate change, and plans to bring some ideas talked about back to Boothbay.

“I want to promote household leftover nights, where instead of cooking you eat leftovers from previous nights,” Thibault said. “We learned that one-third of food produced and bought in the USA ends up being trash, and it's such a waste. With that kind of waste no one should be going hungry.”

Sam Betts attended the “Storytelling for Change” session.

“It's about what to include when talking or writing,” Betts said. “Not too much, not too little, and getting your point across without being either too bland or too descriptive.”

Bishopp and Peaslee attended a “Teen Violence Dating Workshop,” which dealt with some very serious issues.

“They talked about people forwarding photos that shouldn't be shared, from things like Snapchat, and that it's a much bigger problem than I realized,” Peaslee said. “They talked about how some forms of abuse in relationships can almost become a social norm and how it's important to take action when you see things like catcalling and step up. They talked about different ways to confront a situation to create a positive outcome.”

Simpson said his favorite workshop he attended was “Creating Safe Spaces” about having open conversations.

“The more questions you ask the more answers you come up with,” Simpson said.

Hodgdon and Lillian Sherburne both attended a “VOEP”ing workshop, which stands for “Voice, Own, Empathize, Plan.”

“It's about having tough conversations, like 'Hey mom, I want to go to an art school not a science college', or 'Hey dad, I'm gay',” Hodgdon said.

“It was put on by Coastal Studies for Girls, which is a great program I'm attending next year,” Sherburne said, adding that is currently raising money on GoFundMe for her to go. “I got so much out of the session and it seems so simple but it's an important skill.”

The students said they were eager to return to BRHS and start putting their new skills to good use in bettering their community. Those interested in joining the Student Health Advisory Board should contact Tammy Blackman or Anne Barker.

Katrina Clark can be reached at 207-844-0168 or katrinaclark@boothbayregister.com. Follow her on Twitter: @BBRegisterClark