Training Opportunities

Middle School Focus

Obviously, these seminars are geared towards people working with middle school students. Ideal for paid or volunteer youth workers, you'll get programming ideas and more.

Schedule

Secrets of the Nation's Best Middle School Volunteers: How You Can Find and Develop Them or Be One

Jim Candy

Seminar Series #6

Sacramento - Oct 13 9:00 AM-10:30 AM

This seminar shares insights from interviews of some of the nation’s best volunteer leaders. There will be affirmations, surprises, and lots of practical application to help ministries reach middle schoolers more effectively.

Developing Our Own Curriculum

Mark Oestreicher

Seminar Series #5

Sacramento - Oct 12 3:30 PM-5:00 PM

Hello, seminar attendees! Here’s the scoop on this Open Source seminar: My hope is that all of us will leave this 90 minutes with an actual teaching/small group/interactive series of middle school curriculum. I’m thinking something in the realm of three to six sessions. (Although, if we have a good amount of people who are highly involved, we might be able to make it longer. Hey, maybe we should shoot for four sessions per NYWC city, which would give us a 12-week series at the end. Then I could send out the whole batch to everyone who participated. What do you think?) Since it’s Open Source, I’ll need your collaboration on the basic plan now. And then I’ll need it again as we approach the Convention—to pull together potential ideas for the teaching series.

How to Effectively Minister to Middle School Parents

Kurt Johnston

Seminar Series #4

Sacramento - Oct 12 1:30 PM-3:00 PM

Kurt isn’t only a middle school pastor. He’s also the parent of two young teens, and he knows how amazing, frustrating, encouraging, demanding, confusing, and sometimes even hurting their parents can be. This seminar will be jam-packed with tons of practical input to help you build trust with your students’ parents and gain their support, as well as increase your ministry to them and not just to their kids.

Middle School Ministry From the Group Up (Without Getting Ground Up)

April Diaz, Kurt Johnston

Seminar Series #3 - Super Seminars

Sacramento - Oct 11 2:00 PM-4:30 PM

Join April and Kurt and the family of middle school workers as we relish the odd and wonderful calling God has placed on us and talk about a wide variety of subjects that are unique and important to middle school ministry. This course is a great on-ramp to everything from early adolescent development to programming and teaching ideas, to small groups, and even parent relationships.

Building Community in Your Middle School Ministry

Sean Meade

Seminar Series #2

Sacramento - Oct 11 8:00 AM-9:30 AM

Middle school students long for a place to belong. They come to your ministry searching for a community in which their story can be known and they can be accepted and celebrated for who they are. If you want them to have a meaningful role within your community, then you must cultivate an environment where students are valued and encouraged to contribute. This session will explore what a middle school community can and should look like. We’ll unpack what it really means to “belong” in a ministry setting, as we look at the basic spiritual, environmental, and physiological factors that influence a middle school student’s life. Together we’ll explore practical ways to invite students to belong as we look at everyday applications of this information. You’ll leave this session with a deeper understanding of middle school community and the tools and resources you need to begin building an ethos of belonging in your own middle school group.

Effectively Ministering to Middle School Girls

April Diaz

Seminar Series #1

Sacramento - Oct 10 4:00 PM-5:30 PM

We thought we had it bad in middle school! The life of a middle school girl is increasingly complex, with body issues, societal issues, school issues, family issues, and global issues consuming their underdeveloped bodies and minds. (Just reading that sentence makes me tired!) If you found it difficult to navigate the middle school years once upon a time, then you’ll find yourself relating to this beautifully intricate sector of society and feeling primed to minister to them. Join me as we peel the layers off the issues that our middle school girls face and get more in touch with God’s heart for our groups of girls.