By Ashley Winterstein

A spark is an interest, talent, skill, asset, or dream that excites a young person and helps them discover their true passions, whether they be academic, relational, athletic, or intellectual.

The Search Institute, a national non-profit organization committed to providing resources to help every child succeed, created the spark concept to help young people identify their sparks and encourage the community to support these interests and talents.

On their website, www.search-institute.org, researchers share that when young people can identify their spark AND have adults in their lives who support their sparks, they are more likely to “have a sense of purpose, be socially competent and physically healthy, volunteer to help others, and have better attendance and higher grades in school.”

The students at Centreville Middle School were recently asked to reflect on what their spark(s) may be and then share them in an essay. These sparks could be anything that motivates the students and brings them joy, energy, meaning, purpose, and direction.

The Language Arts teachers were asked to read the essays from their class and choose three or four that stood out to them. A Leadership Team of seven school staff members then chose their favorite essays from the group and invited these students to represent the school in an interview session with Jacki Carter, Positive Youth Development Coordinator, to be aired on QACTV.

This simple essay assignment has produced amazing results. Pam Edwards, Centreville Middle School Guidance Counselor, was surprised by the diversity of the sparks in their school and enjoyed the opportunity to learn about the many dimensions of these young students.

Some students wrote about sparks that are evident in a school setting, such as reading, math, or playing sports or a particular instrument. These students often credited their teachers or coaches for encouraging and supporting their sparks.

Other students have sparks that are not always apparent in school. Dana Koch, an eighth grade student, identified photography as her spark after falling in love with taking pictures of her family and friends a few years ago. Steven Melvin, a sixth grade student, has already identified his spark as cooking. Other remarkable sparks included dancing, gymnastics, and volunteering to help needy families.

Research done by the Search Institute has shown that having caring adults to support and encourage youth to find and follow their sparks is essential to their success. In a small discussion group at Centreville Middle School, students shared this same sentiment. They spoke candidly about wanting opportunities to explore different activities such as cooking, photography, writing, or gymnastics and are interested in finding people and resources that will allow them to experience possibilities for hobbies or even future careers.

They also shared their belief that focusing on their sparks and positive interests could help them and their classmates avoid the common risks of adolescence such as underage drinking and drug abuse. They felt that pursuing their sparks would offer a positive activity to alleviate boredom and keep them focused on their true life goals.

Any caring adult in a young person’s life can be the encouragement that they need to pursue their spark. A parent, teacher, neighbor, coach, or family friend may be the support a young person needs to follow their interests and dreams.

There are also opportunities available to members of our community to become supporters of local students who may not be currently receiving this positive encouragement. Please contact Jacki Carter at 410-758-6677 or jcarter @qac.org if you would like to find out more information about becoming a mentor to an individual student or a character coach to an entire class of students in our county.