Operating Principles
1. Growth and self-reliance are encouraged at every level to support youth as they become contributing members within the community.
Active community role models facilitate and leverage individualized connection, support and empowerment within developing youth. This encourages growth in self-reliance at every level to become contributing members within the community.
2. Empathy and respect to all are paramount to positive development.
Formation of impactful relations with one another, oneself, and amongst the community is driven by the singular strength of outwardly presenting amicable habits and behaviors.
3. Understanding where an individual wants to go begins with learning where they have been and where they are at.
By acknowledging and recognizing unique pathways and life experiences, the JAM Center specializes experiences and provides unique learning opportunities based on the individual's personalized strengths and abilities for growth.
4. JAM’s Youth Initiative acknowledges and eliminates systemic and internal barriers in order to identify and meet the needs of the community.
We believe in the power of free programming, access to resources, and community involvement & engagement.
5. JAM’s Youth Initiative seeks to provide an intentional environment for our youth, rooted in principle-based thinking.
These universal principles of adolescent development emphasize facilitating autonomy, building self-awareness, developing metacognition, constructing identity, and providing meaningful, needed support to our youth.
Principles of Adolescent Development
Youth development research states that young people ages 13-18:
• Exhibit an extreme push for independence.
• Are less interested in formal learning.
• Become interested in society and their role.
• Are capable of advanced reasoning and logical thought processes.
• Begin to carefully think through issues of social justice.
• Start to ponder their purpose in life.
• Need support and understanding from caring adults as they discover their place in society.
• Need positive adult role models.
• Need opportunities for meaningful participation at home, school and within the community.
Teaching Aligned with Development in Adolescence (TADA) Overview
Understanding and appreciating the human development of adolescents helps educators and mentors reach their full potential and provide meaningful interactions with young people.
TADA’s guiding lights:
• Human beings of all ages have a fundamental need for meaningful autonomy, which facilitates development and learning.
• Self-awareness is the cornerstone of positive development and learning.
• Our identity takes time, patience, and exploration to construct.
• Developing metacognition skills allows identification and examination of internal thoughts, beliefs, and values without judgment.
• Individuals need different kinds of support at different times and for different reasons.
• Providing support that is not wanted or needed steals opportunity and joy from others.