Spirit of Youth

In 1996, an Alaskan teen was asked what could be done to prevent youth violence. He responded to this question with a question of his own: “How come when someone does something wrong it makes the headlines for weeks but if we do something right, nobody ever notices?”

Spirit of Youth was formed in by a group of volunteers who felt that this teen’s response held a key to increasing resiliency and connectedness in Alaska’s youth. They believed that the promotion of positive images could help dismantle stereotypes of adolescents and eliminate the problems that they cause.  

Today, Spirit of Youth recognizes over 175 youth from an average of 50 Alaskan communities each year who are contributing in a positive way to their community. Since our
start, thousands of positive stories about Alaskan youth have been shared through television, radio and local newspapers.