During the Youth-led Changemaking Competition [GUIDE]

Get to know the 5 steps to pay attention to during the competition as a focal person / teacher below.

Also find the printable weekly reports template in this section.

If you haven't read the pre-competition steps yet, you can read them HERE.

• Conduct Meetings: The focal person will conduct weekly meetings with the students teams to get an update on their progress and document their experiences. Student teams that are showing a lack of interest, or are slow in launching their changemaking projects, will be counseled. If the competition timeline is shorter, i.e. ten days, one week, or even just 72 hours, then the meeting(s) should of course be short check-ins with the teams at appropriate times during the competition.

• Submit: If the competition is a longer period, i.e. 4 weeks (although for the initial competitions we recommend a much shorter period of around a week or ten days to keep engagement and focus high) the focal person will collect the weekly reports along with any profit share, if agreed upon with the students teams in the terms of the competition. This is of course optional. In the case of YES Network Pakistan, the agreement, that the students, if they make profit during the competition, donate part of it to YES, is part of the YES Network Pakistan social enterprise model and transforms the Youth from grant receivers to grant givers. Find the template for the student reports HERE ( word file | pages file | Open and make a copy with Google Docs)

• Take and Deposit Profit: In the model YES Network Pakistan is using, the focal person is often entitled to keep 10% of the profit collected from the student teams and deposits the remaining 40% of profits into the YES Network Pakistan account online as a donation from the student teams. Of course, whether such an arrangement is feasible and / or necessary, largely depends on the context in which competitions are held, who finances the competitions etc.

• Take Action Pictures: The focal person will take action pictures of the student teams. The focal person should also encourage students to take action pictures of their activities at every stage of their project.

• Motivate and Encourage: The focal person should encourage and motivate students to participate actively in the competition. One of the key responsibilities of a teacher or a focal person is to motivate and encourage students. It will be very difficult to unlock the changemaking potential of young people without making them feel that you really believe that they are born with changemaking potential and abilities. Young people perform exceptionally well when they are genuinely trusted. It is important for a focal person or teacher tot establish an emotional connection with each student and remain consistent in their interaction with all students. Encouraging words go a long way in helping students perform well and show resilience during tough times.

YOUNG PEOPLE THRIVE ON TRUST AND ENCOURAGEMENT!