Youth Development Programs

CAPteens

As the cornerstone of the CAPTAIN Youth Development Program, the Teen Activity Board (TAB) now known as CAPteens has had over 1,000 high-school members since its inception in 1987. CAPteens promotes positive development, leadership, self-esteem, character building and citizenship by providing teens with the guidance and opportunity to design and implement their own community service and fundraising activities. CAPTAIN provides adult supervision for all CAPteens activities, and allows students the freedom to be creative and have a broad base of community service opportunities.
There are two regular, structured opportunities for CAPteens to gain volunteer experience – at Cheryl’s Lodge Outreach Center in Turf Mobile Home Community, and manning the Teen Talk and Phone Friend phone lines.

At Cheryl’s Lodge Outreach Center, CAPteens volunteer in the after school homework help programs for elementary and middle school students. CAPteens assist younger students with homework, crafts, in the computer lab and wherever else they are needed.

CAPTAIN has operated two telephone assistance programs, called Teen Talk and Phone Friend, for the past 20 years, which are designed to provide youth help through connecting them with other interested teens. Teen Talk is a confidential helpline staffed by teens trained to listen and respond to calls from other teens seeking to talk about youth-related topics and issues. Teen Talk helps youth who may be experiencing trouble at home, depression, academic pressures, bullying, gambling, relationship difficulties, or alcohol and substance abuse issues. Phone Friend is a call-in service also staffed by trained teens to help younger youth with homework. The phone lines are open each day after school throughout the school year. CAPteens manning the phone lines are always supervised by a trained adult volunteer.

High school sophomores, juniors and seniors are eligible to become CAPteens based on an application and interview process. They volunteer to participate in an extensive, rigorous and ongoing training process to develop the skills needed to staff the phone lines, mentor students, and grow as leaders. CAPteens serves as an excellent opportunity for students to demonstrate a commitment to community service while building a resume for life.