Youth Engagement

This list contains commonly used youth engagement strategies and resources supported by the CalFresh Healthy Living, UC Program.

• Youth/Teens as Teachers

• Youth as Teachers (also known as Teens as Teachers) aims to equip youth with an opportunity to learn, grow, and serve their communities, while program recipients receive high quality programming through a youth-adult partnership. Older youth are trained and mentored to deliver CFHL-approved nutrition education lessons to younger youth.

  Examples of Youth as Teachers programming include:

  • High schoolers teaching nutrition and physical activity lessons from Go Glow Grow and CATCH to preschoolers at an Early Childhood Education facility housed on the high school campus
  • 5th and 6th graders teaching garden-enhanced nutrition education lessons from TWIGS to 1st through 3rd graders
  • High schoolers teaching cooking-based nutrition lessons from 4-H Cooking 101 through Cooking Academy in an afterschool program to elementary-aged youth

  
  Resources

  • Youth as Teachers Guide
  • Youth as Teachers: Planning Worksheet
  • Youth as Teachers: Reflection and Feedback Tool
  • Training Youth Teachers Template Slides
  • Youth-led Garden Guide
  • Teenagers as Teachers Programs: Ten Essential Elements – Journal of Extension Article (Lee, F.C.H. & Murdock, S., 2001)
  • Teens as Teachers in the Garden: Cultivating a Sustainable Model for Teaching Healthy Living – Journal of Youth Development Article (Bolshakova, V., et al, 2018)
• Youth-led Participatory Action Research (YPAR)

• Youth-led Participatory Action Research (YPAR) is designed to empower youth and center youth voices in PSE change interventions and community leadership.

  Youth carry vital knowledge about community strengths, challenges, and possible solutions, yet they are not always included in the decision-making processes that impact their lives. YPAR’s adaptive approach trains youth to design and conduct a research project based on the questions and concerns they have about their school and/or community. Youth researchers then use their findings to propel social action and champion for relevant PSE changes related to nutrition and physical activity.

  Examples of YPAR projects include:

  • Youth researching water access and appeal at their school and advocating for the installation of new water stations
  • Youth researching food waste in their lunchroom and advocating for a share table to redistribute unwanted items
  • Youth researching food access in their community and advocating for an expanded school garden
     

  Resources:

  • Youth Career Pathways Toolkit
  • Community Futures, Community Lore YPAR Stepping Stones
  • CFHL YPAR Stepping Stones Framework
  • Snapshots and Stories: My Voice, My Community 
  • YPAR Hub
  • SNAP-Ed Connection: YPAR
     

  Additional information and examples can be found in the following reports, which document successive CFHL, UC YPAR projects across California:

  • FFY 2025: Tending to Tomorrow
  • FFY 2024: Nourishing Futures
  • FFY 2023: Strengthening Pathways
  • FFY 2022: Meeting Youth Where They Are
  • FFY 2020-21: Staying Connected
  • FFY 2019: Growing Capacity
  • FFY 2018: Building Together
  • FFY 2017: Moving from Serving Youth to Engaging Youth
• Student Nutrition Advisory Council (SNAC)

• Student Nutrition Advisory Council (SNAC) is a strategy to engage youth as leaders of nutrition and physical activity in their school community, often with a focus on supporting PSE changes in and around the school lunchroom or cafeteria.

  Examples of SNAC in action include:

  • Youth SNAC leaders promoting fruits and vegetables in the lunchroom through signage and peer taste testing
  • SNAC youth collaborating with the food services director and staff to provide produce from the school garden in school meals
  • SNAC youth leading physical activity brain breaks for peers and younger youth.

  
  Resources:

  • 4-H SNAC Club Guide
• Youth-led Gardening

• In Youth-led Gardening, youth garden leaders support garden-enhanced nutrition education and school and community health through learning, working, and eating in the garden.

  Examples of Youth-led Gardening include:

  • Youth garden leaders teaching garden-enhanced nutrition education lessons to younger youth
  • Youth garden leaders taking responsibility for garden planning, design, maintenance, and care
  • Youth garden leaders procuring fruits and vegetables from the school garden for taste tests, recipe demonstrations, and incorporation into the school meal program

  
  Resources:

  • Youth-led Garden Guide

Highlighting CFHL, UCCE Central Sierra, Riverside, Imperial, and Contra Costa Counties, this video from the UC Davis Campus Global Theme Event showcases examples of young people across California collectively making a difference in the health of their communities and exploring career pathways through participation in CFHL, UCCE youth engagement activities such as Youth/Teens as Teachers, Youth-led Participatory Action Research (YPAR), Student Nutrition Advisory Council (SNAC), and Youth-led Gardening.

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  Contra Costa County youth researchers identified an issue where high school students were choosing to drink sugar-sweetened beverages instead of water at school. Here's the process they took through YPAR to identify solutions and support positive change.

• Imperial County high school youth researchers discovered students were buying lunch from food trucks instead of eating from the school cafeteria. Here's how, through YPAR, they explored the issue and proposed change.
• Imperial County elementary youth researchers investigated food waste in their school cafeteria through YPAR. Here are the steps they took and solutions they explored.
• Santa Barbara County Student Nutrition Advisory Council (SNAC) youth teach garden-enhanced nutrition lessons, support the school garden, prepare food tastings, and more. Hear how student leaders supported health at their school over one school year.
• Yolo County youth engaged in peer education teaching nutrition and food preparation as part of an afterschool Cooking Academy program. Learn more and see the program in action.

Please email Kelley Brian to share stories, photos, or other items you would like to see featured in CalFresh Healthy Living, UC's Youth Engagement highlights.