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Youth Advisory Councils

The purpose for a Pratt Northam sponsored Youth Advisory Council (YAC) is to allow a committee (board ) of students from grades 9, 10, 11, and 12 to make decisions for funding creative ideas proposed by their board and peers.

            The first council was established at Lowville Academy and Central School in the 2000 - 2001 school year. The success of that council provided both inspiration and model for others that followed. Carthage Central School started its YAC in 2001 - 2002. Beaver River Central, South Lewis Central, Copenhagen Central, Harrisville Central and Adirondack Central have followed in subsequent years.

           The Foundation's goals when establishing a YAC are:
            - To encourage creative thinking
            - To fund projects proposed by young people that benefit their community
            - To establish a practice of philanthropy while promoting volunteerism and service

          The Foundation hosts two conferences each school year for the purpose of building a community of youth gathered from throughout the region that benefit from sharing their philanthropic activities with each other.

(Pictured are students at a YAC fall conference building their “team”  for the work ahead by solving a problem-solving challenge put them by a facilitator from AMCA’s Beaver Camp)

(Pictured here are students gathered at the YAC Winter Conference, 2010.  The students are identifying the most pressing needs of young people from their communities in order to identify how to best use their resources for the remainder of the school year.)

         The Foundation provides the following guidelines to help each YAC do its work in its community. The emphasis of each YAC must be on youth-run or youth-need driven projects.

     1. To be eligible for grant consideration, it is preferred that an applicant be between the ages of 12 and 18 and residing in a public school district within the Pratt Northam service area. A school district must agree to act as fiscal agent for a grant recipient.
     2.  Applicants must plan, implement, and evaluate their own projects. The YAC must follow-up to insure that a project was completed.
     3. Projects are encouraged when a small amount of money leverages the greatest possible level of activity. This may be accomplished through the use of volunteers or by attracting additional funding from other sources. The YAC must prefer not to be the sole funding source for a project. A group's desire to seek other funding sources is given strong consideration.
     4. Priority will be given to programs or projects that address the needs of the greatest number of youth
     5. Priority will be given to new rather than previously funded projects.
     6. Applications for projects or programs traditionally funded through the regular school budget are discouraged.
     7. The highest priority will be given to programs or projects that benefit youth throughout the entire community. "Community" is to be defined by each individual YAC given each individual application. Each YAC is encouraged to maintain "Needs Profile" for its defined community.
     8. Grants may be awarded in any dollar amount up to the amount of Pratt Northam's jpgt to the school. The YAC's responsibility is to budget its monies to insure its best use in the community. A YAC may request a presentation by an applicant or a site visit before awarding a grant.

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