Ep. 2 - Northwest Arkansas Goes All In for Teens

Want to see what happens when a city decides teens truly matter? We pull back the curtain on two decades of work at the Teen Action and Support Center and show how Northwest Arkansas is moving beyond labels to real support. Our focus is simple and bold: build protective factors early, amplify youth voice, and align the whole community around belonging.

We start with the origin story, spotting a gap in teen-focused services, and the decision to invite teens and local partners to co-design solutions. From there, we dig into what adolescents actually need: space to figure things out, adults who listen without fixing, and safe-to-fail environments that turn missteps into learning. We explore a trauma-informed shift from “what’s wrong with you?” to “what happened, and what do you need?” and why adolescent brain development demands patience, structure, and empathy. Social media raises the stakes, so consistent mentorship and meaningful after-school options matter more than ever.

Evidence guides the path. We connect the dots to the Iceland prevention model and Communities That Care, showing how coordinated investments in family supports, arts, sports, and youth leadership can reduce risk behaviors while boosting graduation, employment, and community pride. Then we ground the data in lived results: service learning that builds identity instead of punishing, teen parents graduating on time at a 95 percent rate, and former TASC participants returning as volunteers and therapists. Prevention isn’t soft; it’s strategic, and it saves both money and futures.

We also share practical takeaways for parents, educators, and civic leaders: set a no-questions-asked pickup plan, ask better questions at school (“what’s needed?”), fund inclusive after-school choices, and retire labels like “troubled.” 

If you want a hands-on way to help, our All In For Teens casino night brings the community together to fuel prevention and intervention while highlighting powerful youth stories. Join us, subscribe for more conversations that center on teen voices, and leave a review to help more people find these tools. Ready to go all in for teens? Let’s build it together.

Transcript

Welcome And Mission Of TASC

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Hi, and welcome to Loud Enough, the podcast from the Teen Action and Support Center. I'm Dawn Sprague, the host. I'm also a licensed professional counselor and a co-founder of the Teen Action and Support Center. And our podcast is really focused on making sure that we help people understand what's going on with teenagers and be able to amplify their voices as well. And our goal is to make sure that every teen has an opportunity to become the best version of themselves, which is part of our mission statement at task. Today we're going to talk about what it means to be all in, for a community to be all in, and how we have been able to do that here in Northwest Arkansas. And so I have two guests here today. One is the other co-founder. And yes, we do have the same last name, my husband, Greg Spragg, who has very much been a part of what we do here at the Teen Action and Support Center and continues to advocate for teens right alongside us. And I'm glad that he's going to be here today to talk a little bit about our journey and also Hannah Carter, who is a colleague at task with me. She is our event coordinator, but also a mom of teenagers and a um just a person who continues to support teenagers in our community in so many ways. So glad to have both of you here today as we start talking a little bit about what it means to be all in. And so I wanted to talk a little bit about our journey, how we how we got here. We are now in our 20th year of serving teenagers in Northwest Arkansas. And this all kind of started as a concern we had that there were very little services. There was a huge gap in services specifically for teenagers. We seemed to lump them into um, you know, zero to 18. And uh, and that it's a very different time in the life of a young person when they hit adolescence. And so we felt like we needed to really kind of um get that to happen. Uh, it was kind of a crazy vision that I went to my husband with one day and said, uh, I really think we need to do this.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

And he said, I said, yeah, I believe we need to do it.

Gaps In Teen Services

SPEAKER_03 2:18

We need to, we need to do it. So um see Greg's background is in retail and uh is an incredible strategic planner. And I didn't know what that meant, really, when we first started. And so uh helped us on the journey of building what is now uh an organization that serves um 800 plus teenagers and in at any given time during the year. And so I'm really grateful that he said, let's let's do this. So you want to talk a little bit more about how we how we landed to where we are?

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Yeah. Um so yeah, so I, you know, the reason that that I said what I said when you said I think this is something I want to do, and I said, you know what, I think you have to do it because you told me that God placed it on your heart to do this, right? Um and I didn't have the same passion you did uh at the time, right? You were busy working. You said you said to me, You said, Well, okay, but I don't know how to do it. I said, Well, I can help you with that, right? So I can help you put together a business plan, come up with a strategy, but this is your thing, right? Um and you just poured an awful lot of yourself into it.

What Teens Need: Space And Support

SPEAKER_03 3:22

Yeah, well, it's uh definitely you are all in. There's there's there's no doubt about that. And I I really do appreciate that. So when we started task, we uh identified several different gaps in services for teenagers here in Northwest Arkansas. We are filling those gaps still and a few more, but we there's no way to do everything for one organization to do everything. We we try to do as many things as we can. But um as Hannah will know, she is uh a big part of our fundraising uh arm of task. And there's just not enough, you know, financially and not enough resources, like staffing-wise, even to meet all the needs. And there are people with different passions. So our community's been amazing the way we've been able to connect and uh find other organizations that can provide support for our teenagers. We're really grateful the way that has happened here in Northwest Arkansas. But in general, I know both of you know a lot about teens and um have worked with them in lots of different capacities. So I wonder what how you would explain to somebody what the real challenges are for teenagers, what the real needs are, and how people maybe need to be thinking about that in their community.

SPEAKER_02 4:37

Um, I can speak to the teens that live in my house, the teens that I see a lot. Um I think teens are trying to really figure out who they are. Um, and adults have preconceived notions on who what that should look like or who those people should be when they grow up. But they need space to figure it out and they need um adults to support them in on their journey to figure out who they're gonna become and the adults that they're going to be.

SPEAKER_03 5:05

Yeah. Yeah. Space to to figure that out without judgment, without criticism. And a safe place to fail. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:13

So as they're figuring things out, sometimes they're gonna make missteps from time to time. And it's gonna be how you help them navigate that. Are they on their own or do they have support um in backtracking and making corrections?

SPEAKER_03 5:26

Yeah. Yeah, it's it's funny that you said that they're they are gonna make missteps. And uh I can't imagine that there would be a listener who would say, uh, not me. I never made a I didn't make a misstep as a teenager. I've heard all of yours.

SPEAKER_01 5:40

So yeah. Unfortunately.

SPEAKER_03 5:41

Yeah. But I think it's some of those social media back then. I know. State no misproof. Same here. There's no proof, exactly. Um that is another trouble, sir.

Rethinking Missteps And Trauma

SPEAKER_01 5:52

I was gonna say, um, I mean, that is one of those things that, you know, I tell folks all the time when we're talking about teenagers and what their experiences are today, they are remarkably different than what our experiences were as teenagers, because there wasn't any such thing as social media or TikTok or you know, and and um yeah, and so and the other thing I I thought about, Dawn, was, you know, uh I I know um this family, right? And I know what kind of support these these young guys get.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

Um not everybody, not every teenager has that kind of a support system.

SPEAKER_03 6:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:26

Right. And so that's where TAS can step in and become that that safe place and that support system to help them navigate, you know, some really difficult situations that they're going through.

SPEAKER_03 6:38

Yeah. Yeah. No, that's the community support, we're gonna talk about that a little bit more in just a minute, is so critical. And the research says it's um it's the way kids will thrive.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

Right.

SPEAKER_03 6:49

Um, well, they will get into adulthood in a in a much more positive way. So, um, but when you were talking about those missteps so often, our first question to a teenager when they misstep is what is wrong with you? You know, and instantly in their brains that are not fully developed yet, it's like, oh, there must be something wrong with me. And it's a normal part of development, like you said, that that requires space. So I I think the other question, and certainly when we're dealing with trauma, is what happened to you? What's happening to you? Right. And or, you know, how are you receiving what's happening to you? Like those are kind of the questions we never ask a teenager that, actually.

SPEAKER_00 7:32

Right.

SPEAKER_03 7:32

But it is a way for us to be thinking about it a little bit differently and to to do that kind of in a in a group, um, in a group environment. So how do you think a how do you think a community, which and when I say that, I mean like the environments that young people are in, the the cultural settings that they're in, school, judicial systems, all of that? Um, how do you think they can make an impact? Good or bad? Like, I'm I wonder what you think about that.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

Ask that question again.

SPEAKER_03 8:05

Just how does the community around a student, like if we think about what's happening to a kid, well, what do you think are uh what do you think are um ways that they make impacts, the families that they're in, the um the school systems, the judicial systems, all all of those kind of things.

SPEAKER_02 8:24

Well, I think that goes back to your question where you said you talk to teens about what has happened to you or what's, you know, what's wrong with you and shifting that from what's wrong to what's needed. And looking into what's in place at their schools or what's going on with the judicial system, how how can we support them? How can we come alongside teens on their journey?

SPEAKER_03 8:48

Yeah, I think that if we can help them think what do you need, you know, what what what might actually be going on? That's a that's a good way for us to try to figure out what they what they do need and put that in place. Yeah. Do you have any thoughts on that?

Systems That Harm Or Help

SPEAKER_01 9:03

No, I well, I you know, I just think that um over time a maybe a lack of tolerance um has created systems that are not necessarily in the best interest of the young people.

SPEAKER_00 9:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:19

You know, they may they may be feeling like they're controlling, but essentially at the end of the day, they're harming, right? Because these these young people are not being heard. They don't feel valued. Um, and so um, you know, that's a that's a big opportunity for us as task to help a community see teenagers differently than they tend to see them.

SPEAKER_03 9:42

Yeah, yeah. That's the thing, that narrative that we have. And it's I mean, it's um it's not just in Northwest Arkansas, it's everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 9:51

Right.

SPEAKER_03 9:51

You know, when we when we talk about teens, I I had a teen one time um that was telling me that if you go into a store after school and you still have your backpack, they're going to follow you around. They're gonna follow you because they automatically think you're probably in there to shoplift. Not that you have a 40-pound backpack and you don't have a car, so you don't have anywhere to leave it. You have to carry it with you. Um, and so so they feel that. They um, I remember also in the school system, which I understand why we do this as um as a system, but standardized testing, you know, that below 50%, you know, teenagers read that and know what it and know what it means, and then they internalize it um without the right support and mentoring around them to be like, that's not that doesn't mean you're below.

SPEAKER_00 10:48

Right.

Community Prevention Models

SPEAKER_03 10:48

You know, it means you need something. Yeah, like you said. So I I do think that it we have put things into place. And um and and so I wanted to talk a little bit about these um community-centered, evidence-based models that really have shown that a community can make a really positive impact when the community works, kind of works together. And um, you're probably way too young to um to have been thinking or reading about any of this. In but in the late 1990s, Iceland um decided to tackle their substance use challenges that they had for teenagers by just revamping the way they were doing everything and and moving from uh education, like in the schools telling kids don't use drugs, you know, don't do this, don't do that. Um, instead of trying to have these sort of education things. Instead, they got all the community people together, including teens, like understanding what they needed. And then they started changing how they did things in the community, right? The way um families were supported, the way they funded after school programs and that kind of stuff. I think we all know that after school and um in in leisure time, what we call it in leisure time, we have an opportunity for impact. And so they started funding things, not just sports, because not every kid is athletic. So started funding arts and music and and those kind of things. And and and it did take a little while to do a longitudinal study on that, but within 10 years, they had dropped the rate of kids using substances from 40% of the kids to five.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 12:43

I know. It was it was a and so I know, and so when the research first came out, it was people were like, whoa, how how did you do that? And they began to kind of explain how they went about collecting data and um and doing that. And I know that's probably more geeking out on um on research than than maybe than maybe you guys wanted to hear about. But I thought this was really interesting. So what they did was they increased the protective factors uh early. You know, they they started in early adolescence, making sure teens had that families had support because family support is very critical. Um and so instead of like um uh pathologizing or you know, criticizing or judging or anything else, they just said, who needs what? And and let's make sure that you have it. If it's a single mom and she needs help getting her kids to school or activities or whatever, they just sort of came together as a community. Um, they began to build a sense of belonging in their schools, in their communities. Kids were teenagers were welcome instead of like nuisances. Yeah, exactly. Um, and then just being able to fund other activities for them because there's a big difference when they have positive leisure time and and that kind of thing. Now, in 1997, not every teenager, I'm sure, had a cell phone and access to some of the social media challenges, but but now we know that's what they used to fill up their leisure time often. So we we have to begin to think about that. But it became a prevention model that is still used today. Like people look at the research, they develop community models um around that same setup, um, judicial systems, school systems, uh the whole community kind of understanding that we have to provide for teenagers in a really, in a really, in a positive way. Um, so they they did that, they funded all of the prevention things and had these incredible results. And they're using these models in Europe and in a lot of different places. So I'm so they've actually developed a model around that. But there are some others, communities that care is another sort of prevention-based model, whole community. And it it they um they all indicate that you have to get everybody around the table.

SPEAKER_02 15:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:06

Teens and community members and um people who really want to be all in to make the change. And I think it's go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 15:14

Not good.

SPEAKER_03 15:15

I was gonna say, I think it's easy when you're talking about little kids. You know, we understand developmentally what's needed for little for little kids, but we haven't done a lot on what's needed for adolescence, a lot of research. And we're now learning you can make an impact in early adolescence in a way that you can at other times. It's not we're not done when they're in elementary school. We've got to stay, stay with it.

Positive Youth Development In Practice

SPEAKER_01 15:44

So yeah, I had a couple of thoughts. So earlier you said something that probably most adults would not recognize, which is that the teen brain is not yet fully developed.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

Right.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

It's still developing, right? And so all of the um sort of experiences and environments that they're in and all that sort of thing are having an impact on a way, you know, that develops, right? Sure. Which I think a lot of people really need to understand. That that's that's why you should and need to have a greater tolerance, you know, for some behavior sometimes that seem weirder, you know, um out of place or whatever. Uh the other thing I was thinking about when you were talking about Iceland, I was just thinking about the parallels between uh what they did in a huge community and and what we've done with task from the very beginning, right? Because what we really didn't talk about earlier, Don, was that you know, once you had this idea and this thought about supporting teens in Northwest Arkansas, what you did is you got teens around the table and you got community people around the table and said, How do we do this thing? What do we need? What do we need? And and then then all of the programming that initially, you know, you all started was all about giving teens a sense of belonging and value in their community. And just think about the community service learning program.

SPEAKER_00 17:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:07

Right. That isn't, you know, if you're mandated by the courts or you're trying to earn a scholarship or whatever, you've got to do community service. But what we didn't do is we didn't send them out there to pick up trash on the side of the road.

SPEAKER_00 17:18

Right.

SPEAKER_01 17:18

We gave them opportunity to see what's going on in their community and make a difference in various places. And so I think that that's, you know, if you can just if, you know, if we can get the rest of Northwest Arkansas to be thinking that that's exactly what we need to be providing teens with an opportunity to do because we've seen them thrive.

SPEAKER_02 17:36

So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:37

When given that opportunity, right?

SPEAKER_02 17:38

Yeah. And I've heard her talk to you about the family support. How sometimes kids will come in for counseling. They're not ready.

SPEAKER_00 17:46

Right.

SPEAKER_02 17:46

They don't want to make changes. Yeah. They're quite happy with the the trajectory their life is on, but their parents need the support. Their parents need to rewire their brains because their brains are fully developed.

SPEAKER_00 17:57

Yeah, sure. Right. Yeah.

Questions Every Parent Should Ask

SPEAKER_02 17:59

Right. So they can understand some of the choices that their kids are making and they need to understand where their kids are coming from too. To be able to support them.

SPEAKER_03 18:08

Yeah, and create that space you were talking about, right? To understand. And unfortunately, every kid is not the same. So if you have three kids in your house, they're going to be different. That'll preach all day. I know. I know. And so, yeah, so understanding what does each one need and and how do we support that. And I that is part of the prevention models that that everybody's equipped. Community members understand how teenagers, you know, behave and why they behave the way they do and what trauma looks like in behavior. And then parents do have an opportunity for education, understanding brain development and communication, all those things that we do in our navigate program. Those are those are helpful.

SPEAKER_02 18:50

Yeah.

Investing Versus Judging Teen Parents

SPEAKER_03 18:51

Um, and it's part of the community involvement. And so, and that makes that makes such a big difference. I thought that this was really interesting in the um the community that cares model, they they uh have very similar things. Everybody's involved. And um, and it's it's interesting because their research research shows not only is the risk of behaviors, the risky behaviors reduced, but there's an amplification of indicators that say this this young person's gonna thrive. Right? They're gonna either post-secondary education or they are um finding jobs and job skills that are really helping them just flourish when they get to be adults. So that's that's the, you know, I think we're all as adults, we're all looking to reduce negative behaviors, but amplifying the positive behaviors. And that's that's one of the things I love about being around teenagers, and maybe you do too, when you when you hear them like be empathetic and you hear them like being kind and you know, generous and all of the things you hope that they will be when they're adults. That's that's just such great, it's great fuel, I think. So I wonder when you think about Greg, you talked about in uh in our community in Northwest Arkansas, we kind of got people, and we still do. We get people around the table who are either doing similar things or um who can help support teenagers. I wonder if there are questions that you think it's important for for parents or um people in the school systems, judicial systems, that kind of thing, to be um that they should be asking in an effort to meet the the needs of teens or approach that they should have. How do you think we could amplify the needs of teenagers? What are some ways you think we might be able to do that? We're doing it a little bit. I I heard the other day that um our local Boys and Girls Club is uh also starting a podcast. They have students um that are that are doing a podcast. And so that's a way to amplify, like just to get teen voices out, which we will be able to do here as well. But I wonder when you're working with adults and um in different systems here in our community, if there are things maybe we should be questions that we should be encouraging people to ask or things they should be doing.

SPEAKER_02 21:14

I think some introspective questions for parents because you know, as that's that hits home for me a little bit since I have teens. Um, am I listening to my kids without interrupting to correct or fix whatever is going on?

SPEAKER_03 21:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:29

So just listening, what's going on in their world? How do they really need me to show up for them without thinking about my response? I'm I'm working on that.

SPEAKER_03 21:39

Like work on that always, actually. It's interesting because we do, we know our brains are fully developed. Like we know the answer.

SPEAKER_02 21:47

Right. Well, do I though? I have my own opinions, but do I really on how I can fix it? Yeah. Um, and another one, you know, what you hit on this earlier, the the pressure that kids feel to perform.

SPEAKER_03 21:59

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:59

And so So whether it's academically or athletically, or you know, whatever they're involved in, whatever kind of hobby or things they're involved in, am I just focused on their performance or their well-being? So when they have a bad practice or they have a bad game or a bad meet or a bad test score, am I focused on the negative or am I focused on how to help them move out of that? Yeah. Yeah. Um another one. Do they know they can come to me when they mess up? Do we have a safe word? If they get themselves in a situation where they don't feel comfortable, can they call and say, I don't know, hairbrush or something? And say, you know, or say, Mom, did did did my grandma call or, you know, whatever it is, so I could say, oh yeah, we gotta go yap or send me your location. I'll come anywhere, no questions asked. Is is that a dialogue that we've had in our house so they know that they're safe no matter what's gone on and that I'll show up in that situation to help.

SPEAKER_03 23:04

Yeah, that's a I I do remember my dad told me that, you know, if you if you need me to come, no questions asked. Right. The the challenge I think for parents or for any adult with in that situation is our own curiosity. Like, do will we really be no questions asked? Will we look we really do that? Like we might be willing to make sure they're safe, but then will the will the questions come? Right. So that's a yeah, that's a restraint that we are responsible for as adults. If we say it, we mean it.

Funding Prevention And Measuring Impact

SPEAKER_02 23:38

Yeah. And thinking about teens, just teens that I work with, whether it's youth group or um the boys' friends or you know, whatever. Um, do I see that teen as a problem or as a person? Oh so sometimes they have new friends and I wonder, I do a little research and I'm like, oh gosh, I've heard some things. And social media right now. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and I and I wonder, you know, that person may have made mistakes, but they may be intentionally seeking a friendship with my kids because they want to do better or they they want to have more positive influences in navigating how to support that. And so I think sometimes parents or people in the community need to give kids benefit of the doubt. You know, they're bigger than the worst mistake that they've made. They're better than the worst mistake that they've made.

SPEAKER_03 24:32

Sure. So yeah, that's really good. I think um we we should be um inclusive around having teens at the table, you know, for for conversations. At Task, we use a a positive youth development framework. And it involves making sure that we have teen voices that they're loud enough for us to be able to help meet their needs or do whatever um it is that we know will bring them support. So I think teen involvement, like maybe asking the question, are teens involved in this, these decisions we're making, these processes that we're doing. And then really um the what you kind of alluded to, Hannah, is this more solution focused language, um, this growth language instead of uh what's wrong? Yeah. You know, what's wrong with teens today? I get that a lot. People are like, what's wrong with teens today? I'm like, I'm not sure what you mean. Um, so I I do think that that's uh being able to change the narrative to speak about them in a way that is um more encouraging and um and understanding that there are gonna be missteps, we're all gonna make those, even as adults and parents, we're gonna do that. So I I think that those are are some of the questions um to be able to be um a positive narrative when when we're talking to teens and and not necessarily correcting others, but I I think when we first opened, the one thing we board members and everybody involved with task was kind of encouraged to make sure they avoided was we don't work with troubled teens. Like people used to that language often. And we're like, well, they might be having trouble or they might be in trouble. Sure. But that just to put take those labels off, you know, to make sure that that teens aren't aren't really um carrying those around. And uh to teens know they hear it when we we've done things before at task where we ask teenagers, what do you what do you think uh adults say about teens today? And they're so quick to rattle off the negative things.

SPEAKER_00 26:43

Right.

SPEAKER_03 26:44

And and what do you want them to say? You know, and so when they share those with us, we try to help their voices be elevated so that so they can do that, um, so that people can hear the positive things.

All In For Teens: Event Details

SPEAKER_01 26:56

So um so and just a question, I mean, when would you bring those those sort of um answers to a podcast? What what what what adults say about you? What would you like for them to say about you? Yeah. And maybe maybe you do that with teens in the room.

SPEAKER_03 27:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:13

And let and let them do that. Right. Because I think, you know, I mean, I their voices are gonna be the most important. Right. So anyway, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:22

Just a thought. Yeah, no, that's that's good. Yeah. When and you're right, like we we need to be able to to have those opportunities, but um, but for the community to be really committed to that would be it would be so great, right?

SPEAKER_01 27:35

Right. But that's what that's what this podcast is about. It's we gets to, you know, get just get a deeper reach into the community to help them understand better. Yeah, you know, what our young people need, um, and inspire them to help. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:48

So yeah. So um, so uh, you know, being all in for teens as a community, that's um kind of our kind of our signature event, which um Hannah's gonna talk about. But I I do want to talk a little bit about the the advocacy, like in a community and a state, um, to be able to advocate for things that help teenagers um be, you know, be more um resilient and and have more connection and belonging in their communities. One thing recently we've done in here in Arkansas is to add, um, and I know a lot of people were like, oh no, not another saying, but the the idea of having to do community service as um as part of their graduation, I know seems like either another box to check or um may even seem punitive to some kids, but there is such a resiliency factor in that um to make a contribution to your community and to learn about the challenges in the community. I think it's just, I think it's a great thing. And I think students are finding ways to learn more about themselves and their community.

SPEAKER_02 28:58

And I think they've surprised themselves with how much they've already been giving without realizing that's what they were doing, without realizing that they had community service.

SPEAKER_00 29:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:08

It's very easy for kids to get way more than what they need just by doing stuff that they probably would have done.

SPEAKER_01 29:15

Well, the other the other part of that is um and I and I'm I haven't heard this statistic in a while dawn, but I but I know that when we first started community service learning, um, you know, kids would come to us and they'd have mandated hours.

SPEAKER_00 29:30

Right.

SPEAKER_01 29:30

And many of them just continue to do community service afterwards because of what it did for them in terms of how they felt about themselves, through self-esteem and their self-worth. And so, yeah, I think it's a it's a win-win. It's a win-win.

How To Get Involved And Next Steps

SPEAKER_03 29:45

Yeah. Yeah. Having having a community all in for teens, and then having teenagers be able to give back to their community, it's that's a win-win for certain. So I I love that. Um so the other thing is the funding, right? Being able to sort of in in these prevention models, shifting funding from intervention to prevention. And I know when we first opened task and we were considering funding options and that kind of stuff, I remember being in a meeting with someone who said, you're gonna have a hard time getting money for prevention. And I said, Well, why would that be? And they said, because we're spending so much on intervention. So it I thought to myself, well, that doesn't make much sense because if you do prevention, you don't have to spend as much on intervention. But but I I know there's there's a balance for sure. But um, but being able to um intervene early so that we don't see these escalating numbers um and for all kinds of risk behaviors for for teenagers, I think that that's that's really an issue. Like so another question we should be asking are we funding prevention? Are we funding in intervention? How can we balance that out to re reduce one and increase the other, which is um the Iceland prevention model and some of these other community care models are are are seeing a lot of benefit from so um but we've been real fortunate. We've been programming here for 20 years in Northwest Arkansas. And I know, I know you've been involved in lots of fundraising things, even outside of task. And you've been on lots of boards. We have a lot of nonprofits here in Northwest Arkansas. We have a we just have an incredibly generous community who are, I think, really looking for um funding opportunities that move the needle, right? That that make the change. And so um, yeah. Any thoughts on that? Just in your experiences?

SPEAKER_02 31:47

Well, I think it kind of tie in those two together. Um, the prevention model works. And it and because we've been around, Task has been in the community for 20 years now. A lot of the teams that we helped early on are adults.

SPEAKER_00 32:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:02

And some of them have teenagers. They do. Well, yeah, they do. And I think that we don't always know, you know, you don't, especially right away, you don't know right away. And so it's it's how that ripple effect hits later. And we had a really cool opportunity um this fall to interact with um an adult grown person in his work environment. Um, they did a fundraiser for task, and he just casually throws out that he was a task teen in the first steps program. They had he had a teen when he was a, or he had a baby when he was a teen and um got sought out services through task with the first steps program, was successful. He is very successful employee of a large corporation locally.

SPEAKER_00 32:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:52

And his his teen that he worked with had no idea. He had never said anything about it. And he's so successful that no one would have guessed that he ever had struggles as a teen. And so, you know, that's that prevention thing or intervention maybe, but also prevention because it was early on he got help, he course corrected and was able to turn his life around. And so there's so many stories about that.

SPEAKER_03 33:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:15

Um an adult that came back to volunteer at Teensgiving this year that had been a task teen 15 plus years ago and wants just to give back, didn't say anything to the friend that she said she was gonna volunteer with until she was in the space. And I just think that's I think that's so cool, you know, that we can make those kinds of changes and we're able to see adults come back and see the value that we have in our community.

SPEAKER_03 33:44

Yeah, and that's been that has been fun here recently to to really to run into those adults who are willing to say, yeah, that was that was part of my life too.

SPEAKER_00 33:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:55

Um, yeah, that that's been really good. But to have people understand now and encourage others to invest in in those kind of things. Making an investment, Greg and I have been talking about this a little bit in the life of a teen, which we're gonna talk a little more about on our next podcast, what an investment really means. Um, and then being able to see the, you know, the return, right? An investment, so to speak. But yeah. Did you have anything you wanted to ask?

SPEAKER_01 34:22

No, this this one's hard for me to talk about. Um, I just get emotional.

unknown 34:26

Okay, all right.

SPEAKER_01 34:27

Yeah. Because because we have seen those evidences, right? We have, in addition to folks that graduated from first steps, but you know, folks that participated in Restore who have gone on uh to higher education and become therapists themselves because of the positive experience they had at task, right? Right, yeah. Um at a time when they were really struggling. And so um I think about this um you know, this young man that you're that you were talking about, and thinking about all of the um young people that have been in our first steps program over the course of time. And this is so interesting because 20 years, you know, we talk about I think we had 16 graduate on time last year, right?

SPEAKER_03 35:16

Yeah, parenting teams. Parenting teams.

SPEAKER_01 35:18

Um over time, it's hundreds of young people that have gone through that program graduated high school on time. Um, our rate is over 95%. Uh state rate is like 40% graduate on time. And we've had several. Maybe that's one gentleman you're talking about went on to secondary um or on college afterward. And so um yeah, so there's so when you start talking about you know positive, you know, you can judge a teen parent or you can invest in their future. Right. You can do one of those two things. And so we we chose to invest.

SPEAKER_03 35:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:59

And that's what we want everybody else to do.

SPEAKER_03 36:01

Yeah. Yeah. And so that maybe is another question. You know, how can we invest either like your own resources, volunteering, or um, or your other resources to help in in the life of somebody else? So um, that might be another question we should be asking in our communities. How how can we do that? And do that a little bit, a little bit differently. So um, yeah, so uh it wanna talk a little bit about all in for teens. So Hannah, I mentioned, is our event, um, our event coordinator at task. And one of our signature events is a casino night, all in for teens. I'm gonna let you go ahead and do a little plug for that.

SPEAKER_02 36:41

Yeah. February 28th. Um, it's a little later this year, Saturday night. Hopefully the snow will be totally gone by then. Uh fingers crossed. And um, it's just a lot of fun. It's a laid back but upscale feeling casino night with hors d'oeuvres and fun drinks. And even if you don't drink or you don't gamble, you can play bingo, you can dance. We'll have a fun DJ and a dance floor. Um, so lots of fun opportunities. Silent auction, that's a lot of people's favorite thing. Yeah. I've got one committee member in particular that I can think of that that is her very favorite thing every year. And I know she has put in a lot of work to get some great items for the silent auction and some super exciting items for live auction as well. So um, we've got a one package that I'm particularly excited about is um a group of four tickets to any amp event. Nice. You can choose. You have your choice of any amp event. You get a parking pass and um the underground tickets. So that'll be that would be a lot of fun. Plus a night at Hotel at Vale and dinner for two at Oak Steakhouse. Well, that's a fun night. I'm gonna be competing for that one myself. But uh, but lots of fun things, lots of fun ways to get involved. And you can learn more about task if you're on the fence or you've heard about it, but you're not sure about what all we do because we do a lot. Yeah. It's it's a bit much to to grasp the full depth of everything that goes on at task. Um, but you can learn more about what we do. You can figure out how you can get involved, but really come have fun. It's a great way to support a wonderful cause while having fun with your friends.

unknown 38:20

Great.

SPEAKER_03 38:21

And we usually have a teen story. That's right. You know, we we amplify the voice of a teenager who maybe has been part of what we do and had a really uh just a turn of events for themselves. And we we love for them to be able to share their stories.

SPEAKER_01 38:37

Well, one of the things that I really like about this event, uh, in addition to all the fun stuff um that that goes on.

SPEAKER_02 38:42

I'm all about fun.

SPEAKER_01 38:44

All the fun stuff um is that um when you when you go to a lot of these galas, right? Um, you have speakers, but you don't nobody hears the speakers because you know everybody's eating, you know. And um during this event, um we we just shut all the tables down long enough for the message to come across. So so you will learn about Teen Action Sports Center while you're there having fun. Yeah, you also get the message. And so I really like I like the way we've worked that out.

SPEAKER_03 39:22

And I will do yeah, we have been able to do that. And I the other piece of that is I think adults want to listen. They want the space to be able to really hear what's happening. And so I think what once we create that space, I think that they're really happy to be able to to hear and to listen and to see how they can how they can be in all in for teens as well.

SPEAKER_00 39:45

So that's right.

SPEAKER_03 39:46

Yeah, and it's fun. It is fun. Yeah, it's it absolutely, it absolutely is fun. You can get all dolled up or you can come wearing pants and a shirt. There you go.

SPEAKER_02 39:56

You don't have to get super fancy.

SPEAKER_03 39:58

No, it's just it is a fun evening. It it really is, and it's a great opportunity for us. Um, it supports the prevention work that we're doing and the intervention things that we need to do, um, but it also brings the community together. So we really appreciate that. Um any other things that you think you want to make sure anybody that's listening hears today? Or do you think we covered it all? Or I'm sure we didn't cover it all.

SPEAKER_01 40:23

We didn't cover it all.

SPEAKER_03 40:25

It would be hard to cover it all. It would be. It would be it would be very hard. But if you do want to know more about the Teen Action and Support Center, if there's an opportunity for us to support the work you're doing, or if you want to be part of the community, um, in your community, be part of a community, um, or right here in Northwest Arkansas, we'd be happy to offer support in any way that we can. Our website is taskn W A. That's T-A-S-C-N-W-A.org. And you can find out more about who we are. And if you have an interest in supporting the work we do in some form, um, we would love for you to be able to um to jump on our website and make contact with us and also uh find tickets there. Our tickets are there. Tickets are there for our all in event. I think you're gonna be on the B Team podcast as well, right? I think um talking about all in. So another community member get support that we have right here in Northwest Arkansas. Um, and so we would love to be part of what you do and love to have you be part of what we do. Thanks for listening.