The HYPE Team on the steps of City Hall after they advocated to City Council for park improvement
A group of young changemakers at the Dillon County Girls and Boys Youth Center in the City of Dillon have sparked significant improvements in a local park and influenced elected officials to address other outdoor community amenities. Through the Healthy Young People Empowerment (HYPE) Project, youth learned how to assess their community, advocate for change and make Harmon Field a destination for everyone.
In 1924, Harmon Field was given to the City of Dillon and “dedicated forever to the plays of children, the development of youth, and the recreation of all.” The dedication plaque speaks volumes about the intentions of the HYPE team’s civic action project – reinvigorate Harmon Field for everyone.
“We had been taking the kids to a park, not far from us, and the park had to have had the same equipment as I had when I was a child,” says Annie Smith, Dillon County Girls and Boys Youth Center and HYPE Advisor. “The only people that would use the park were our kids (Youth Center) and maybe a few more kids you might see, but everything was dilapidated. It was just terrible.”
As a HYPE advisor, Smith’s responsibility is to lead the youth through the HYPE curriculum and help them learn the process of choosing and implementing a civic action project focused on healthy eating or active living. Once the HYPE team understood what they were doing, they quickly knew they wanted to make Harmon Field a more comfortable and safer place to spend time outdoors.
They used their HYPE grant funds to paint benches, but they had their site set on something bigger, something huge, something that required a lot of courage and determination. They wanted the City Council to devote some of its budget to improvements that would help get Harmon Field back on a path to greatness.
A HYPE team member demonstrates the new working water fountain at Harmon Field.
Speaking on behalf of the HYPE team, Smith says, “Our main concern was water. There was no water fountain for the kids. There was no water fountain for anyone. There’s a walking trail there, so you know people will get thirsty while walking. And there is no bathroom.”
Backing Up Their Big Idea
Although the youth knew what they wanted to do, they still needed to collect data and information supporting the need for improvements. They had to assess the park to determine exactly what was missing. Then, they had to get the community’s opinion on the park. While some HYPE teams may choose to conduct a survey, this HYPE team was confident that the community would support their desires. So, they petitioned as many people as they could.
“The kids went to the park on a daily or weekly basis to get signatures from anyone there. They could’ve been students, their parents, their grandparents, anybody in the neighborhood, and visitors,” says Smith. “We have people that visit from out of town. Roland (NC) is right across the border, and I have seen people having a cookout a couple of times. And still, there was no water and no bathroom.”
After collecting around 250 signatures, the HYPE team was ready to approach the City Council. When advocating for something we want, many of us know that we have to be prepared before approaching leaders with a request. Elected officials and decision-makers at all levels want information about the issue, proposed solutions and community support before making any decision. For youth, it took courage to overcome such an intimidating task, to find their voice and speak to elected officials in a public setting.
Advocating to City Council
When advocating for something we want, many of us know that we have to be prepared before approaching leaders with a request. Elected officials and decision-makers at all levels want information about the issue, proposed solutions and community support before making any decision. For youth, it took courage to overcome such an intimidating task, to find their voice and speak to elected officials in a public setting.
The new playground equipment exceeded the team’s expectations.
Smith said about 15 youths attended the council meeting and showed solidarity wearing their HYPE t-shirts. It was their first time attending a City Council meeting for all of them. The HYPE advisors identified one youth who was outspoken and very active on the team to address the City Council.
“We made a folder and passed it out to everybody on the City Council so they would follow along with us as we talked. We showed them pictures of what the park looked like. And at the end, we showed them a convenient bathroom that wasn’t that expensive that they could actually put out there, and the bathroom had a place to put a water fountain in front of it”, says Smith. “We talked about statistics. It was all written down, and they had it so they could see it, visualize it, and see where we were coming from.”
Council members were surprised to hear from youth, a group of citizens who usually don’t speak at meetings or talk about issues or business that may affect them. Several residents complained about the lack of running water at the existing water fountain, but no action was taken. Perhaps that’s why the City Council agreed to fulfill most of the HYPE team’s requests.
The City Council did not agree to install a bathroom, citing concerns about misuse of the facility, such as potential crime, drug paraphernalia being left behind, lack of staff, and other deterrents.
“We’re going have to keep going back. I understand their concerns, but we’re still going to try to work on them and find a grant that would fund an employee because they desperately need a bathroom.”
The Proof is In the Pudding
The HYPE Advisors were surprised by the amount of new playground equipment.
Since installing new playground equipment and a water fountain, Smith has noticed an increase in adults and children at the park. They’re staying longer, playing longer, and enjoying the great outdoors. Even teens have been spotted using the walking track.
“I am so excited to go to that park now. They have a water fountain that’s working, and the equipment is beautiful. They put new equipment everywhere. I went to the park twice last week, and there have been so many kids out there playing. It actually made kids come to the park! It’s just beautiful to be sitting in the park now. You’ve got older people coming out there walking their dogs. We’re still excited about what we started.”
The ultimate goal of this HYPE project was to increase physical activity in Harmon Field. While there is evidence of that goal being met, the HYPE team gained an experience they can be proud of. They used their influence and voice to express a desire and a need for community health improvement.
“It’s a good thing for kids to get involved,” says Smith. “It’s something they get to call their own, something they can be proud of. They get a chance to use their input, and we get a chance to listen to them.”
Ava Dean, BSN, MPH, Out the Lifeline: A Mission to Families and HYPE Advisor, added, “I was going to say the same thing, to let them have ownership of it and not to let us as adults come up with the project, but to allow them. Once you allow them to do it and see the final project, they will walk away knowing, ‘Hey, I had something to do with this,’ and they will be proud of that. They will forever have that accomplishment.”
The HYPE team in Dillon indeed started something. The City Council plans to update the playground equipment in all its parks. The City Manager approved Dean and the Tobacco-Free Health Disparities Coalition to place a “Clean Air is Fair” sign to keep the park smoke-free. Smith and Dean have also discussed possible collaboration amongst local coalitions to volunteer and remove graffiti from the park shelter.
So, while the HYPE team certainly had a successful civic action project and learned new leadership and advocacy skills, they have also influenced other groups to answer the question, “What’s next?”
Jamaius White recently joined the Wholespire staff to oversee The HYPE Project. He will play a major role in the success of the youth engagement program. Let’s get to know Jamaius.
Q: What’s your favorite healthy snack? A: I could eat watermelon every single day!!!
Q: What’s your favorite way to stay active? A: Lift Heavy Weights!!!
Q: Can you start by telling us a little bit about your educational background and interests? A: My education is a product of my interest in music and physical activity. In high school, I studied music under the guidance of Mr. Willie E. Lyles at WJ Keenan High School in Columbia. You can find many of his lessons in my actions to this very day. One of the things he would tell us that has stuck with me is ‘Character is who you are when no one is watching.’ Being a percussionist for his music program yielded a great benefit to my development as a health educator. He made sure his students understood the history behind the music being played. That helped us make a connection to the music. That holds true in my work and personal life. We must understand the history behind the things we do in order to have an impact. My tenure in the Health Education Department at SC State University was a humbling, yet, encouraging experience. My vision for physical education matured immensely.
Q: What attracted you to the position? A: I was attracted to the position because it gives me the opportunity to work in the health education field but through a different lens. Prior to Wholespire, I worked more from a boots-on-the-ground perspective and now I’m working at an administrative level. One of my true passions is to be an influencer of youth. I believe I can improve the relationship between youth and healthier decision making. The Program Manager position for The HYPE Project allows me to do that. Wholespire is the vehicle that will drive me towards that ultimate goal of getting South Carolina fit.
Q: How would you summarize what you have done so far? A: Right now, I’m in the process of fine-tuning the curriculum and all of the tools and processes related to implementing The HYPE Project. I’m getting ready for the next advisors’ training and onboarding the next HYPE teams. Also, I’m preparing to be a presenter at the SCAPHERD conference in November. So, I guess you can say that I’m getting my feet wet.
Q: What are you looking forward to most with your job? A: I look forward to developing a system that is sustainable for growth for every organization that creates a HYPE team in their community. My goal is to literally increase advocacy, civic engagement, physical activity and a sense of belonging for youth. I’m looking forward to getting out in our communities and finding out how I can help make that happen through The HYPE Project.
Q: What do you enjoy most about working here? A: Outside of the immeasurable support from staff, I enjoy the immediate inclusion of my thoughts and ideas. The hybrid workspace is ideal for me too. I’m able to create a work schedule that allows me to go to the gym. I don’t have to worry about missing those critical moments in my kids’ lives. I can work virtually from anywhere.
Q: How do you live out the Wholespire mission? A: I am all about sustainability in every sector of my life. Coming from a health coach background, I preach creating habits that are sustainable for healthy lifestyles. I own a personal training business and I know the importance of making healthy changes that will last a lifetime. I always tell my clients to choose habits that they can do from now until the end of time.
Q: What’s one thing people don’t know about you that they would be surprised to find out? A: I did not participate in organized sports in college. People look at me and ask if I play football all the time, lol. I always laugh and reply “My brother did, I played drums.” I played drums for the Marching 101 Band at SC State University.
Are you interested in hosting a Healthy Young People Empowerment (HYPE) team to increase access to healthy choices in your community? HYPE teams learn the process of creating and implementing a civic action project through a five-phase curriculum. The project they choose can impact many people.
HYPE projects must address a policy, system or environmental (PSE) change within the community. PSE strategies are improvements that stand the test of time. They’re sustainable and available to anyone in the community.
The HYPE Project® is a curriculum-based approach to youth empowerment designed to build advocacy skills so teens can become a strong voice in their community. HYPE motivates teens to address the problem of obesity and other chronic diseases. While HYPE focuses on healthy eating and active living, teens can use the skills they learn to be lifelong champions of positive change.
HYPE was created to help teens get involved in community health improvements. Any group or youth-serving organization can host a HYPE team. Examples are community health coalitions, church youth groups, schools, nonprofit organizations, civic engagement organizations, youth development organizations, and more.
The benefits of HYPE are plentiful and depend on how engaged individual youth are with their HYPE team and the process of creating healthy change. The program benefits teens by leading efforts to improve the health of their community. One of the primary personal benefits is acquiring new knowledge and skills that can help with future education and employment goals. It’s a chance for youth to make decisions, share ideas, influence change, get involved in their community, and be proud of their contributions and accomplishments.
At Wholespire, we know the importance of evaluating projects and initiatives to determine an impact or to make improvements to future endeavors. After 10 years of implementation and collecting feedback from adult and youth participants, The HYPE Project® underwent a thorough evaluation and makeover. Working with evaluators at The University of South Carolina and designers at TRIO Solutions, Inc., Wholespire revamped the curriculum and brand to provide participants with a more inclusive and engaging experience.
“We recognized that HYPE needed content updates as best practices of healthy eating and active living, youth engagement and advocacy had evolved over the last ten years,” said Executive Director Meg Stanley. “We wanted the initiative to look relevant and align with the Wholespire brand. Plus, our strategic plan identifies the sustainability of HYPE as a priority.”
In 2021, Wholespire contracted with the Youth Empowerment in Schools and Systems (YESS) lab at the University of South Carolina School of Psychology, an applied research group focused on translating theories of child development to pragmatic prevention and intervention strategies.
YESS evaluators analyzed all existing HYPE resources, tools, and data to pinpoint strengths, weaknesses, and improvements needed to fully engage youth and their adult advisors. They developed a new logic model following a series of five strategically facilitated discussions with Wholespire staff.
The new HYPE logic model provides a visual representation of Wholespire decision-making and goals as well as the process by which youth experience The HYPE Project and the respective outcomes. New points of interest within the logic model are:
Philosophy – Seven main values guide Wholespire decision-making, planning, and training for The HYPE Project:
Positive youth development (PYD) is an intentional approach to engage youth within their communities, schools, organizations, and more to provide opportunities for youth to enhance their interests, strengths, and abilities. Wholespire uses the PYD Developmental Assets Framework within HYPE to foster positive development through external assets and internal assets.
Youth empowerment is a strengths-based process to engage youth in building skills, knowledge, and resources to control and influence decisions, reach greater well-being, and promote positive community change. Youth specifically build skills related to advocacy, youth organizing and civic, sociopolitical development, and self and collective efficacy.
Policy, systems and environmental (PSE) change is a way of changing and improving the community for its members. PSE changes also reflect population- or community-focused efforts. Using PSE change, youth are engaged in critical thinking processes in HYPE training to build awareness and skills to promote PSE change related to healthy eating and active living in their communities.
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI): To center DEI, Wholespire seeks to focus on racial equity throughout the entire organization. Wholespire seeks to address health disparities in South Carolina communities and increase access to healthy eating and active living options. HYPE trainings are developed to be age and culturally relevant so that youth can be effective champions for change within and beyond the program.
Leadership involves efforts to be champions for change and experts of best practices to promote wellness in communities. Using leadership, youth are engaged in a youth-led project to create PSE change related to healthy eating and active living. Youth are also prepared to be allies regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion within their communities.
Collaboration is the process of people and/or organizations working together transparently to determine similarities in intentions and efforts. To prioritize collaboration, youth collaborate with peers, adult advisors, and community members in efforts to make PSE changes related to healthy eating and active living. Youth share HYPE projects and results with community members and stakeholders.
Sustainability involves doing work in a way that ensures the viability of an organization and support to the community. Thinking about sustainability in The HYPE Project, youth projects focus on sustainable change related to healthy eating and active living within their communities. Additionally, HYPE alumni have career and social support from the organization.
Outcomes – Process, intermediate and long-term outcomes are the resulting changes or impacts of the program that youth are expected to experience as a result of completing all phases of HYPE. Outcomes are influenced by philosophy and values and can be influenced by available resources and services provided by Wholespire through The HYPE Project.
Process Outcomes: These are the immediate intended impacts of completing a certain part of a program. For The HYPE Project, the process outcomes are an acceptable level of engagement and a positive climate during training sessions for the first two phases of the curriculum, and the completion of the sessions.
Intermediate Outcomes: These are the intended impacts immediately following the full completion of a program. After completing the last three phases of the curriculum, outcomes are an increase in skills and motivation for healthy eating and active living in regard to community action and PSE change; an emerging critical consciousness; increased skills for identifying and considering health disparities; increased planning, goal-setting, and critical thinking skills; and increased physical and mental health.
Long-term Outcomes: These are the intended impacts months to years after fully completing a program. Six months after completing HYPE, youth will have increased: critical consciousness, community engagement, leadership and advocacy, social capital, ability to access valid information, resources, and services to promote health, physical and mental health and career and social support for HYPE alumni. Outcomes are measured by surveying youth during and after their HYPE experience. This new methodology is necessary to ensure the integrity and viability of The HYPE Project.
New Curriculum
In addition to improving the logic model, YESS evaluators looked at the content and activities in the curriculum. Considering feedback from youth and adult advisors collected in 2018-2020, YESS evaluators suggested:
Integrating Youth-Led Participatory Action Research (YPAR) Projects for future training structure to engage youth in projects that specifically address and promote issues that are important to youth in their communities. Through YPAR, youth specifically have opportunities to engage in more hands-on and service-learning activities to enhance youth skills regarding National Health Education Standards (NHES) related to goal-setting and self-management
Integrate concepts and activities from Youth Empowerment Solutions (YES) MVPA, a modular curriculum for promoting positive youth development related to behavioral and socio-emotional health skills. YES MVPA curriculum focuses on self-care as it relates to activism in order to support youth health and well-being as they work for social and systems-level change.
Identifying the NHES as they apply to each section within the curriculum.
Incorporating new activities, games and breaks.
Incorporating relevant topics or recent issues into discussions.
All of the suggestions made by YESS evaluators and through past HYPE youth and adult advisor surveys were carefully considered and included in the revised HYPE curriculum.
New Branding and Tools
Wholespire worked with designers at TRIO Solutions, Inc., in Mt. Pleasant, SC, to redesign the HYPE brand and curriculum and to develop a supply kit for adult advisors to use when teaching the curriculum. A more modern and relevant logo and curriculum design was produced that aligns with the Wholespire brand.
“Our goal was to give adult advisors and teens a better visual and hands-on experience when learning about PSE change, community health, bias, stereotypes, and how the information impacts individual behaviors and access to healthy choices,” says Stanley.
Wholespire recently launched the new curriculum and tools at an adult advisors training. During the training, representatives from eight new HYPE teams in South Carolina gathered to gain a better understanding of the requirements and expectations of The HYPE Project. They received an overview of the Think and Learn Phases and tried many of the new activities.
So what’s next for The HYPE Project? Wholespire is currently talking to organizations outside of South Carolina that are interested in implementing HYPE. Our ultimate goal is for HYPE to be nationally recognized and used widely across the United States.
Founder & President, Columbus and Edith Rogers Mansell Foundation
When The Healthy Young People Empowerment (HYPE) Project® began ten years ago, Wholespire knew teens’ potential impact on their communities. What we didn’t completely realize were the impacts The HYPE Project would have on the adult advisors.
Cathy Breazeale, former director of prevention services at Behavioral Health Services of Pickens County (BHSPC), was one of the first HYPE adult advisors to pilot the new youth engagement program in 2012. We caught up with Cathy for the 10th anniversary to learn about her experiences with The HYPE Project.
What motivated you to become involved in The HYPE Project as an adult advisor? In looking at the program it spoke to me about helping youth understand that the way you perceive food and exercise at an early age can help you in the long run. I’ve never seen a program like this and I was really excited to be a part of it.
When you were the lead adult advisor, what was your position? I was a Director of Prevention Services and I had staff – Tiffany and Ben. I was responsible for looking at the budget and the action plan. When we said that we were going to do something, I made sure that we did it. All of us made sure the youth engaged like they were supposed to. To be honest, when we first started, it didn’t happen that way because it was new to us. We weren’t sure how to make The HYPE Project work on top of our other projects. When you’re meeting for two hours, you don’t have a lot of time to plan community events and work on these types of projects. We had tobacco projects, and alcohol projects and so I was kind of like the person that steered to ensure that we did do what it is we said we were going to do.
Your HYPE Team was composed of the BHSPC Youth Board. What is the youth board? The youth board is a group of youth that are advocates for behavioral health issues related to alcohol, tobacco, and other drug issues. It’s about community. What it is environmentally that they see in their community that they think needs to be changed? They get other youth engaged in their community and on the youth board. They’re also a spokesperson for issues that they were working on. But, they first have to buy into what that is.
After completing their PhotoVoice project, the Pickens County HYPE Team chose to focus on improvements at Haygood Park. They assessed the park and found some concerns:
Pickens County HYPE Team members assessing Haygood Park in Easley, SC, as Cathy Breazeale observes and advises.
No signs posting map and event/rental information
No bike racks
No water to drink
Restrooms need improvements
Dangerous big hole
Poor maintenance and landscaping
Litter and graffiti
Playground
No benches
No shade
No lights
The HYPE team presented their concerns to the Parks and Recreation Department, and they were successful in getting making the park more appealing with landscaping. However, since the completion of their civic action project, Pickens County has made improvements to Haygood Park and it’s being used more by residents and visitors. There’s even a dog park!
Do you remember any of the reactions from the youth about participating in HYPE? Well, negatively they didn’t want to do it. They wondered why we were looking at what they were eating. But, I can still remember the presentation comparing the weight of fat to the weight of muscle. It brought about a conversation. Sometimes, we downplay health because we think small people are healthy and larger people are not healthy. That’s what our brain tells us and so even talking about those particular things — the weight of fat and muscle — brought about a conversation and impacted the youth. Also, I would say 80% of the HYPE team played some type of sport, and so once again, they are thinking ‘I play sports, I’m healthy.’ Uh, but so it did. It brought about a lot of different conversations about those things, but in the end, I believe that The HYPE Project changed behaviors.
Youth used the Community Park Audit Tool developed by Kansas State University and the University of Missouri.
How has your experience influenced the way you work with the youth now? When we hosted a lot of events, we used to always get sodas. But, I always tried to make sure that we had water there. We would tell our event participants that they can drink sodas, but they need to drink X amount of water per day. And so [The HYPE Project] helped. It helped me, personally. I also use [healthy choices] even now at our local church where we work with youth. I just try to give them the things that I know they want, but also put in some of those healthy choices too.
Is there any advice that you would give new adult advisors? Uh, yes. I would advise them to build a plan of action with participation from the youth at the beginning, instead of waiting. I do that even now when I look at grants and proposals to send. Don’t just look at the money. You know you’re on this timeline and it’s happening, and now I gotta do something. When we take that approach, sometimes doing something is something we didn’t put a lot of thought into.
I would also say from the beginning, act like the funding ends in a week. Come up with ideas, several ideas, and then use those ideas to streamline the project within those months that you have to do it. This lets you say, ‘We’re going to do this, or we’re going to do that. We’re gonna add this and I believe that it would be better.’ The project would be better.
If you had another opportunity to lead a HYPE team would you volunteer again? I would, because of the previous statement that I made of the things I’ve learned and even in working with [the Columbus and Edith Rogers Mansell Foundation] and knowing that. Our target group isn’t just teens, but it’s parents with youth ages 5 to 17. So now I know that. That’s our target population.
The HYPE Team assessed all features of Haygood Park, including the volleyball court.
The parents at the beginning will be involved because I’ll get it. It’ll be a balance, even though the youth will be the ones that will do the project. We will let them do the planning of it and then the parents would come in and we have a meeting of the minds so that they can talk about as young people what it is they see in their community and what they feel needs to be changed.
So being a part of something like that, it’s kind of like being able to take the test again. This time I’m going to study. And not just okay, I know it’s a test. I just need to make a 75. I wanna make 100 this time.
Do you have any other thoughts you’d like to share? HYPE is a, uh, it’s a unique program because you don’t hear about healthy living a lot concerning youth. I know we talk about obesity this and that in our states, but HYPE should really be nationally known. I feel it should be.
We couldn’t agree more with Cathy! Several of the Pickens County HYPE Team moved on to college and are starting businesses and careers in healthcare. Many are still involved in their community. And Haygood Park is thriving with recreational sports, squealing children, and happy dogs.
