Kids in the Spotlight (KITS), created and run by counselor and Developmental Psychology MA Denise Goldbeck, is an evidence-based 5-day performing arts retreat experience that facilitates phenomenal breakthroughs for children, youth, and their families. Over the course of five unforgettable days, participants of Kids in the Spotlight create and perform in a musical production. Along the way, they learn to communicate, respect themselves and others, express themselves confidently, overcome challenges, and heal from difficult experiences.
The Youth Leadership Training has enabled youth from ages 13 to 20-something to coach, teach, and train children participating in KITS, an evidence-based performing arts program. Based on current developmental peer-reviewed research, LAUNCH allows youth to discover their leadership strengths in a practical, hands-on setting. Together, the youth of LAUNCH and the children of KITS form a community mimicking an ancient human village. In these villages, people of all ages developed crucial skills and vital cultures together.
People in their teens have an important opportunity to develop a strong sense of ‘self’. If you can learn to communicate clearly from this place of strength, you can improve and deepen friendships and relationships and learn to be emotionally self-supporting rather than dependent on family and others. Teens Alive is designed to encourage you in this process.