OUT and ABOUT with Seeker Chick Mai-Liis: getting to know the Youth of our Community at the first-ever Youth Engagement Fair.

A while ago an email appeared in the Seeker inbox that really caught our attention. It came from The Social Development Council of Cornwall and Area and The Cornwall and Area Chamber of Commerce with an invitation to take part in the first-ever Youth Engagement Fair.

“The objective of this free event is to establish a platform that empowers and enriches the lives of young individuals. This event aims to foster physical well-being by promoting participation in sports and recreational activities, while also encouraging community involvement and volunteerism, instilling a sense of social responsibility. By providing diverse opportunities for skill development, exploration of interests, and networking, the fair seeks to inspire leadership, celebrate diversity, and build a sense of belonging among youth”.

We wondered what The Seeker could offer at an event like this and we came up with the perfect way to invite the younger generation in our community to join the Seeker Team.

How you ask? 

Well we know that most members of the younger generation walk around with cell phones so why not invite them to become “Junior Reporters or contributors.”  

So on Wednesday, April 10th, our booth with the Seeker red and black colour scheme was set up at the Cornwall Civic Complex, along with 62 other booths where visitors could “learn about sports clubs, art programs, mental health and community resources, great volunteer opportunities, recreation activities, programs and so much more!”

The show began at 4pm and we all waited eagerly for the first visitors to come through the doors, because of course this was the first time a show like thais had ever been organized, so as Carilyne Hebert, one of the organizers stated “we have no idea what to expect but we do have 500 printed programmes ready.” I myself had made 200 custom made bookmarks so I was also hoping that this would be enough.

In the five hours that the show was on I met so many youngsters of all ages who I was happy to introduce to the Seeker NewsMagazine. Of course most parents and guardians knew what the Seeker was and were happy to get the new April issue and I was pleasantly surprised that quite a few members of the younger generation recognized it as welI. 

After introducing the Seeker I asked if they were interested in joining the Seeker Team. Well actually I asked if the individual liked to write, a question which was answered in many different ways. A few were quite honest and said that they had no interest in either writing or reading but others were quite interested when I mentioned that all we were looking for was a photo and a paragraph from events that they might attend. 

I am excited to see how many emails we might get in the near future and who knows we might be able to recruit some “Junior Reporters” and revive the art of writing and not just texting or snapchatting on their phones but using the phone to take a photo to accompany their written piece!

I did have quite a bit of interest from teachers who took multiple bookmarks for their class and also one mother said, if my daughter doesn’t want to write for you then I most certainly will.

Everyone had a programme with a floor plan where, when they visited a booth, the booth number was crossed off and the more booths you got crossed off the more chances there were to win prizes that included a grand prize of a Custom Gaming PC, sponsored by the Eastern Ontario Training Board. Usually the visitors were fast to pass us the programmes so that we could cross of our booth number (43) but in some instances the conversations sparked were so interesting that we had to ask for the programme before they left and as they forgot all about having the booth number crossed off.

All in all it was a very lively five hours (of course the fact that there was a DJ and a photo booth did add to the excitement), with members of our youth along with parents and guardians finding out a lot about what our community has to offer and how they can become active members.

I find this event also gave me a chance to connect with many services and groups that I didn’t even know about and of course as the mission of The Seeker is to “Seek out all the Gems in our Community”, this event certainly gave me a chance to do just that as well as connecting with the younger generation. 

What I do have to say though that sadly many of these individuals seem to have difficulty in communicating face to face because their lives are governed by their phones and social media, where back in my day (and here I sound like a dinosaur) we actually played outside in the fresh air and not behind a gaming console and also had face to face conversations and didn’t sit in the same room texting to each other on our phones!!!

Times have changed though and The Seeker is very fortunate to have a young contributor who started writing for us a couple of months ago about Teenage Issues. A very interesting column that can teach us older folks how the world of teenagers operates. 

I am hoping that from this event (where I was told that over 1,000 people passed through the doors) The Seeker will be able to recruit some “Junior Reporters or Contributors” so that we can try and revive the art of writing and also get pieces written in the words of the younger members of our community.

I believe there will be a second event of this kind in August and I look forward to connecting with more youngsters then, but in the meantime, if you are interested in writing for the SDG&A Cornwall Seeker (no matter what your age) please email us at: [email protected] and we will be super happy to hear from you and welcome you to our Seeker Team whether you are in Cornwall or the surrounding counties. There is always so much going on and we need to let our readers know about events and happenings and share with them a “Much Needed Dose of Positive News!

Visit our website at: theseeker.ca or join our Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/localseekergroup for more info and updated news daily plus pick up a hard copy each month. If you find the racks empty (as the Seeker is a hot item and gets picked up fast) you can always contact us for a Digital or Print Subscription and this way you will never miss an issue or have to look all over the place for one! Email: [email protected] or call 613-935-3763 for Subscription information.