Summer 2023 Leadership Academy

Summer 2023 Leadership Academy

Colleges Are Looking For More


Did you know colleges and employers are looking at more than just qualifications?

They are looking at how our teens use the internet.

They are looking for team players.  

Great communicators.  

Responsible tech and social media users.

Individuals with great executive functioning skills like future thinking and planning, following through, time management and great materials organization.

Problem solvers.

Introducing The Leadership Academy


At the Be a Problem Solver Leadership Academy, your teen will earn a Certificate in Media Mindfulness.


Earning this certificate means your tween or teen will gain:

  • Knowledge of the basics of responsible tech use and digital safety
  • Knowledge of resumes and job interview processes
  • Soft skills and social skills practice like perspective taking and social response
  • Group work and collaborative problem solving practice
  • Knowledge of self care, health, nutrition and hygiene expectations
  • Beginning budgeting and finance skills

When/Where/Details


All sessions will take place on Tuesday and Thursday evenings in July, between 5-7 PM.  

The location is the second floor of Fuquay Works, 201 E. Academy St., Fuquay-Varina NC.

Below are details of each session:

July 11, 2023, 5-7pm,
Meet Each Other and Introduction to Resumes


Social Topic:
Meeting all the participants, playing some improv games to warm up and have fun, sharing about ourselves

Skills Topic:
Angie Stephenson from Silver Key Resumes will guide our group on putting together simple resumes and discussing activities and jobs that will make your child's resume more appealing.

July 13, 2023, 5-7pm, 
Upstairs/Downstairs Thinking and Budgeting & Saving


Social Topic:
Upstairs/downstairs thinking is a critical piece of perspective-taking. We often can easily see what people are thinking in their "downstairs brain," but figuring out what they are thinking in their "upstairs brain" can be more difficult.

Skills Topic:
Does your teen want their own car? Should they pay for their own cell phone plan? In this part of the workshop, we'll talk about easy ways to begin budgeting and saving for money goals. 

July 18, 2023, 5-7pm, 
Online vs. In-person Friends and Media Mindfulness


Social Topic:
It's true that online friends can turn into friends - but how do we know if that's true for the people we meet online? We'll talk about the differences in these types of relationships.

Skills Topic:
Media Mindfulness is our method for how we teach teens to monitor their engagement with technology and check in with themselves about how tech use makes them feel. We'll also talk about digital safety.

July 20, 2023, 5-7pm, 
How to Hang Out and Self-Care & Household Responsibilities


Social Topic:
Hanging out is actually more difficult than it seems. We'll talk about ways to avoid being cringey and use our perspective taking skills learned in previous sessions.

Skills Topic:
Laundry, hygiene, cooking, oh my! In this portion we'll tackle home routines, and how to avoid being stinky in general.

July 25, 2023, 5-7pm 
Future Thinking and Managing Anxiety


Social Topic:
Future thinking is the basis of goal setting and motivation. If our teens can't envision themselves in a future position, it will be difficult for them to set goals that seem abstract.

Skills Topic:
With future thinking, feeling anxiety is not uncommon. Creating goals and attempting to reach them may not be easy and we'll talk about ways we can cope.

July 27, 2023, 7-8:30pm, 
Parent Night and Goal Setting


Parents are invited to hear about highlights from the series and work together with their teen on honing down goals.

We hope your tween or teen will join us to learn more about these topics AND practice social skills with peers.

Apply Here