The Strength of Our Youth is the Strength of Our Future!! Invest Wisely!!

Yesterday at St. Ambrose the Confirmation candidates had a day-long retreat at Lehner Center, and the primary focus was the Clifton StrengthsFinder!! There must have been 80 or so teenagers involved in this session. Wow!

The day started at 11am with Father Bob giving his traditional overview of CSF. Then the group headed over to the St. Ambrose Library to log on and take the StrengthsFinder assessment. Little did they know that they would be answering 180 questions to determine their Top 5 Signature Themes! Then it was back to Lehner Center for lunch, debriefing, and various exercises based on their CSF results.

I arrived at 3pm to assist with the final two activities (I was otherwise pre-committed with youth basketball coaching responsibilities earlier in the day). First, they were engaged in a group activity centered around the concept of "Does this statement sound like you?"  This was a great way to get the kids up and moving after what must have started to feel like a long day for all involved.  Then, we split the group in half and had a self-reflection exercise. The purpose was to allow each student to reflect on their Top 5 and put in their own words what each strength meant to them.  There were a couple other questions focused on their interpretation of various passages from scripture relating to God-given gifts.  This session allowed me and other facilitators to move from one small group to another to help the students better understand their strengths, what they mean, and how they may be applying them in their life.

We wrapped up this session at about 4:20pm as everyone then started to head over to church for 4:30pm mass. What a great way to get involved with the parish youth!

I am so impressed that St. Ambrose has taken the proactive step to provide the CSF assessment to youth in the parish. The Strength of Our Youth is the Strength of Our Future!! Invest Wisely!!