Your Survey Results Are Changing the Face of the Darien Community

More by Marguerite Morgan - 11/11

Do you remember that survey all Darien students in grades 7-12 took in 2008? The survey, given by the Search Institute, was intended to calculate how many of the 40 developmental assets Darien students demonstrated. The Youth Asset Team defines an asset as,

a value, skill, belief or relationship proven to help kids succeed.”

These 40 assets include external qualities, such as positive family communication and a caring neighborhood, as well as internal qualities, such as planning and decision-making and school engagement.            

For those who remember the survey, you may have been wondering what the purpose was. Over the course of the past few years, the results of the survey have been the driving force behind a group of DHS students called the Youth Asset Team (YAT). The group formed out of the results of the survey and have been working hard to increase the assets within the Darien community that scored extremely low. YAT believes that the more assets the Darien community has, the less likely Darien teens are to participate in risky behaviors, such as abusing illegal substances like alcohol. Some of the assets Darien teens scored low in were shocking.

“I was really surprised by some of the results, especially the positive adult role models asset,” senior Cammie Kirby said, who is one of the three co-presidents of YAT.

Seniors Jay Alter and Marguerite Morgan are the two other co-presidents as well as two adult advisors: DHS math teacher Ms. Young and Community Fund leader Martha Rhein. According to the results, only 39% of students believe they have positive adult role models, 15% of students believe they are involved in creative activities, 33% of students believe they are valued by the community, 44% of students think they have a caring school climate, and 37% of students believe they can plan ahead and make smart choices.

Since the team has formed, the group has mainly focused on four assets: positive family communication, creative activities, obtaining a community that values youth, and a caring school climate. The students led panels for Darien parents at Hindley, Ox Ridge, Holmes, and Middlesex where they answered questions about parenting techniques and high school life. They also informed the parents on the importance of instilling the 40 developmental assets in their children’s lives.

To improve the creative activities asset, the students worked with the Darien Arts Center and art students from DHS to paint a mural with elementary and middle school kids in the Darien public school system. The mural now hangs at the Town Hall. YAT members also managed a station at the annual Community Arts Fair where they painted wooden planes with the Darien youth.

In order to tackle the community’s youth asset values, YAT conducted a survey with the Chamber of Commerce among high school students to figure out what the most “youth friendly” local eatery is. Uncle’s Deli won and now proudly hangs their “youth friendly” plaque inside the deli.

In order to be considered “youth friendly,” the eatery must demonstrate qualities such as hiring local students, having reasonable prices students can afford, and supporting the youth by sponsoring sports teams or hanging photographs on their walls. YAT hoped that rewarding the deli for being “youth friendly” would encourage other eateries to follow suit in creating an environment where students feel comfortable and valued.

One of the assets DHS students might be most aware of is a caring school climate. To increase the 44% of students who believe they have a caring school climate, YAT has encouraged DHS teachers to send good luck emails to their students before midterms, finals, or AP exams. Sophomore YAT member Katie Lashendock said that Ms. D’Agostino, her math teacher last year, sent an email to all of her students before finals wishing them good luck and telling them that she was really proud of the work they had done all year. “It was really great because it made me feel like she really cared. It was an incentive to do well” Lashendock said.

YAT has also hosted student-faculty breakfasts for each grade in order to create relationships between students and their teachers outside of the classroom. This November, YAT will conduct another survey for students in grades 7-12. “This is an especially exciting year for YAT because we’re having our second survey to compare the results and see how much the stuff we’ve been doing is paying off,” senior Emily Tropsa said, the secretary of YAT. They are hoping this survey will help YAT learn what assets need to be focused on in the future, and how their efforts have improved the ones that were previously low. “I hope everyone takes the survey seriously,” senior Jay Alter said.

However, Alter made it clear that the Search Institute creates the questions in such a way that they can easily weed out the surveys that were not taken seriously. According to Alter, questions are repeated throughout the survey using different wording to ensure that the answers are compatible. Stay tuned for more student-teacher breakfasts this winter and of course the upcoming November survey. For more information about developmental assets visit www.searchinstitute.org.

Teaser: Curious about what ever happened to the results of that survey you took three years ago? Find out more about what the Youth Asset Team is doing for you.