2020 Success Stories from the Network

This year, the youth engagement network has done some incredible work. From Aroostook to York, Downeast to Western. The network has engaged young people in every public health district in Maine. To help tell some of the human stories of youth engagement work, we've collected some of the stories from ... Read More

What’s Next?

by Beth Broderick, with contributing authors April Lola and Sabrina Keene It is late Friday afternoon during the first week of November. In past years you would find me flat out exhausted, but inspired, from MYAN’s multi-day, youth-led statewide conference. Like ... Read More

Improving Mental Health Supports in Maine Schools

This Research, and its recommendations, was compiled by members of the MYAN Statewide Youth Policy Board  between 2018 and 2020. Current members at the time of publishing: Abi Pettengill; Charlie Eng; Elle McPhee; Lexi Usher; Tristan Seavey; and Will Fournier. We started this project in fall ... Read More

The Power of Play

The Power of Play How Tabletop Roleplaying Games Can Level-Up Youth Engagement by Gabe and Jay Introduction - Session 0  The quote, “Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning,” hangs outside of the Toy Hall of fame on the first floor of the Strong National Museum of Play in ... Read More

Facing the Fall: Student Survey Report

Facing the Fall Maine Student Perspectives on Returning to In-person Instruction and COVID-19 In July and August as schools and other educational programs considered and prepared their responses to operating during COVID-19, we wanted to include young people in those conversations. We circulated a ... Read More

Gardens, Resiliency, and Place

If you don't know where you're from, you'll have a hard time saying where you're going. – Wendell Berry Listen to Allyson's Interview with Aislinn Devlin: MYAN · Garden, Place, & Resilience   As physical distancing changes the shape of ... Read More

Young Adult Fiction You Should be Reading Right Now

by beth and Laura Lately we are hearing about a noticeable uptick in the sale of anti-racist books, particularly those by Black authors. As the MYAN team prepared to host anti-racism community calls with adults across Maine, we also drew in excerpts from many of the reputable authors whose works ... Read More

Our New Look

Switching things up If you’re familiar with MYAN, you may have noticed we have a brand new look, and a very different website. This has been a big change for us! We think it's important to explain some of the reasons behind our choices, and why we felt it was time for a shift. We’ll walk through ... Read More

Using Fantasy to Survive Reality

Using Fantasy to Survive Reality Gabe and Jay sit down to discuss the role collaborative storytelling can play in working with young people. They discuss how we can use roleplaying games as a way to connect with young people using the narratives and pop culture that they're most interested in. ... Read More