NNews December 2023

12 December 2023 Of the countless inspiring stories of youths’ successes resulting fromNJCTS’ support, a few stand out for Executive Director Patricia Phillips. “Our youth are so phenomenal. They have overcome major challenges,” she said and shared these examples: • Although the coach of an oratory club told a student that she could not join because of her tics, she not only insisted on participating and competed, but she also came in first place. • Another youth’smomwanted her to attend school virtually. Instead, the student wrote to her teachers, telling them to ignore her tics, and she is doingwell. • A college student co-chairs a wrestling team, which helps him cope with anxiety. He was featured in the school newspaper and on WNBC News because he embraced his Tourette Syndrome (TS) and advocates for others. In addition, young advocates present at schools, are active on social media and participate on NJCTS’ Youth Advisory Council. To create more growth opportunities, NJCTS is developing a mentorship program for youth to help their peers. “With thismission expansion, every member of theMercer Council team has been educated and trained in many evidence-based behavioral health interventions.” The latest trainings were Question, Persuade, Refer for Suicide Prevention; Teen and Adult Mental Health First Aid; and Strong Resilient Youth: Supporting Children and Youth Experiencing Trauma. Leahy and Catherine Arulmohan, Director of Operations, shown above, have also been undertaking many initiatives to strengthen the team. “We are working to provide more of an internal framework for our staff with standard operating procedures for each division; clarify our policies and procedures; strengthen the internal culture to be more team- oriented with shared goals; develop our staff’s skills and certifications to meet the needs of our community; and restructure the organization with the hope that we become more effective and efficient internally to meet the demands of our community work,” they shared. (continued from page 11) Clearly, NJCTS’ programs are tremendously impactful. One of the many programs is the TimHoward Leadership Academy, named after the soccer star and TS spokesperson. “At the Academy, we tell youth that they need to advocate for themselves and others, andwe focus on building self- resiliency,” said Phillips, pictured above. Participants complete projects during this annual program, and one is still in use. In 2017, a student created a comic book with themain character Twitcha. The first issue focused on accepting people as they are and the second issue addresses anxiety and self-doubt. “These books help youth feel that they are good enough and see themselves as having super powers. We use them in our education outreach program to schools, andwe developed a lesson plan for teachers to use,” Phillips said. NJCTS Inspires Youth to Build Confidence, Yields Many Successes