![Participants at the one-day workshop [Photo credit :MYDS]](https://thevoiceslu.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Participants-at-the-one-day-workshop.webp)
Focused on building essential skills for career success, the workshop emphasized practical competencies such as communication, teamwork, and professional conduct, all aimed at enhancing employability and leadership potential.
This initiative reflects a strategic investment in youth empowerment through targeted skill development, aligning with national objectives for youth engagement and workforce readiness.
Lavern Verdant-Desir, the Youth Director in the Department of Youth Development and Sports, expressed that the workshop provided an exciting opportunity for orientation, networking, and discussion on key topics related to career readiness, leadership, teamwork, digital literacy, and environmental stewardship.
“We hope to extend this conversation into a community service activity, as their tenure with us lasts from January to December 2026,” Verdant-Desir noted.
She further explained that the purpose of the workshop was to meet the volunteers, build key competencies, and facilitate networking with the broader team.
During the session on leadership and teamwork, volunteers were organized into groups alongside Youth Development Assistants. Participants engaged in a lively tower-of-cups challenge, fostering collaboration and creativity as teams selected leaders, created names, and developed chants.
Additionally, volunteers tackled the pressing issue of climate change, responding to the prompt: “How does climate change or environmental issues affect your community or your daily life?”
Participants presented several innovative projects aimed at addressing this critical challenge. As part of the workshop, three groups were tasked with various creative challenges: one group composed a song about the 3Rs—Reduce, Reuse, Recycle; another wrote a poem outlining actions to help the environment; while the third created a dramatic piece illustrating the ripple effect of neglecting environmental care.
Participants were reminded of the numerous benefits gained from the workshop, including enhanced decision-making and problem-solving skills, improved environmental stewardship, expanded networking opportunities, strengthened job applications, increased education and awareness, encouragement of lifelong sustainable habits, and potential economic advantages.
The event saw a record level of participation, and the depth of discussions contributed significantly to its success.