Los 1

Last year I went to the first ever Escape conference in Anchorage. I was sitting in the cafeteria the first evening with Liana Fuentes, who was instrumental in the planning of the conference when this man with unusually large hair sat down next to us. He was very soft spoken and seemingly quiet, but I noticed that teens kept coming up to him and asking for autographs. I quickly realized that he was the singer/speaker who was going to be performing throughout the conference.

Now, normally I’m not much of a hip-hop fan, I was in high school, but moved away from that style as I got older, but I found myself singing along and cheering for a man who had the courage to write songs that tell the truth. Los 1’s lyrics speak to teens about the realities of having sex outside of marriage, about the lies the media tell us, and about how to be honorable young men and women.

This year he came back to Alaska for the second annual Escape conference and won the teens over again.

I found myself marveling at his patience with all of the kids who clamored for his attention, and how involved he was. Many national speakers would show up for their performance and then disappear for everything else, but Los 1 was just as involved as everyone else there, if not more so.

I have been very lucky to have met and worked with such wonderful speakers and performers as we have had at the Escape Conferences.

If you are interested in hearing some of the songs from Los 1’s Life Skills CD you can visit his website at www.los1.com or go to his MySpace page at www.myspace.com/los1music

Check it out!

Rick and Barb Wise

Two years in a row now I have had the privilege of listening to Rick and Barb Wise speak at the Escape Conference, and no matter how many times I hear their story, I am still moved to tears. I won’t go too into detail on their story as I wouldn’t want to spoil it for anyone who might hear them speak in the future, but if you haven’t ever heard of them...look them up!

They are inspirational on so many levels, both to teens and adults. It doesn’t matter what age you are, what they talk about hits home. I found myself nodding and crying and thinking about my own childhood and the pain and struggles I went through and also looking at my husband and our marriage in a new light.

So many times in life we keep repeating the same mistakes over and over out of pain and fear, without even realizing what we are doing. Rick and Barb in talking about their own struggles help the audience to step back and take a hard look at their lives and how they might be contributing to the situation they find themselves in.

Last year was their first visit to Alaska and they fell in love with both the land and the teens. As soon as they went home they began planning for the next year so that they could continue to reach the youth up here. Normally they charge a speaking fee but they offered to come and speak free of charge. That is how dedicated they are to the kids they met here.

Through the whole five day long conference I watched as both Barb and Rick spoke with many of the teens one on one, joked with them, played with them, and cried with them. To see two people who are so dedicated to making the lives of our youth better was truly inspiring for me.

If you are interested in learning more about their story you can go to their web site at www.wise-choices.org.

If you would like to be more involved in making a better future for teens today, visit our website to see how you can help. Whether you are a parent, a teacher, a teen, a coach, or just someone in the community who has a heart to help, you are needed!

www.fbxstepupnow.com

Escape Conference 2010

Teens, sunshine, a lake, and lots of fun. That is what we enjoyed at this year’s Escape Youth Conference. This was our second year at Escape and all 13 of the teens who came say that they can’t wait for next year.

Let’s Talk of Anchorage invited youth from all over the state of Alaska to participate in a conference that was geared toward teaching life skills to avoid risks such as premarital sex, alcohol, drugs and violence. We were lucky enough to listen to national speakers such as Rick and Barb Wise and the music of Los 1.

The impact of the conference was easy to see as teens broke down in sessions to tell heart breaking stories of abuse, and betrayal in their lives. They spoke of how the time they spent at Escape was changing the way they thought about their lives and the people around them.

Not all of it was heavy though, with a beautiful lake side camp we had lots of fun playing Capture the Flag, Alka-Seltzer Tag, doing scavenger hunts and swimming. The staff at Let’s Talk put on skits that had kids rolling in the aisles and we even did a talent show the last evening.

The teens we brought from Fairbanks not only had a great time meeting new friends from all over the state, but also had a chance to get to know each other, as many of our group had never met. Now they have new friends they can continue to get to know in their own town.

We here at Step Up Now were happy to partner with Let’s Talk to make this conference happen. We hope to take an even larger group next year and have the Fairbanks youth be the biggest one there. If you would like to join us next year...let us know!

Contact: sam@aksunspot.com