Catholic Charities North Star Youth Partnership’s Teen Maze Celebrates 25 Years of Empowering Youth to Make Positive Choices

As teens venture into adulthood and are faced with more complicated, difficult decisions, making the right choice might not always be obvious. Yet, taking the wrong path can have life altering consequences. For more than two decades, Teen Maze, a program of Catholic Charities North Star Youth Partnership, has helped young people to navigate life’s pressures, providing the tools to see firsthand how their choices today can shape their future. Celebrating its 25^th year in Prescott, Teen Maze returns October 21-23 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Grace M. Sparks Memorial Activity Center: 824 E. Gurley St., Prescott, 86301.

Designed as a support for parents and schools, the life size, board game-style interactive tool enables teens to navigate tough real-life scenarios, experience their consequences, and learn valuable skills for making better, informed choices. As they venture through the maze, they increase their understanding of personal accountability, learn peer resistance skills, and obtain critical knowledge for planning a successful future.

The various stations within the maze are staffed by professionals in their field. Topics explored include drugs, alcohol, impaired and distracted driving, tobacco and vaping, teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, online dangers, college, careers and goal setting, self-care strategies, and much more. The Teen Maze is a respectful, judgement-free zone that provides a creative, interactive and powerful method for delivering oftentimes life-changing information.

Launched in Prescott in 1999 by Catholic Charities Senior Program Manager, Diane DeLong and Dr. Carl E. Brown, then director of Youth Count, Teen Maze has grown into something DeLong could not have envisioned 25 years ago. Every year, the number of people served grows, with more than 900 students scheduled to experience Teen Maze this year. Since its inception, more than 25,000 youth have participated in the annual event. Behind-the-scenes, Teen Maze requires an extraordinary amount of coordination. Kasey Shaver, North Star Youth Partnership’s Teen Maze coordinator and youth development supervisor, has led the event since 2009, which includes the management of more than 100 volunteers each year.

“Teen Maze has changed over the past quarter of a century. The issues facing young people have evolved. The event outgrew its original location, expanded its reach, and the design was adapted to meet the needs of new generations. However, the foundation remains the same. Teen Maze gives today’s teens accurate information in a respectful and supportive environment so they can build a foundation for a healthy and prosperous future,” said DeLong.

Teen Maze has been so successful that it has become a model that other communities have replicated. An instructional manual, Build It and They Will Come, was co-authored in 2001 by DeLong. The manual was created to help schools and community-based organizations develop an effective Teen Maze of their own. To date, more than 30 organizations throughout the United States and Canada have purchased the manual to recreate the program in their communities. Additionally, Shaver and DeLong have provided personalized training to organizations that have wanted to develop their own Teen Maze.

According to DeLong, “Seeing other organizations build their own events using the Prescott Teen Maze blueprint has been a rewarding extension of the program’s impact.”

Teen Maze would not be possible without the overwhelming community support it receives. This year, it is generously funded by Prescott Sunrise Lions, APS, Dignity Health Yavapai Regional Medical Center, Matforce, and North Star Youth Partnership. In addition to the event sponsors, various community groups and businesses make Teen Maze possible. A special thanks to Community Pregnancy Center, United States Drug Enforcement Administration, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Central Arizona Women In Psychology, Prescott Valley Police Department, Yavapai College, Yavapai County Community Health Services, Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, Yavapai Family Advocacy Center, and Yavapai County Juvenile Justice Center.

For more information or to reserve a spot, call Kasey Shaver, Teen Maze Coordinator at (928) 899-7141, or visitwww.northstaryouth.org.

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About Catholic Charities Community Services:

Founded in 1933, Catholic Charities provides care for the vulnerable of all faiths in central and northern Arizona through programs in foster care, early education, affordable housing (Housing for Hope), veteran services, refugee resettlement, and homeless outreach. Learn more by visiting www.catholiccharitiesaz.org.