It starts with a family

At YSS we believe that the best way to build community begins with building family. To that end, the groups that youth participate in recreational activities with, attend enrichment sessions with, and spend the most time with in our program are groups of students within their grade level that we call "families." These family groups are tight-knit, usually ranging from just 8-10 participants and mentored by the guidance of two counselors who serve as "older sibling" figures for the group - although often the learning goes both ways. In these families, we aim to build true bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood, a kinship among fellow Muslims from all walks of life, and lifelong memories that our youth can carry with them as they traverse the challenges of life. We believe that it is within these kinds of organic and intimate family structures that youth can best explore themselves and find their place among others. The family group is not just a comfort, but a challenge to our participants to reach outside of their comfort zone and learn to love others - to be loved.

Mentors, not lectures

Let's face it, even the best lectures can be a bore, especially with the beauty of nature outside calling your name. The stagnancy and drag of a static workshop looms as the minutes pass while students sit still and listen. We believe that no matter the credibility and talent of a speaker we may bring, lectures can only impart knowledge, not understanding. As such, at YSS, youth will be introduced to our annual lineup of "VIPs" (Very Interesting People) who offer their time and wisdom to join us for the weekend and interact with youth in more informal settings. Every day, youth are given the opportunity to sit and have a coffee with one or a few of our VIPs to chat about anything they'd like. Throughout the day, they may find the time to talk and walk with one of them, kick around a soccer ball, or just sit quietly. Our VIPs also offer their time in dedicated scheduled enrichment sessions where family groups can work together to develop a greater understanding of themselves and their faith. Our VIPs range from scholars and teachers to career professionals and mental health specialists. Our goal is that YSS might serve as an avenue by which youth are able to form lasting bonds with these pillars of wisdom within our community during and beyond the summit.

Brought to you by youth

From the start, YSS was interested in what youth wanted out of a retreat, not just what a bunch of adults thought was best for them. We believe that youth know youth best, and that for our program to always remain relevant, fresh, and useful, our leadership would need a constant influx of the most engaged and upcoming leaders from our community. At YSS, the adults take the back seat and act as advisors to a team of dedicated recent high school graduates that we call the "Alumni Family." This group of leaders is hand picked by a selection committee composed of advisors, former Alumni Family members, and former counselors almost a year prior to each year's summit. Over the course of their senior year, these former youth participants develop every component of our program from the ground up: schedule, VIPs, counselors, sessions, activities, site, marketing, outreach, registration, and so much more. Guided by our YSS Advisory Committee ("YAC"), an ongoing team of former counselors, Alumni Family members, and VIPs, the Alumni Family trains and prepares to oversee the entire weekend's programming. As youth arrive, they will see the familiar and inspirational faces of old friends on stage, leading groups, directing counselors, and giving back to the community an experience they so greatly treasured.

Returning to reason and relevance

The time of life that our youth participants are in often presents itself as one of the most challenging and confusing periods of development. Compounded with the challenges of identity formation, youth are constantly subjected to the pressures of social image and a changing environment. However, Muslim American youth hold the unique challenge of - for perhaps the first time in their lives - truly seeking to understand and develop a strong foundation in a faith that for many of them may have been a prior imposition. Islam is a beautiful gift to humanity, one with a rich history in reason and rationality. It was a faith that turned the hearts of the most brutal scoundrels and enriched the lives of the patient and pious. Unfortunately, for many of us today, Islam is little more than a set of unapproachable rules, a pattern of mindless rituals, and a collection of empty phrases. For youth, an assumption of the responsibilities that come with following Islam can often appear uninviting or even outdated. Thus, at YSS it is our firm belief that leading with compassion and rationality is the only way we can assure the relevancy and sensibility of Islam in the lives of our youth participants. There are no blasphemous questions, no one is ever "not Muslim enough," and there is a home at YSS for every kind of person.
"Come as you are, to Islam as it is" - Imam Zaid Shakir.

A curriculum with intent and longevity

It is often tempting as organizers to become narrowly focused on completing one summit after another. With the amount of work and resources that go into making each summit a success, it would be no fault of ours to do so. However, YSS is not just about taking youth on a camping trip for three days; it's a program that spans the entire length of a youth participant's time in high school, and for the truly inspired, many years more. Although we make the most we can out of each weekend we are blessed with, YSS is designed around a four-year program that centers what we believe to be the core elements of unraveling the Muslim American youth experience: Our model - the Prophet, our covenant - the Quran, our compass - Islam, and our connection - Allah. Over the course of four years, long-term participants will explore each of these themes in as much depth as the weekend can provide. We frame the summit not as a capstone to these ideas, but as a launchpad by which youth may continue to reflect upon each of these ideas well afterward. Throughout the year, youth commonly get together with their old families for reunions, many who age out will apply to become Alumni Family members, those who do may stay on board as YAC members, and longer still, many former youth are counted among our counselors today. YSS provides youth with a support structure to carry them through adolescence with the tools for empowerment they need to succeed in their communities, relationships, careers, and faith.

hosted by Rahma Center 
FEDERAL TAX ID: 85-3255194