Growing up means…

I consider the Rites of Passage workshop not only the centerpiece of my Coming of Age program but my entire Minds on Fire project because, intellectually, it was where I started when I first confronted the issue of how we get young people today to think about becoming adults. My husband, who mentors a teenager, first put the question to me because he said that his mentoring group was struggling with that very issue. When Read more…

Rites of passage

One of the more exciting units in all my programs is a workshop on the topic of coming of age rituals. It begins with a warm up exercise where participants work on a definition of a “rite of passage” or “coming of age ritual” and come up with examples of such ceremonies. Then I show them a series of photos from a quinceañera, a sweet sixteen party, and débutante balls and have them discuss what Read more…