Trainings & Workshops
Work with the experts in building effective youth programs. Since 1982, SLS has helped educators and students engage their peers meaningfully and lead real change. Schedule one of our trainings, or get in touch and we’ll design one for your group.
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Signature trainings we developed
These are SLS originals — built and refined in the field with students since 1982, not licensed from anyone else. They are the trainings we are best known for, and we deliver them to SLS and STAND chapters and to any student group.
Peer Resistance Skills
High schoolers trained to teach resistance skills to 5th graders — peer pressure, and saying no to alcohol, vaping, and more. Two sessions, around 11 hours total. Students find real satisfaction in teaching younger kids.
Peer Refusal Skills
A two-session student favorite: high schoolers are trained to teach peer refusal skills to middle schoolers. Session one covers the concepts and the lesson; session two is practice with feedback. Attendance at both is required.
3-Day Leadership Institute
Ideal for Student Council, National Honor Society, or coalition youth boards — and open to all students 13+ in the summer. Interactive work on leadership style and strengths, communication, teamwork, PR and marketing, and service-based learning.
Spokesperson Training
A one-day training for the leaders of leaders: how to speak effectively about your student group in any setting — the media, school board, faculty, and community.
These are four of 50+ workshop and training topics we offer, ranging from one hour to three days. Download the full topic list (PDF) →
More trainings for students
Hands-on, interactive, and peer-led — no boring lectures. Most can be delivered in person, hybrid, or virtual.
Developing a Student-Led Assembly
We train students to build and lead a fun, interactive, prevention-based assembly: start with a needs assessment, build understanding of the issue, then develop the leadership and communication skills to deliver a peer-led message that changes minds.
Peer Mentoring
A one-day training for students 13+: the history of mentoring, the ten features of a quality mentor, and how to build relationships and mentor others — ideal for students mentoring incoming 6th and 9th graders.
Peer Mediation
An interactive series for schools building a conflict-resolution program with peer mediators: communication, negotiation, mediation, and diplomacy. Eight one-hour sessions. Proven to improve self-esteem, school climate, and reduce disciplinary actions.
Workplace Readiness
An interactive workshop on work ethic and why it matters, identifying the skills that make you an asset to an employer, and the interview skills to land the job you want.
Health, Safety & Skill Development
Personalized, skill-based trainings on the topics that matter to your group — from safe driving, substance use, and how to help a hurting friend, to executive-function skills like time management, managing emotions, and decision-making. Length depends on your goals.
Trainings for educators & advisors
For the adults who guide student-led work — advisors, teachers, counselors, social workers, youth workers, and administrators.
SLS & STAND Advisor Trainings
The tools and strategies to get your SLS (high school) or STAND (middle school) chapter up and running. One to three days, depending on your needs and level of experience.
Building Student Leadership Capacity
Learn how to engage students and build their leadership skills — the forms of youth leadership, how “adultism” can reduce student participation, and strategies for thoughtful engagement built on choice, input, and shared leadership.
Youth Development
A 3–4 hour training on the four tenets of youth development: building healthy, appropriate relationships and boundaries with students, and understanding how outside influences shape students’ values and beliefs.
Creating a Validating Environment
How acknowledging a student’s thoughts, actions, and feelings — as understandable in the context of their life — builds trust, confidence, and a secure sense of self, and changes how they engage with you and the world.
Advising a Student-Led Group Without Taking Over
A half-day training: the three R’s of a student-led group, how Maslow’s hierarchy of needs plays out in practice, and how to guide students toward their own goals for school and community climate change — without taking over.
Understanding Student Addictions
The most common addictions today’s youth face, why they turn to them, the addictions they encounter at school and home, and — most importantly — how to support them.
Listen: Youth Engagement podcasts
Bring a training to your group
Tell us your group, your goals, and your timeline, and we’ll help you choose a training or design one for your needs.