The Newtown Allies For Change Youth Group started the new school year with a meeting on Saturday, August 31, convening in the chbMakers' Corner at C.H. Booth Library.

The NAFC Youth Group started meeting in late March of this year. It gives students in grades 5-8 who are interested in making the community a kinder and more welcoming place an opportunity to meet and talk. The group is designed to be a safe space for everyone to discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion. Following a summer break, it has resumed meeting once monthly for attendees to learn through education, conversation, and various activities.

To that end, the NAFC Youth Group works to hold field trips, discussions, fireside chats, and more about how they can make changes in the community. Christine Miller, who launched the group, said she was excited to get things started up again for the new school year and that she and others are always looking for ideas and input.

The August meeting started as previous meeting have, with a reading of a land acknowledgement that states the land now known as the town of Newtown was stolen from the Pootatuck Tribe, a subgroup of the Paugussett Nation and whose descendants are now the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, and honors them as the original stewards of the land and their presence in the town's history.

The group then welcomed any new members and shared fun facts about themselves to have everyone get acquainted with one another. The main topics of discussion were race, ethnicity, and nationality. Talk focused on explaining the differences of what those three words mean while emphasizing the beauty of everyone's differences.

Students then created a personal "vision board," decorating with their talents, gifts, goals, and interests that reflect who they are and what goals and values they want to embody. Everyone excitedly got started and used stickers, markers, sharpies, colored pencils, and more to accessorize their board, personalizing it as their own. Students took the boards home with them after the meeting. They also used the chance to also talk among themselves and snack on cookies.

According to NAFC Vice Chair Nicole Maddox, the NAFC Youth Group has continuously grown since it started.

"Every time we have a new session, we see a different group of children come together, but the hope is that we outgrow this room, that we just continue to grow, and that the [kids] will eventually take over. Right now we have a couple of adults leading, but eventually I think they'll be fully equipped to lead themselves," Maddox said.

She hopes eventually more people will see that NAFC is trying to help students better understand the world they live in and encourage empathy, understanding, and education in everyone. A Newtown resident for nearly 17 years, Maddox says what the town looked like then is very different than how it looks now.

"Whether people like it or not, the town is naturally becoming more diverse, so why not incorporate that into our education and understanding," Maddox continued. "The one thing that we always say also ... is that black history is US history, so to leave out education in these diverse areas is to leave out a part of their education on American history. So we've got to stop pushing it to the side as something that's 'other' and understand that it's a necessary component to everything that we do."

She believes students who attend the youth group meetings will carry the kindness and education they learn from that setting and will have a huge impact on their peers, in their classrooms, and in their schools. The enthusiasm, she hopes, will continue from there.

For any parents who might consider bringing their children to an NAFC Youth Group meeting, Maddox says that "it's important that we lead by example."

"Maybe children aren't naturally inclined to be a take a part in this group, but I think that adults encouraging their children to join in order to gain more understanding is where we start," she said. "Then the youth get here, they understand what we do, and they understand the importance of it... This is how change starts."

Upcoming NAFC Youth Group meetings are planned for Saturdays, September 28, October 26, November 23, and December 28. Registration is requested and available through Christine Miller at themillerfamily01@gmail.com.

To learn more about Newtown Allies For Change, visit newtownallies.org or send email to takeaction@newtownallies.org.

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Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.