The Teen Alliance
Socratic Mastermind Group weekly meetings
Band app for student to student communication in between meetings
Four Student Futures fillable workbooks with enriching activities
Teen Alliance Facebook Group for parents, teachers, and other professionals advocating for teens
The Socratic Mastermind Group for Students
It’s a small group of 4-8 students who meet consistently to help each other succeed. These meetings utilize elements of a socratic seminar as well as a mastermind group. It’s the perfect blend of intellectual discussion and a goal-oriented, problem-solving support network.
The socratic mastermind group combines the experience and competencies of different people to achieve their individual goals. These people regularly meet and help each other grow and succeed by giving each other advice and support. Members share their successes, their stories, and their goals—what they want to achieve, and barriers that get in their way—and other members share ideas from their own experience.
At these meeting students:
- set goals together.
- challenge each other.
- learn from, and with, each other.
- build confidence in themselves and one another
- solve problems together
- gain support from their peers
Benefits & Purpose
- Teens have peers giving each other genuine advice who are also in the thick of this transition time. They know the teen world the best and some have already encountered the obstacles your teen is soon to experience.
- They learn to communicate with others outside of a school, co-op, work environment, etc.
- Teens can grow and figure out their identity in the context of other highly motivated teens.
- Teens can take more control of their own future.
- You will have people who help you discover your unknown unknowns — your blindspots, or the things you don’t know you don’t know. It is comforting and mental stabilizing to have people that you trust with your failures. It can make you braver to know that people have your back even if you fail.
- It is equally comforting to have people with whom they can truly celebrate their wins. The idea of a “mastermind” is that multiple minds is more powerful than a single mind.
- Teens get answers to questions, thought partnership, shared resources, and even confirmation of a correct or incorrect decision – all of which help them make more progress with the collective than without.
How Does it Work?
Over the course of 8 weeks, we’ll work together to learn stuff, analyze challenges, set goals, and share ideas with each other to be successful creators and leaders. Plus, we’ve got some fun activities and practical resources in mind to help stretch and encourage you along the way. We will meet weekly via Zoom, or agreed upon location. Each meeting will be 90 minutes. In this program, young leaders will build relationships and receive support from like-minded youth while receiving guidance from Academic Life Coach, Melanie Black.
Socratic Mastermind Group Structure
- Socratic Elements:
- Based on open-ended questions.
- Discussions revolve around a specific text, idea, or concept.
- Emphasis on reasoning and evidence rather than arriving at consensus.
- Facilitated by a leader or moderator who guides rather than instructs.
- Mastermind Elements:
- Members take turns presenting challenges or goals.
- The group provides feedback, advice, and encouragement.
- Meetings are often more structured, with time allocated for updates, brainstorming, and accountability.
- Focused on actionable outcomes.
What do we talk about?
We will discuss students’ successes and challenges. Ever member gets a chance to speak in every session. We’ll talk, ask questions, share ideas, and help each other problem solve around that session’s topic. (We might even ask a few special guests to join us!)
- Week 1: Self-Awareness
- Week 2: Systems and Organization
- Week 3: Communication
- Week 4: Self-Care
- Week 5: Passion and Mindset
- Week 6: Guest Speaker
- Week 7: Motivation and Goal Setting
- Week 8: Future Self and Mission Statement
Cost
The introductory cost to participate is $288 ($36 per session) per participant for 8 weeks. This consists of 8 weekly meetings.