CROYA Peer Training Program Expands at Lake Forest High School

By Jenny Liang

When William Elliott, then a seventh-grader, walked into the CROYA Student Union, he had no idea how transformative the youth organization and its Peer Training program would be to his middle school and high school experience. Despite having just moved to Lake Forest, Elliott found friendship and incredible support. 

“I walked into CROYA because I had one or two friends and they would come,” Elliott said. “I started coming pretty frequently, and I love it.” 

William Elliott, Todd Nahigian, and Brody Gregor get together outside the entrance of CROYA's Student Union.

Elliott, now a rising sophomore, met and befriended Brody Gregor, who shared a similar experience.  

“I moved here and didn’t have many friends,” Gregor said. “I looked through the CROYA window and it looked fun, so I just hung out, met new people, and made new friends.” 

CROYA, which stands for Committee Representing Our Young Adults, is a youth organization in Lake Forest that offers a safe, welcoming environment for seventh-grade through high-school students in Lake Forest and Lake Bluff. CROYA Manager, Todd Nahigian, shared how activities such as youth programming, education, community service, and leadership retreats are tailor-made for the youth they serve. 

“The youth come in and we work with them to figure out what they're excited to do and what their needs are, and then we create the programs, meetings, and activities based upon that,” Nahigian said. 

In addition to youth meetings, CROYA also offers a Peer Training program at Lake Forest High School in the Scout Seminar class. “We have a staff member from CROYA partnering with a social worker or teacher from Lake Forest High School,” Nahigian shared. “We go through a curriculum that talks about active listening, problem solving, what to do when your friends need support, and how to support them.”  

Through the Peer Training program, freshmen gain a deeper understanding of drug and alcohol issues, mental health struggles, handling schoolwork, and more, while building connections with classmates. By doing so, students are more likely to be able to help their friends or themselves with such struggles. 

“We know that when teenagers are struggling, the first people they're going to go to are their friends, and if the friend isn't sure what to do, Peer Training helps them,” Nahigian said. 

To increase the impact of Scout Seminar, the Peer Training program has been expanded.  “Up until now, Scout Seminar has been voluntary, but in this fall semester, we’re going to be teaching the entire freshmen class of students,” Nahigian said. 

CROYA expects the number of students in Scout Seminar to increase from 70 each semester to over 300. Originally, Peer Training was an 11-week program that met once a week during a lunch period or study hall. Now, the program meets every week or two during Scout Seminar.  

Moreover, Elliott recounts how Scout Seminar also taught him essential executive function skills that helped him to stay engaged with his schoolwork. “The teachers would teach how to take notes and other really important things that all high school students should know,” Elliott recalled. “My teacher enforced using your planner. She’d make us check it every day and make sure we were on task.” 

Scout Seminar also encourages students to be involved in healthy extracurricular activities and understand that they can find support for themselves or friends from counselors, social workers, and psychologists. 

“They had all the directors come in, for example, the athletic director came into my class and he talked to us about sports, because it helps you get involved in the school," Elliott shared. “And then we also had our psychologist and counselor come in, too.” 

As the fall semester at Lake Forest High School gets underway, Scout Seminar is ready to be a resource to hundreds of students. Sawyer Rice, an incoming sophomore and another participant in Scout Seminar, believes the impacts will extend across Lake Forest. 

“Scout Seminar helps others to see the good in talking about complicated things,” Rice said. “Through Scout Seminar, Lake Forest will soon see growth in the way students better understand and accept each other." 

To learn more about CROYA Peer Training or LFHS Scout Seminar, check out CROYA.com. You can also visit the CROYA Student Union at 400 Hastings Rd, Lake Forest, attached to the Lake Forest Recreation Center.