To wrap up our series on Understanding Middle Schoolers, we're joined this week by Tori Hardin, a former YOKE kid and YOKE Folk at Northwest Middle School. In this episode of the podcast, Tori shares her story and draws on her years of experience in YOKE, as well as her experience now as a social worker, to share what a college student might have to offer when investing in the life of a middle school student. Visit yokeyouth.com to learn more about YOKE Youth Ministries.

Continuing our series on Understanding Middle Schoolers, we're joined this week by Tatia Harris. Tatia is the Title VI Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the City of Knoxville, and in this episode she talks with Jonathan about mental health first aid in the context of middle school ministry. Visit yokeyouth.com to learn more about YOKE Youth Ministries.

Continuing our series on Understanding Middle Schoolers, we're joined this week by Cindy White, the Curriculum Principal at Austin-East High School. Cindy is a good friend of the YOKE community and has previously been a principal at Gibbs Middle School, Vine Middle School, and Karns Middle School. In this episode of the podcast, she draws on her years of experience working with middle school students to share what makes this age group unique. Visit yokeyouth.com to learn more about YOKE Youth Ministries.

Continuing our series on Understanding Middle Schoolers, we're joined this week by David Schilling, the Youth Minister at Hardin Valley Church of Christ and a former YOKE team leader at Hardin Valley Middle School. In this episode, David shares from a Youth Minister's perspective about the unique challenges that middle school students face in their daily lives. Visit yokeyouth.com to learn more about YOKE Youth Ministries.

Continuing our series on Understanding Middle Schoolers, we’re joined this week by Dr. Keith Bailey from Harmony Family Center. Keith has served as the Training Director for Harmony Family Center since 2016 and has over 30 years of experience working with children and families. At YOKE’s 2019 Leadership Summit, Keith led a training on trauma-responsive practices. In this episode of the podcast, he shares why this topic is so important for anyone working with middle school students. To learn more about Harmony Family Center, visit harmonyfamilycenter.org or call 865.982.5225. Visit yokeyouth.com to learn more about YOKE Youth Ministries.

If you're familiar with YOKE, you probably know that the age group we focus on is middle school. In order to better understand where our students are coming from, we're kicking off a brand new series on the podcast called "Understanding Middle Schoolers". Over the course of this series we'll hear from lots of experts who will give us their perspective on the middle school experience, and there's no better place to start than with talking to some actual middle schoolers! So for this episode, we sat down to chat with three of our awesome YOKE kids: Chloe, Silas, and Gianna. Visit yokeyouth.com to learn more about YOKE Youth Ministries.

This week we sat down with YOKE’s two newest staff members, Madjoel Douglass and Andrew Hodge. Madjoel is YOKE’s new Area Director for Knoxville City Schools, and Andrew is the Area Director for YOKE’s East area, which includes Jefferson and Grainger counties. Visit yokeyouth.com to learn more about YOKE Youth Ministries.

This week we sat down for a conversation with YOKE's program director Sarah Scheafnocker. Before joining the staff earlier this year, Sarah had previously served with YOKE as both a YOKE Folk and a board member, and she served on staff at First Baptist Concord for nearly 11 years. In this episode, she shares what she loves about her role as YOKE's program director and how she ended up here, as well as what she's excited about as we look forward to a new school year. Visit yokeyouth.com to learn more about YOKE Youth Ministries.

Our community has been shaken this year by violence. We want to be part of the solution, and we know that you do too. With that in mind, this month we are speaking with several friends and community partners who have devoted their lives to being a part of that solution. This week we spoke with Rev. Jesse Jones, the Student & Family Support Coach at Austin-East High School with Project GRAD Knoxville. Visit yokeyouth.com to learn more about YOKE Youth Ministries.

Our community has been shaken this year by violence. We want to be part of the solution, and we know that you do too. With that in mind, this month we are speaking with several friends and community partners who have devoted their lives to being a part of that solution. This week we spoke with Kara Finger, the executive director of the Wesley House. Visit yokeyouth.com to learn more about YOKE Youth Ministries.