Our Story

By Teens, For Teens

Northern Youth Project works to better the outcomes and opportunities for rural Northern New Mexico youth through hands-on art, agriculture, community service, and leadership projects that honor the past and look to the future.

NYP is a homegrown effort, founded in 2009 by local teens in response to staggering statistics of high school dropout rates, teen substance abuse, academic underachievement, and a lack of programs for teenagers in the area.

Collectively, Northern Youth Project teens have set out to “be the change” in their community. The program provides an opportunity to put ideas into action: initiating projects they want to do, focusing on their interests, and engaging in activities driven by their passions.

Our strategy is working! Nearly 100% of Northern Youth Project teens 18 and older have graduated from high school or received a GED and are now attending college. Participating members have regularly shown increased rates of school attendance and academic performance, expressing a greater sense of awareness, appreciation and responsibility towards their community, school, culture, environment, and most importantly, themselves.