I recently had an email interview with Katie Carrol, the Youth Advisory Board Advisor for the Atoka County YAB Chapter. YAB began 20 years ago when Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton started a program for young adults that promoted leadership and community service opportunities. Carrol stated, “YAB is an opportunity for all students, both native and non-native, who live in Choctaw Nation to find their leader within.” 

YAB has three parts; the first part is the monthly meeting where students discuss upcoming community service events and vote on which ones to provide. The second part of YAB is the projects themselves, such as volunteering at the Choctaw Community Center, helping with events for Choctaw Seniors, and volunteering in events like The Trail of Tears Walk. This year the Atoka YAB chapter is planning to have a canned food drive to benefit Oh Yeah! Missions as their community service project.“YAB is a student-led organization, so it offers a neat opportunity for the students to determine and share ideas for their community service efforts,” explains Carrol. The last part of YAB is the monthly leadership training lessons. 

There are many benefits to being a member of YAB. First, advisors keep track of the community service hours, and a transcript will be available for students to attach to scholarships, job resumes, etc. “YAB is also a fun opportunity to make new friends, design and create egg drop challenge contraptions, and attend Quarterly Leadership Conferences throughout the year at different locations across the Choctaw Nation!”

For more information about YAB, call your YAB advisor, Katie Carrol, at (580) 775-5348 or email at kcarrol@choctawnation.com. Luke Kauffman, school liaison, has paper applications in his classroom. Be sure to come to the next YAB meeting on Wednesday, February 8th at 5pm! “There are currently 25 chapters and about 300 members. Now it is your time to become a YAB member! Yakoke!”