Using Circles to Build Community and Connection in CYD Spaces

 
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Using Circles to Build Community and Connection in CYD Spaces

John Weiss, Director of Strategic Initiatives, and Lori Roddy, Executive Director, Neutral Zone

03-05-2025

Small group of Neutral Zone teens and staff dialoguing in circle. Photo: Neutral Zone.

It’s 3:30 on a Wednesday afternoon at the Neutral Zone, a creative arts and leadership center for teenagers in downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan. Twenty-four young people and six staff gather in a circle of chairs in the B-Side Venue (a multi-purpose program space that also serves as a 400-person concert venue). As a disco ball glimmers overhead, Ash, a teen participant and high school sophomore, volunteers an opening question: “What did you like to do at recess when you were a kid in school?”

Teens and staff in a community circle at Neutral Zone. These circles happen daily to welcome youth and foster belonging. Photo: Neutral Zone.

The young participants take turns going around the circle, sharing their names, their personal pronouns, and their responses to what might be considered a low-stakes question—or one you might assume teens would find uninteresting, or juvenile, or simply not worth answering. Yet, quickly, the answers deepen. Participants reveal the fears felt by their younger selves and the risky behavior that thrilled them. Youth of diverse social identities start making new connections with others, laughing, drawing parallel experiences, and listening—really listening—to their peers’ responses. Afterward, a teen new to the space is approached by one of our regular teens, who curiously engages the newcomer in further conversation, making them feel more welcome and connected.

This is the power of the circle! When we sit “in circle,” we experience a strong sense of community. In circle, we create a space that lifts barriers between people, allows for connection and collaboration, and cultivates mutual understanding. In circle, every person shares responsibility for its functioning. All members feel valued and have a voice.

At the Neutral Zone, we pride ourselves on being “youth-driven.” That means young people decide on program projects and initiatives. They plan, host, and manage their own concerts and art shows. They take part in organizational decisions, including hiring staff and strategic planning. And they make up nearly half of our Board of Directors.

We also conduct business through the lens of “restorative practices” (RP). Many people think of restorative practices as a non-punitive way to repair harm when conflict happens, but RP is much more than that. In a true RP setting, the focus is on ‘proactive’ work—building community and relationships with a set of formal strategies, including being in circle.

These practices are a daily ritual at the Neutral Zone. Circle starts each day at 3:30, a way for everyone to begin together. Sessions start with an opening question or a community-building activity. That may be followed by a deliberate conversation about something happening at the Center, in the community, or in the world at large. Other times, it can be more free-flowing conversation that is initiated by the original question, or whatever is on the minds of participating teens and staff. Perhaps most importantly, youth at the Neutral Zone choose to join circle. Some may sit outside the circle and observe; they are encouraged to join in when ready. Those who participate create feelings of belonging and connectedness while upholding accountability. We also use circle for many other convenings—in staff meetings, for training, during monthly board meetings, and in daily programs.

A large-scale mural by Neutral Zone teens places “circle” at the Center. Photo: Neutral Zone.

Derived from Aboriginal and native traditions, circles are built on caring relationships, expectation clarity, and opportunities for meaningful participation. In a circle, young people develop communications skills. They grow confident in presenting their own ideas and thoughts, learn to actively listen, develop important collaboration skills, and increase in empathy for one another. As they gain a greater understanding of other people’s feelings, they strengthen their social and emotional skills. Circles foster cross-group friendships, which help eliminate or reduce negative expectations about intergroup interactions. Through circles, students grow in their respect and appreciation for others, allowing for understanding about diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Circles also support creative youth development. In this space, young people can paint a rainbow mural of their inner self even as their outside appearance is gothic black; they can write lyrics about saying goodbye to friendships, or poetry that questions the latest school policies impacting their lives. It is in such spaces that they reflect, heal, grow, and impact their community. Rather than just experience culture, they become agents in creating it.

Sitting in a circle is so normal in our Center that we sometimes wonder if youth even notice they’re doing it. And then, last year, four young people worked with a mural artist to create a large-scale painting for the Center. Each was prompted to express their experience at Neutral Zone on their own canvas, before all four would be combined into one mural.

They chose to connect their canvases with an image of a disco ball, surrounded by chairs. Our circle, right there at the heart of our community.

active listening, Ann Arbor youth, artistic expression, belonging, circles, Collaboration, Community Building, conflict resolution, Creative Youth Development, cultural creation, empathy, equity and inclusion, February 2025, John Weiss, Lori Roddy, Mentorship, neutral zone, personal growth, restorative practices, Social Connection, Social-Emotional Learning, teen empowerment, Youth Leadership, youth-driven programs

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