Youth at the Intergenerational Spring Seminar

5 youth enjoying the 2017 UU-UNO Intergenerational Spring Seminar

Youth participants at the 2017 Intergenerational Spring Seminar

The Intergenerational Spring Seminar hosted by the UU Office at the United Nations is open to anyone age 14 and up, and typically around half of all participants are youth.

(Youth registration closed March 21.)

Note: A special orientation for Youth and their adult Sponsors will be held the evening of March 31, so in-person attendees should please plan accordingly.

Required Youth Participant Forms

The 2023 Intergenerational Seminar will options for participating both in-person in Minneapolis or online. All youth registrants must complete a required youth participant form by March 21, 2023 in order to attend. As with other UUA events, in-person youth attendees must have an adult Sponsor; see the Sponsor Agreement section of the In-Person Youth Participant Form for more information.

Note: Before you can complete these forms, you must have identified your Adult Sponsor, and you & your sponsor must both know where you're lodging for the Seminar.

If you have questions about using SignNow to complete your form, check out the GA Youth team's excellent SignNow info sheet (PDF, 3 pages), especially part 3) MULTI-SIGNATURE, MULTI-USE FORMS and the "Potential Problems & Solutions" section. And if other questions or difficulties arise, don't hesitate to contact unitednations@uua.org for assistance!

Who Counts as a Youth?

Youth attendees comprise approximately half of the attendees at the Intergenerational Spring Seminar. Per the UUA Youth Safety Guidelines: “youth” are defined as those in high school grades 9-12 or the equivalent for homeschooled youth. For the purposes of its programs, the UUA defines “youth” as any young person currently in high school (or the equivalent for home-schooled youth or other uncommon schooling situations) as well as minors of the same age who have left school without receiving a diploma. Youth fitting this definition may or may not be minors. This standard is a shift from an older age-based definition to a new life-stage definition. Here is a breakdown of how this terminology works in real-life situations.

  • 18-20 AND in high school = youth and a legal adult
  • 14-17 (of high school age) and in alternate schooling = youth and a minor
  • 18 or older and not in high school (college, work, dropped out) = legal adult, not a youth
  • Under 18 and in college = minor, not a youth​​

Youth Safety Guidelines

All Seminar attendees are encouraged to look through the UUA Youth Safety Guidelines.

At registration, youth registrants are asked to provide an email address for a leader in their congregation. We prefer this to be your Director of Religious Education; if you do not have one, then your Minister; and if you have neither, then your Board President.

Intergenerational Spring Seminar: Guide for Youth Participants!

Are you a youth wondering what the UU@UN spring seminar is like? Questioning if you want to register? Worried you will feel out of place or like your voice doesn’t matter? Well, here is a quick guide to what the experience has been like in the past for youth, what youth have to look forward to at this year’s seminar, and why you should absolutely come.

Read Guide from 2022 Youth Deans