When it comes to education, encourage youth to grab the reins and take charge. Help them to find meaning in their work, so they'll be self-motivated to participate in class. At any given moment most students have an upcoming project, essay, or book report in at least one of their classes. The key to making the most out of these assignments for youth is finding a way to apply their interests to the project. This makes the learning process easier and a lot more fun. 

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Here's an example of how this can be done: A Language Arts teacher assigns her students the task of reading a nonfiction book, and writing a 3 page essay. Most students just grab whatever book they can find, read a book they don't entirely enjoy, and crank out the assigned essay. But, what if there was a better way to do this? 

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One student in the class loves watching Japanese anime, so he goes to Amazon and orders a book on the history of anime to read for his project. During the research for his paper, he reads the book, watches videos, and finds related websites. His passion for this subject shows in his writing, and the teacher gives him a great grade. At the same time, he learns more about a subject he loves and enjoys the learning process so much more.