What We Do
Big Sky Youth Empowerment (BYEP) provides a program where youth are grouped with peers, mentors, and Program Managers (BYEP Staff) for weekend adventures and weekday workshops.
We meet one weekday evening for workshops with a life skills curriculum focused on building healthy relationships, independent decision making, and interpersonal skills. Adventures take place on Sundays, and build confidence as we explore Montana's outdoors.
Our program is divided into three seasons - Winter, Summer, and Fall. Each season is 12-13 weeks long, and we offer a total of 10 hours of programming each week.
Our goal is to equip the youth we serve with the skills to make educated decisions towards an empowered and independent future, and feel supported on their journey!
BYEP is scholarship and needs-based. We are proud to offer our programming at no cost to all of our teen participants!
WORKSHOPS.
Our workshops take place from Monday through Thursday from 4-7pm. One night a week each teen participates in a workshop with their group of 6-8 teens. These workshops provide a safe place for teens to check in as we share our highs and lows of the past few days. Teens also learn life skills to help them become independent, successful adults, and experience belonging, purpose, and well-being.
ADVENTURES.
Our outdoor adventures focus on getting outside so you can grow inside. While enrolled in BYEP, teens can expect to ski and snowboard in winter, rock climb, whitewater raft, garden, and paddle board in summer, and cook, create art, hike, practice yoga, and much much more in fall! Adventures in the outdoors give each teen a chance to experience Montana’s beautiful outdoors, while also challenging themselves and discovering their own resilience.
MENTORING.
Our volunteer mentors make BYEP an incredibly powerful youth mentorship program. Every group of teens in our program is paired with highly driven, community-focused mentors who connect with teens both in workshop and out on adventures. Mentors bridge the gap between adolescence and adulthood, and support teen participants along the way.
GROWTH.
Most of all, teens grow in BYEP. BYEP is different than other youth programs: teens choose to be at BYEP, and our program is all about making a time commitment to oneself. Teens build a confidence and fire in themselves like they’d never imagine, and feel supported on their journey. BYEP is like a second family, that encourages growth in every way.