New Troup High School Young Life staff assistant Rose Rockecharlie is helping expand the club and interacting with the youth. Rockecharlie moved from her hometown of Decatur to LaGrange after graduating with a degree in social work from the University of Georgia this year.

“I’m from a really big city and went to a really big school,” Rockecharlie said. “It’s been different, but also really good and sweet to get to experience a small town and a slower pace. It’s very different from where I grew up, but it’s good.”

Young Life is a national outreach ministry for high school and middle school students. There are Young Life programs at THS and LaGrange High School, and a program for all middle school students called Wyldlife.

“It’s open to anyone, and we get to know kids by hanging out with them and building relationships and friendships and telling them about the gospel after we’ve earned the right to be heard with them,” Rockecharlie said.

As a staff assistant for Young Life, Rockecharlie and seven other leaders host a club meeting once a week at THS and get involved with their students’ lives.

“I am a staff associate, so I am in charge of getting things started with Young Life at Troup High School,” Rockecharlie said.

“We go to football games and go hang out with them and have breakfast before school, lots of different things like that.”

Rockecharlie said about 40 to 50 students attend the weekly meeting where they play games, sing songs, put on skits and at the end, a leader will share a story about Jesus.

Rockecharlie said she wanted to work at a Young Life program after getting involved as a high school student.

“It’s where I started my walk with the Lord and my faith,” Rockecharlie said. “And a Young Life leader in my life who was really always there for me played a really big role in who I am today. I went to college and became a young life leader there from my sophomore to senior years of college, and decided that it felt like it was something I was supposed to do with my life.”

Rockecharlie applied and was placed at THS in LaGrange. She said her goal for Young Life is to get to know the THS community better and build relationships.

Rockecharlie said the students she meets with are fun to be around.

“It’s really fun being a part of something new,” Rockecharlie said. “It’s something that kids are excited to go to, and it’s fun to get to step into a community and get to know everything about LaGrange and Troup and these kids.”

To learn more about the Young Life programs in LaGrange, visit Lagrange.younglife.org.