Youth Centers in Akureyri

About Félak

In Akureyri, there are six youth centers that all seven schools in the town have access to. All Félak employees work together towards a common goal and support all youths ages 10-16. The schools that are located outside of Akureyri receive services in the form of short courses, prevention education and guidance/counseling. Hríseyjarskóli and Hlíðarskóli are serviced on a regular basis, but Grímseyjarskóli as needed.

Félak Activities

Youth centers are an important factor in the lives of children and young adults. They serve the crucial role of conducting leisure activities outside of regular school hours. The youth centers focus is on 5th – 10th grade offering clubs and open youth work.

A youth center is supposed to promote positive and meaningful communications amongst children and teenagers and stimulate their social development and democratic thinking. The youth centers activity is organized by the teenagers in cooperation with staff.

Félak offers variations of clubs and open youth work, so everyone should be able to find something that they like. It is important that the teenagers feel like they are welcome and that they are spoken to like equals. The youth centers also play a preventional role, both in organized preventional work and in communication through the open houses.

Félak personnel also do various other jobs, like personal counseling. Depending on the situation, either the teenager, parents, school staff or youth workers have the initiative of the personal counseling. The problems can vary, e.g., communication problems in school or at home, personal problems, drug abuse, gender orientation or mental distress. If applicable, social service is involved.

Special services for teens

The special services Félak provides is a collaboration between Child protective services, student protection committee, family services and the elementary schools of Akureyri. This resort is a prevention measure in a broad sense where a teen is met where he is situated, and a targeted goal is set. Improvements are assessed regularly. A group of representatives from the departments mentioned above supervises these special services, accepts applications, and monitors the course of action.

The goal of this special services is to meet those students that suffer from school boredom, don’t attend school on a regular basis and have tried other measures without succeeding. Schools send in applications for students, who then attend school one to three days a week and spend the other days in Rósenborg with their counselor. There they have the privacy to study and work on other things that the counselor sees fit.

The work of Prevention and leisure counselors is extensive and has in the past years progressed in cooperation with teens, parents, and other departments within the town Akureyri. Increased emphasis has been put on special assignments and requests from schools and other institutions for assistance has increased.

Open houses

8^th – 10^th grade

The main goal of the open houses is to create a platform for children and teenagers to meet at a neutral and safe space. There they can come on their own conditions and participate as they want each time, under the guidance of adults. There they can also express their own interests and hobby’s.

Children and teenagers in Akureyri can attend the youth center of their choice regardless of what school they go to. Open houses are held four nights a week, from Monday to Thursday and regular events are held on the weekends. In addition, there are diverse clubs for all ages.

5th – 7th grade

Kids in 5th – 7 th grade get regular open houses. In Oddeyrarskóli, Glerárskóli, Giljaskóli and Síðuskóli (Þorpið) there are open houses once every month located in the schools. Trója (situated in Rósenborg) is used when Brekkuskóli and Lundarskóli have open house. For 7th grade there is a Pop-up event once a month where every 7^th grade in Akureyri come together. Clubs are also available for 5th – 6th grade. For more information, contact a Children’s leisure specialist.