Adopting the format of a college fair, YouthNet is hosting a forum in the Columbia High School cafeteria on Monday, targeting local teenagers with information on activities ranging from yoga to dance classes to martial arts to community service.

Twenty-seven organizations—including nonprofits like SOPAC and the Essex County Youth Orchestra; businesses like Shakti yoga studio and Express Yourself Studio in Maplewood; representatives of the libraries and Recreation Departments of South Orange and Maplewood; and student organizations like CHS' MLK Club—will have tables at the event, which runs from 7 to 9 p.m. Guest speaker Dr. Dale Atkins, a psychologist who contributes to the "Today" show, will address the group on the subject of "How To Help Your Teen Find Balance."

According to YouthNet's executive director, Diane Malloy, the goal of the forum—aimed at sixth through 12th graders—is to give teenagers and their parents a better sense of what after-school programming exists locally.

"People don't share information about what their kids are doing," she said, citing the example of a parent potentially learning that piano lessons are available at Mark Murphy's Music. "This is a way I thought of exposing a lot of people to what's available in one evening and getting vendors to see what else is out there."

South Orange Village President Doug Newman, the chairperson of YouthNet's board, is hoping for a large turnout at the inaugural forum.

"In a nutshell, we're setting out to share information with parents and students on alternatives that are available," said Newman, who pointed out that the hours between 3 and 6 p.m. can be challenging for families, since the solution to the question of how to keep children busy isn't always obvious. "Often, the assumption is that there is a shortage or a dearth of programs."

This past June, YouthNet—which is less than two years old—conducted a survey of 2,800 students at South Orange Middle School, Maplewood Middle School and Columbia High School, questioning them on afterschool activities that interest them. The results have yet to be released, but the data shows that local schoolchildren have a wide range of interests that even extends to cooking, according to Malloy.

"We're definitely raising a generation of kids who love all the cooking shows," she said.