Weston teen founds nonprofit to teach key life skills

Natalya Lucas, 15, is a busy teen, balancing school, dance, church and rehearsals. Now, she wants to help other students be able to do the same.

Lucas, a sophomore at Weston High School, is the founder of Teen Exec, a nonprofit organization helping teach children about executive functioning, the skill set that helps people manage everyday life. Through the organization, she holds workshops to teach students these skills. She also launched the Teen Exec podcast in August, which she co-hosts with her mother, Dr. Stacy Smith, a radiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

“I found that I loved executive functioning … I had the skills when I was younger,” Lucas said. “I found that this could be something I could give to other people in Weston, and that’s how it formed.”

The idea for Teen Exec was born out of the COVID-19 pandemic. When schools closed, Lucas kept track of her schedule on a white board. As she and her classmates returned to in-person learning, she realized many of her friends were struggling with necessary skills.

“I was in fourth grade when it happened…I think fourth, fifth and sixth grade are major times when you’re learning these basic skills,” she said. “It was the timing that made it so recognizable that these skills were missing.”

Lucas has always had an interest in understanding executive functioning, an umbrella term that includes prioritization and time management. She reads books about habit-building, such as “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens” by Sean Covey and “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. More than anything, she credits her parents for setting a good example.

“My parents both have strong executive function skills,” she said. “I think that seeing an example of that was a really great tool for me to learn from.”

Lucas has held workshops for students at the Weston Public Library where she has taught about brain functions and how to figure out what specific skills work best for individual students. They go through different ways to plan and to be flexible so students can learn to adapt to change.

Lucas draws on her past experience of teaching children as a camp counselor and as a teaching assistant at her dance studio, where she has helped teach baby ballet and hip-hop.

“I’ve worked with kids of all ages. I’ve loved working with kids and being in those types of roles got me interested in teaching,” she said.

As a teenager, Lucas hopes she can engage other students because she is closer to them in age.

After each class, Lucas sends an email out to parents giving them an overview of what students have learned. Parents wanted to learn more, which inspired the Teen Exec podcast. Lucas interviews adults about their experiences with leadership and staying organized. The first guest on the podcast was Karen Zaleski, the Weston Public School District superintendent.

“I wanted to expand it to something more people could access,” Lucas said. “I also wanted to learn more from mentors.”

Teen Exec is a family operation. In addition to co-hosting a podcast with her mother, Lucas works with her father to find guests and write blog posts. Lucas says the support of her parents has been the most important factor in her ability to do this work.

“They’ve been pushing me to think I can actually do this,” she said.