|
|
|
Youth Engagement Update
June 2015
|
|
|
***
Purchase our publications and resource packages now!
|
|
|
|
McCook, NE, taking a page from their HTC colleagues in Brookfield, MO, invites their high school graduates to claim their hometown in a special way. They are also taking the initiative to give younger students an opportunity to see how great their hometown is!
|
|
|
|
 For almost a decade, McCook Nebraska has been designated a HomeTown Competitiveness® (HTC) community. This spring, their Youth Task Force offered a strong message to graduating seniors: "We want you back in McCook." Using mailboxes as graduation gifts (an idea originated by HTC community leaders in Brookfield, MO) and a McCook Appreciation Day for junior high students, McCook is proactively engaging their young people to be active citizens who proudly say, "This is My Hometown!"
On April 6th, McCook High School seniors gathered for one last lunch sponsored by the Optimists. At the lunch, each senior received a mailbox with his or her name on it and the message, "This is My Hometown." Inside the mailbox was a letter to the seniors from the Youth Task Force and the McCook Community Foundation congratulating the seniors and encouraging them to eventually make McCook their home. This is the second year the task force has given the seniors mailboxes.
After the lunch, seniors participated in commencement practice, where HomeTown Competitiveness Youth Task Force committee member Mark Graff gave a short message encouraging the students to go out and explore the world and then come back to McCook to establish a home and family. "For many years, the message we sent to our youth was you need to leave to be successful," said Youth Task Force committee member Andy Long. "When young adults returned, sometimes the first question they heard was, 'What happened?' As if the only reason that they would return home was if something went wrong. We want to send the message that the quality of life in the McCook area can't be beat. There are opportunities for young people here, and we want you to make this place your home again some day."
Giving the seniors an invite to return home was the first event April 6; the following day, the HTC Youth Task Force sponsored the seventh grade McCook Appreciation Day. Seventh grade students spent the day looking at some of the historical parts of McCook that make the town unique.
Throughout the day, the students were able to see some of the people, places and things that make McCook a great place. High school students involved in the organization Youth Change Reaction (YCR) served as the tour guides to take the seventh graders around town.
Andy Long said the tour was an idea this past year to try to reach students earlier. "We enjoyed giving the seniors mailboxes this year, but many on the committee thought we had to show students at an earlier age how great of a hometown they have," he said.
 The HomeTown Competitiveness Youth Task Force's goal is to help young people pursue their future in the McCook area by being actively involved with their community and gaining the skills necessary to be successful as entrepreneurs and civic leaders. If you are interested in learning more about developing this type of program in your community, please contact Craig.
Congratulations to the McCook 2015 graduates and the many adults and youth who are working every day to make their community "A great place to come home to!"
|
 |
Other Center News
|
Latest e2 University Packages
Don't miss our ten e2 University resource packages:
In the next couple of months, we will be releasing our last two packages: Outreach, Intake, Screening and Referrals in June and Tracking, Portfolios, Metrics and Stories in July.
Contact Dana Williams ( dana@e2mail.org) for more information, or visit our online store to purchase any of our resource packages today!
|
|
|
|
|
|
For more information about anything you've read in this newsletter, please contact
|
The Center for Rural Entrepreneurship's mission is to help community leaders build a prosperous future by supporting and empowering business, social and civic entrepreneurs. With our roots and hearts in rural America, we help communities of all sizes and interests by bringing empowering research together with effective community engagement to advance community-driven strategies for prosperity. Our Solution Area teams empower community leaders to find their own answers to the economic development challenges and opportunities they face.
|
|
|
|
|
|
