YCB Bids Farewell to Three Board Members
Three YCB board members Council Member Natalie Johnson-Lee, Council
Member Paul Zerby and Library Trustee Virginia Holte are attending
their last board meeting in December.
Paul Zerby has been a YCB Board member since 2002. Paul has been
a committed co-chair of the YCB Early Childhood Work Group for about
two years. He worked hard to understand the issues, listen to the
many voices at the table, and remain focused on what would make a
difference in young children’s lives. He was an advocate both
in City Hall and on the YCB, and we will miss him and his leadership.
Natalie Johnson-Lee has been a YCB Board member since 2002. She has
been a strong advocate for youth engagement. She served on the YCB
Executive Committee and was the vice chair of the board in 2004 and
2005. Natalie’s passionate contribution on behalf of the most
disconnected youth of our city will be missed by all.
Virginia Holte has been a YCB board member since 2002. As the Library
Board representative, she brought the perspective of a former librarian
to the board. She enjoyed working directly with young people and frequently
was a visible visitor to YCB sponsored programs, such as Yo! The Movement’s
Where My Girl’s At? Conference.
All three will be missed for their commitment to children and youth
and to the work of the YCB.
YCB to Elect New Slate of Officers for 2006
At the February Board meeting the YCB will elect a new slate of officers
for 2006. Positions available are YCB Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary.
Returning Board members interested in serving on the Executive Committee
as an officer should submit their name to outgoing Board Chair Mayor
Rybak no later than January 18th. The Executive Committee will recommend
a slate of officers to the full board at the February 8th Board meeting.
The YCB staff wishes to thank our outgoing officers for their generous
service. They are: Mayor R.T. Rybak, Chair; Council Member Natalie
Johnson Lee, Vice Chair; and Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, Secretary.
YCB Selected for Ready by 21™ Learning Network
The YCB has been selected to be a member of the Ready by 21™
Learning Network of the Forum for Youth Investment (the Forum), one
of the nation’s premier organizations addressing child and youth
policy. The intent behind the Ready by 21™ initiative is to
help change makers create the sustained capacity needed to change
the odds for children and youth. YCB’s readiness to “change
the odds” through the Children and Youth Agenda made us an ideal
partner for this initiative. As a member of the Learning Network,
the YCB will be receiving planning and strategic analysis tools as
well as phone, email and, very likely, in person technical assistance
from the extremely capable staff of the Forum. In addition,
there will be peer learning opportunities from the other cities and
states who are co-participants in the Learning Network.
Audio Conference to Highlight Youth Mapping Strategies
Working with youth to map community resources is the topic of an
upcoming, free audio conference on Thursday, December 15, 2005, at
4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time). The call is sponsored by the National League
of Cities’ Institute for Youth, Education, and Families with
support from MetLife Foundation. “Identifying Youth Needs
and Resources by Mapping Your Community” will focus on how cities
and towns can benefit from “mapping” — or surveying
— the resources in a community, especially when youth are among
the surveyors. The audio conference speakers will include Judith A.
Kahn, Executive Director of the YCB. Judith will speak on the recent
youth mapping project that covered 16 of 81 Minneapolis neighborhoods.
She will speak about training the youth and adults as well as sharing
some of the results. Another featured speaker will be Eric Kilbride,
program officer at the Academy for Educational Development’s
Center for Youth Development and Policy Research in Washington, D.C.
He is an expert in “community youth mapping,” a specific
youth mapping curriculum that draws heavily on youth development theories
and youth engagement.
This audio conference is free, but it is available only to a limited
number of participants. Therefore, advance registration is required
by close of business Tuesday, December 13, 2005. A separate registration
is needed for each phone line that will be used in listening to the
call. To register, please e-mail or fax your name, title, organization,
mailing address (including street, city, state and zip), telephone,
fax and e-mail address. No telephone registrations will be accepted.
You may e-mail Melissa Rogers at rogers@nlc.org or fax her at 202-626-3043.
Youth Mapping Key Findings
In 2005 the YCB sponsored an innovative youth engagement strategy
called Youth Resource Mapping. The idea behind youth mapping was that
youth would interview other youth in their neighborhood about youth
programs and other supportive people and places. The entire results
of the youth mapping will be available soon; this is a summary of
the key findings.
- In Minneapolis, 61% of youth said they had never participated
in a youth program.
o As age increases, participation decreases.
- Most youth are not aware of the programs that are available in
their neighborhood– no signage or youth program logo.
- Need greater diversity of captivating youth programming, especially
for older teens (13-16 year-olds) and youth-centered recruitment
and awareness-raising campaigns.
- Teens want friendly, connected, safe neighborhoods, where people
are kind and treat each other with respect.
- Although young people were able to identify youth-friendly people
and places, they feel most adults mistrust them and assume they’re
up to no good—especially police officers.
Youth Mapping Phase II Update
On December 8, 2005 from 6-7 PM the youth from the Hawthorne neighborhood
who participated in youth asset mapping are hosting the grand
opening of Connection Café, a new youth development program
at Kwanzaa Community Church, located at 2100 Emerson Ave North. Youth
involved with the Kwanzaa leadership program have partnered with the
YCB, the Beacons Project and several local businesses to start a small
Teen Café. The mission is to create a positive atmosphere
where youth can connect with each other and establish bonds between
caring adults and leaders of the Hawthorne community. The grand opening
will consist of entertainment including musical and spoken word performances
by local youth artists. We hope you can join us at the opening
of this exciting new community resource.
Minneapolis Public Library Premieres new Web for Teens Site
Minneapolis Public Library is excited to premiere a brand-new Web
for Teens site at the Minneapolis Public Library: www.mplib.org/wft/
Please help spread the word about this new resource for Minneapolis
teens.
One of the best features is that teens (with a MPL library card)
can create their own lists of recommended books, magazines, music
and movies. The site has a feature called "What's Going On?"
that lets people in the community (Twin Cities area only) send the
Library staff information about their teen events to post directly
on our Web for Teens site for teens to access -- either from home
or from the library. If you have events for teens, ages 12-18 please
go to: www.mplib.org/wft/teenevents.asp and enter your event directly.
The events don't need to be free but they do need to be open to the
general public. If there is an admission cost, please list it in the
"details" section.
Contact Maureen L. Hartman, Coordinator, Youth and Family Initiatives
Partnerships and Development of the Minneapolis Public Library if
you have any questions at MLHartman@mplib.org.
