5200 Youth- That’s Phat!

The start of another school year marks the end of another big Phat Summer! Phat Summer is a free evening recreation program for 12-18 year olds that provides safe and positive activities such as basketball, volleyball, movies, dancing, haircuts for fellas, nail painting for ladies, computer lab, roller-skating and field trips. It is a very popular and successful collaboration between the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, Minneapolis Public Schools, and the Minneapolis Youth Coordinating Board. Phat Summer utilizes existing resources by unlocking the doors of school, park, and community buildings later into the evening to provide accessible, safe, supervised spaces and activities. 5200 youth participated in the 11th year of Phat Summer at 23 park, school and community sites.

This year the YCB received a generous gift from the NorthWay Community Trust to ensure that Phat Summer would continue for youth in Minneapolis. NorthWay stepped up with a $100,000 to fund Phat Summer 2005. In addition, Hennepin County provided $25,000 to support Phat Summer. The YCB and its partners are extremely grateful for these wonderful gifts and for the fun and free opportunities it provided for youth across the city of Minneapolis this summer.

National League of Cities Institute for Youth Education and Families: National Summit on Your City’s Families

A team involved in the Minneapolis Children & Youth Agenda traveled to San Antonio to participate in the National Summit on Your City’s Families. The summit included elected officials and other leaders from municipalities as small as 2500 residents to as large as 2.5 million residents. Representatives at the summit reflected the growing interest in building partnerships between city government and school districts. While everyone recognizes it is the responsibility of school boards to set policy for schools separate from city municipal decision making; school districts and municipal governments share the common goal of addressing the wellbeing and education of the children in their communities. Some attendees came from an Economic Development perspective, while others focused on Public Health or Recreation. From all perspectives there was recognition that when children do well, families do well and the city does well.

The Minneapolis team included staff from the YCB, Minneapolis Public Schools Community Education, Hennepin County, and the Minneapolis Department of Health and Family Support. Some of the sessions team members attended featured topics such as So You Don’t Run the Schools: City-School Partnerships that Work, When the Going is Tough: Communities that Don’t Give Up on Youth at Risk, A Vision and Strategy for Your City’s Future, and Making the Afterschool Hours Count: Municipal Leadership to Promote Out-of-School time Learning.

YCB Receives Technical Assistance for Minneapolis Children & Youth Agenda

Minneapolis, via the YCB, has been selected to receive technical assistance on the Minneapolis Children and Youth Agenda from the National League of Cities Institute on Youth, Education and Families (YEF Institute). Minneapolis was among 6 cities selected to receive technical assistance during the time frame of September 2005 – December 2006.
 
YEF Institute’s goal is to assist municipal leaders in developing and implementing city-school youth planning strategies that: can guide future city and school investments, programs, and activities; develop and enhance community programs, activities and initiatives that support positive outcomes for youth; promote youth participation and youth support by highlighting stronger youth voice and involvement in municipal government and schools; and enhance city-school collaboration.

Minneapolis Park Program Receives Y-MAP funding for Youthline Outreach Mentorship Program

The Youthline Outreach Mentorship Program provides programming for teens ages 12-16 in 17 Recreation Centers on a year-round basis. Staffed with full-time mentors, Youthline provides positive recreational activities, leadership experiences and community events. In addition to the year-round program sites, 20 parks offer Youthline during the summer months. The Youthline Outreach Mentorship Program is currently being re-designed to increase and improve youth development for Minneapolis youth through new outreach strategies and intentional programming at Minneapolis parks.

Here are examples of programs that will be funded through the $30,000 grant of Y-MAP funds:

Outdoor Adventures has been a popular summer program for Youthline participants since 1993. Y-MAP funds will enable a fall and winter program to be offered. For fall 2005, Youthline’s outdoor adventures programming will include:
Eco Education Sessions
Fall colors chair lift (Hyland Park)
Minnesota Harvest tour and apple picking
Snow-shoeing
North Shore visit to Gooseberry Falls and Split Rock Lighthouse, with nature hike to Lake Superior
Cross-country skiing.
Ice-fishing.

Cultural programming for Minneapolis’ diverse populations has increased dramatically over the past few years, and continuing to seek new cultural program ideas for youth has been a focus for Youthline. District-based fall programs will include:
Cultural cooking: Youth will learn about common ingredients used in different countries and how other cultures prepare foods differently.
Cultural arts and crafts: The first project will be wearable art. Youth will use fabric paint to create ethnic designs on t-shirts and other clothing, learning about the symbolism and art techniques used in cultures different than their own.

To increase physical activity among youth, Youthline will organize a leadership development program that encourages physical activity:
Creative dance: Youth will demonstrate creativity, leadership, pride and physical fitness under the direction of a professional dancer. Youth captains will be selected for each district team, and the program will culminate in a citywide recital.