Each month, HCI accepts applications for Investing in Youth grants.  Here are some of the grants that have been approved this school year:

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March

Tattered Pages
The Tattered Pages Bookstore at the Northfield Middle School serves all students and their families.  The bookstore receives donated books from students and the community.  Students may redeem earned coupons to buy books for personal and home use.  Coupons are earned by students in a number of ways, including helping to do odd jobs around school or in the Media Center, exhibiting good citizenship, donating books to the bookstore, or working in the bookstore.  Tattered Pages plans to increase the number of available Spanish books before its Mother’s Day sale which takes place at the Cinco de Mayo celebration on May 3rd.  All middle school families are invited to the Cinco de Mayo event.

After Prom Party
The After Prom Party is an annual event that provides a safe, fun, and chemically-free place for all Northfield juniors and seniors (regardless of whether or not they went to Prom) to continue the celebration after Prom ends.  There will be many activities; bowling, casino games, activities, prize drawings, and lots of food.  The event will take place after Prom on May 4th, with doors opening at midnight.  The event is held at the Jesse James Lanes in Northfield and runs from 12:30 a.m. to 4:00 a.m.

Earth Day Celebration
The youth of Transition Northfield are planning two projects for the annual Earth Day Celebration on Saturday, April 20th.  The first project is a sewing workshop where community members can sew lunch bags, reusable grocery bags, and other items from the fabric of used T-shirts and other used clothing.  The second project is the building of raised garden beds that will be placed at centrally located First United Church of Christ in Northfield.  Produce grown in the raised beds will be available to the public, free of charge.

Senior Class Lock-In
The Senior Class Lock-in will be held on May 29, the last day of classes for seniors at Northfield High School.  Seniors will be “locked-in” at the high school from 10:00 p.m. Friday night until 5:00 a.m. the next morning.  This is a safe, chemical-free event for the 300+ students expected to attend.

Nursing Assistant Traning Program
The Northfield Retirement Community (NRC) and the Northfield High School are partnering to offer an educational outreach program to Northfield High School students interested in developing skills that will prepare them for employment as nursing assistants in care centers or as resident aides in retirement communities.

February

Skate Park Visit
Area youth skateboard enthusiasts and members of the Northfield Skateboard Coalition planned a visit to the Familia Skatepark in Minneapolis for a tour and discussion with that skate park manager to about ideas for skate park design.  These youth have been in communication with several skate parks in the state about these issues and hope to bring informed ideas to the Northfield City Council.

Dance Marathon
The Junior Board of Directors for Community Resource Bank plan to hold a 12-hour dance Marathon in June to raise money for the Community Action Center (CAC) to benefit the Food Shelf, Clothes Closet, and other CAC initiatives.

Family Math Game Night
Greenvale Park Elementary School staff plan to engage students and families in a math game night at conferences in March.  Students and their families will be taught various math games.  Then each family will be provided with playing cards and dice, so they can take these games home to play and practice math in a fun way.

January

Beyond Words: A Celebration of Art and Literacy
Beyond Words is an annual event for Sibley Elementary School and has become a highlight of each school year.  Beyond Words brings students and their families together to participate in art and writing activities.  Families will be reading together, making books and bookmarks, and listening to students read poetry.  This year’s Beyond Words event is scheduled for April 4th.

Pots for a Cause
Jenna Dixon and other students at Northfield High School will make pottery (mostly bowls) to sell at the popular Arts ala Carte event on April 26. The pottery will be available for sale to the community.  All proceeds earned from the sale of the pottery will be donated to the local food shelf.

Owl Pellets (Exploring a Potential Spark of Nature)
Greenvale Park Elementary School 5th graders will explore nature by examining owl pellets and learning about owls and their habitat.  Students will also explore the nature center outside the school.  This project is designed to help expose students to a potential Spark.

Evening of the Arts
Greenvale Park Elementary School will host its annual Evening of the Arts event on April 9th.  This event celebrates each student’s accomplishments in a variety of art forms including visual, musical and/or performing arts.  All students and their families are encouraged to attend.  Greenvale Park students will have artwork on display, and older students will be performing musical pieces or reciting poetry or a dramatic reading in the Bistro Café.  Participants will be encouraged to create art projects that evening, which they may take home.

Watch Me Grow! Partnering with Preschoolers
Elderly residents from Three Links Apartments travel to Longfellow Preschool to participate in a monthly activity with students (ages 3, 4, and 5).  The Three Links residents are partnering with and engaging the young students in activities focused on literacy and small motor development.

Water for Sudan
Inspired by the book, Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, middle school students plan to sell concessions at the February 2nd  Northfield Middle School Speech Tournament.  All proceeds from concession sales would benefit the “Water for Sudan” Organization.   This organization helps build wells for people in living in Sudan.  The students also plan to speak to speech tournament participants about this cause.

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December

Hospital Blessings

 
Hannah Singh, a middle school student, purchased treats from the hospital cafeteria and local stores in order to provide snacks for families visiting patients at the Northfield Hospital over the holidays.  She worked to bless hospital visitors with allergen-free snacks to let each family know this community cares for them.

Healthy Cooking for Middle School Students
Middle school students have organized a regular, weekly cooking session through the Middle School Youth Center at the Northfield Middle School.  They research, plan, and share simple but healthy recipes that students make during each cooking session.  Their goal is for all cooking session participants to take the healthy recipes home and cook them again for their families.

Unusual Animals Club
Middle school student, Annie Ponder, plans to start a club for owners of unusual animals.  There will be monthly meetings and an annual unusual pet show to display and teach about animals.  She hopes this group might go on to take their pets to area retirement centers, preschools/daycare centers, and community events such as “Books & Stars.”

Celebrate Success!
The TORCH (Tackling Obstacles and Raising College Hopes) program at the Northfield Middle School is planning a celebratory gathering for all middle school TORCH students who make the honor roll (earn a 2.6 GPA or greater) at the end of each of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters.  Each event would be held at the Northfield Middle School where qualifying TORCH students will enjoy a pizza party and possibly a movie.

Contra Dances for Area High School Students
Arlo Cristofaro-Hark, an Arcadia high school student, would like to share his enthusiasm for contra dancing (a type of folk dance).  In February, Arlo and the Northfield Contra Dance Association will hold two contra dance nights for area high school youth.  These dances will include lessons and will be “called” by a professional caller (much like a square dance has a caller).  The hope is to encourage students to then attend the larger community Contra dances that take place in Northfield.

Young Northfield Chefs

    
Carleton College student, Vayu Maini Rekdal and his Carleton cooking club, “Firebellies,” have  designed a five-step cooking workshop series. Through specific themes, such as seasonality or cuisines of the world, participants will be immersed in a productive learning environment that integrates all aspects of food – cultural, social, health, education, and sustainability – into a hands-on cooking class series.  This series of cooking workshops is geared toward middle school students and will take place during January, February, and March.

HCI partners with WINGS

to support Northfield High School

service learning class projects, Fall 2012

Ornaments for Hope
Students sold candy canes, candy grams, and ornaments at the Northfield High School, with all proceeds going to the Community Action Center (CAC).  These students also worked with students and staff at Bridgewater Elementary School where participating classes made holiday ornaments.  Each elementary student made two ornaments.  One ornament was made to take home; the second was sold at Riverwalk Market Fair and at the Northfield High School, with all proceeds going to  the CAC.

Teen Obesity Awareness
Students worked to increase awareness among Northfield youth about the problem and dangers of youth obesity.  This group provided high school students with information on a la carte items in the school cafeteria and surveyed students on their ideas of nutrition and their BMI.  The goal of this group was to encourage other students to eat better and be healthier.

November

Cyber-Bullying Presentation
On November 8th, the Northfield Middle School hosted a cyber-bullying presentation for the 6th grade class.  A specialist in this field spoke to students about appropriate internet, Facebook, and cell phone texting use.  The Middle School hoped to make students aware of the types of bullying techniques used in the cyber world and the potential consequences of cyber-bullying.

Reasons to Write Pen Pal Program
Senior citizen volunteers and students at Sibley Elementary School will share letters for eight weeks this fall and for another eight weeks in the spring.  At the conclusion of each session, Common Good RSVP (Retired & Senior Volunteer Program) will host a party giving students and senior volunteers an opportunity to meet their pen pals.

October

Riverland Career Fair

The TORCH (Tackling Obastacles Raising College Hopes) Program plans to take student of the Northfield High School 9th Grade Academy to a career fair at Riverland Community College.  At this career fair, each student will attend three seminars with professionals in the field to learn about specific careers and the paths to those careers.  Students are able to select seminars from a list of over 40 options.

Library Lego and Origami Clubs
The Northfield Public Library plans to initiate some creative afternoon (after-school) programming.  The library will start a Lego Club to meet once weekly, and likewise start an Origami Club to meet once each week.  Each club would be open to area youth.  For more information about joining either of these clubs, please contact the Northfield Library at (507) 645-6606.

September

Remarkable Reptiles
The Northfield Library has planned out-of-school programming for youth ages 6 to 18 during MEA break  October 18th and 19th.  One of those events is a reptile show.  The library has contracted with expert Jim Gerholdt to hold an informational program on reptiles and amphibians.    This event is open to the public.  Funds granted will be used for the cost of the reptile show.

NRC Autumn Youth Volunteer Event

 
Area youth are invited to attend this volunteer event, where participants will help with fall bulb planting and grounds clean-up.  The Northfield Retirement Community (NRC) staff will explain and encourage public use of its outdoor “LifeTrail” and all trail exercise stations.  Youth from Bethel Lutheran Church, who frequently volunteer at NRC, will assist with the planning and implementation of the event.  This is a service event that will include education and recreation for participating youth.   Participants will be provided bulbs for planting at home.  This event is scheduled for Saturday, October 6th.

Farm Bike Tour 

  
Area college students have planned a community bike tour of seven local farms.  This event is scheduled for Saturday, September 29.  There will be interactive, educational, and kid-friendly activities at each farm.  After the bike tour, there will be a festival at SEEDS Farm, just south of Northfield.  The festival will be free, open to the public, for all ages, and will offer free food, live music, and more activities from sponsors.  Donations will be collected to help Dayna Burtness of Laughing Loon Farm, a local farmer who was affected by severe flooding earlier this year.  More information.

Grand Buddies
Sibley Elementary teacher, Becki Haar, plans to take her 28 fourth graders to visit the Bluebird and Cardinal wings of the Northfield Retirement Center (NRC) each month throughout the school year.  The relationship between the residents and elementary-aged students began 10 years ago.  Each year, students learn about the elderly and their needs through literature and discussion.  Each month, the fourth graders will sing to and visit with NRC residents, and the students will decorate parts of the NRC with seasonal decorations.

Lace for the Cure

                 The Northfield High School Girl’s Soccer team has planned this project as a fundraiser for breast cancer research.  The team plans to gather donations, sell cupcakes, hold a raffle at a football game, encourage people to attend the soccer Lace for a Cure game, and coordinate with homecoming activities to hold a Lace for the Cure-sponsored dance at the high school 0n Saturday, October 6th.