HCI Blog

Northfield Union of Youth seeks Executive Director

In case you missed it on the Northfield Union of Youth’s website:

Northfield Union of Youth
@ The Key

The Northfield Union of Youth/The Key is a nonprofit organization- for youth and by youth. All ideas for programs, projects and events are all generated by the youth. The mission of the Northfield Union of Youth is to provide power and voice to area youth and create a caring community. This is a unique organization where youth plan programs/events and govern, while caring adults involved in the organization listen and help guide.

Position Title: Executive Director
Full-time position

Responsibilities include:

  • Organization administration: responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Northfield Union of Youth and the organization’s youth center, the Key.
  • Program administration: assist staff and youth with existing and developing new after school programs; duties include recruiting volunteers, meeting with program leaders, and designing and tracking program budgets.
  • Tracking and reporting information on activities, finances, program progress and attendance to grantors and key staff.
  • Manage staff: train, schedule, delegate and monitor all staff and their responsibilities.
  • Write grants and help lead fundraising efforts.
  • Assist youth in developing strategic plans and implementations according to youth board governance and mission of the organization.
  • Community liaison: develop and maintain relationships with new and existing community partners to develop positive, supportive and mutually beneficial connections and activities.

Desired Qualifications:

  • Experience with youth ages 12-19.
  • 2-3 years of relevant non-profit experience.
  • Associates or Bachelors Degree
  • Excellent communication skills, able to speak and write well.
  • Highly organized, able to schedule appointments and manage office in chaotic atmosphere.
  • Knowledge of Northfield community
  • Fundraising and grant writing experience a plus

Salary: Mid $30,000’s range

Please send cover letter and resume to:
The Northfield Union of Youth
Attn: Hiring Committee
PO Box 481
Northfield, MN 55057

HCI invites board nominations

The Northfield Healthy Community Initiative (HCI) is currently seeking nominations for a position on the HCI board.  HCI expects to have at least one open board position beginning in September 2009. HCI board members serve three-year terms.

In addition, the HCI board will have at least 3 additional board openings for local middle or high school students.

The HCI board meets from 7:30-9:00 a.m. on the third Wednesday of every month.

For more information on the HCI board or to nominate yourself or someone else for the board, please contact Jim Blaha (HCI Board member) at 664-3550 or blaha.jim@northfieldcac.org. 

Nominations should be received by Friday, July 10, 2009.


Mayor’s Youth Council graduates recognized by Northfield City Council

Graduating members of the Mayor’s Youth Council were recognized at Monday myc-seniors-2009night’s Northfield City Council meeting.  These fantastic youth have served on the Mayor’s Youth Council for two years.

The graduating members are on to new and very exciting endeavors:

  • One is headed to the Coast Guard Academy.
  • Three will head to other colleges — the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Carleton College and Rochester Community and Technical College.
  • One is deferring college for a year to pursue a professional snowboarding career in Colorado — he recently received a snowboarding sponsorship!
  • Three will be spending the year in a foreign country through the Rotary International Exchange (in Lithuania, Brazil, and South Africa).

The graduating members include Ruth Amerman, Daniella Espinoza, Chris Frost, Adrian Lazaro, Sam Ruby, Hattie Ryan, Andrew Tiano, and Amber Woitalla.

These young adults have been outstanding community leaders and will be greatly missed!  Best of luck in these exciting next steps!

Youth Serve America awards Northfield youth “Global Youth Service Day” grants

The article below was submitted by Alyssa Jilek, AmeriCorps Promise Fellow at Northfield High School.  Many thanks to Northfield’s outstanding Promise  Fellows — Alyssa Jilek, Jason Hallen, and  Kevin Krein — for their work with these projects.  The Promise Fellow positions are supported by the Minnesota Alliance With Youth.

Youth plant trees by Northfield Middle School tennis courts as part of Global Youth Service Day activities.

Youth plant trees by Northfield Middle School tennis courts as part of Global Youth Service Day activities.

On Tuesday, May 19, 2009, 15 youth from the Northfield Middle School, Northfield High School, and the Northfield Union of Youth came together with the guidance of the Northfield Public Schools Buildings and Grounds staff to plant 20 trees around the Middle School tennis courts.  The tree planting was the conclusion of a four month-long semester of service, made possible by grants from State Farm Insurance - Youth Serve America (YSA).

In January 2009, Northfield youth received $2,000 from State Farm YSA to implement a semester of service in recognition of Global Youth Service Day.  Northfield’s theme was environmental awareness and responsibility.  The semester of service ran from January-May 2009.

Projects kicked off on Dr.  Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday, with a field trip to the Rice County Recycling Facility, followed by a Waste Reduction and Education seminar.  Speakers Paul Pieper (Solid Waste Coordinator for Rice County Waste Management) and Elain Loranz and Laura Ritenour of River Bend Nature Center educated students and community members about responsible consumerism.

In the following months, students implemented service projects at various sites.  The Northfield Union of Youth designed and organized a community bike program, offering community members bikes to “rent” for free.  At the Northfield High School, students formed an environmental club and sponsored “Green Week,” leading activities and contests that promote environmental awareness.  Northfield Middle School students came together to help restore Hauberg Woods, pulling buckthorn and learning about invasive plant species.

Conversation Group for Parents Dealing with a Child’s Substance Use Issues

The Provider Team of the Rice County Chemical Health Coalition sponsors a monthly opportunity for parents dealing with a son or daughter’s substance abuse to meet and talk with other parents.  The group offers both education and support.  It meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m.  Thus, the next meeting will be on Tuesday, June 2, 2009, at 7:30 p.m.

The group meets at the Omada Behavioral Health offices.  Omada is located at 401 S. Division Street in Northfield (Central Block Building - 2nd Floor, above the Rare Pair).  Enter on the back side of the  building.

All parents are welcome. There is no cost and no need to register.

If you have questions, please call one of the following:

  • Yvette Marthaler (507-332-6115)
  • Sarah Shippy (507-664-9407)
  • Kathy Sandberg (507-333-6813)

In case you missed it in Saturday’s Northfield News…

In case you missed it in Saturday’s edition of the Northfield News, please consider taking a minute to read Managing Editor Suzy Rook’s column, I don’t know any “bad kids”.

This insightful column gently encourages us all to reflect on how we interact with and treat youth in our community.

Kudos to Suzy and the Northfield News for publishing this important column…

Charles Reznikoff, M.D. is May Making A Difference Recipient

Charles Reznikoff, M.D. is the May recipient of the Northfield Healthy Community Initiative (HCI) Making a Difference award. The award celebrates those groups and individuals in the community who have a positive influence on Northfield youth.

Dr. Reznikoff is an Addiction Medicine Specialist at Northfield Hospital. He began seeing patients with opiate addiction in Northfield last fall. Since joining the staff at Northfield Hospital, he has enthusiastically shared his knowledge and expertise involving opiate addiction and interventions to many groups in the community. Most recently, he led a drug awareness presentation for seventh and eighth grade students at Northfield Middle School. He has also given staff in-service presentations to ArTech and the Northfield School District.

“He did a great job connecting with the students with a perfect balance of importance and humor,” commented Jennifer Streefland, NMS Guidance Counselor.

HCI and the Northfield News present the Making a Difference Award cooperatively. If you would like to nominate and individual or group for this award, visit www.northfieldhci.org for guidelines and an easy-to-complete application. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis and are selected by a review team of HCI board members and local youth.

PRIMEtime year-end celebration is a big hit!

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Over 300 people attended the end-of-the-year PRIMEtime dinner and celebration on Wednesday at Bridgewater School.  The party was for youth participants in the elementary PLUS program and the Middle School Youth Center, as well as their families.   Volunteers from the Northfield Union of Youth/The Key and the Tackling Obstacles and Raising College Hopes (TORCH) program painted faces and led fun games for the young attendees.  The amazingly talented youth from the local Aztec dancing troupe also performed.

The celebration was a fantastic way to cap off a great year of after school programming in Northfield!  This school year, over 1,000 Northfield youth have participated in one of the after school programs in the PRIMEtime collaborative.  PRIMEtime programming has been made possible by an “After School Community Learning Program” grant from the Minnesota Department of Education.

PLUS program administrators and staff served dinner to the youth and their families.

PLUS program administrators and staff served dinner to the youth and their families.

Partners in the PRIMEtime collaborative include the Key, the Middle School Youth Center, the PLUS program (at Bridgewater, Greenvale Park, and Sibley Elementary Schools), Reaching Our Goals, TORCH, the AmeriCorps Promise Fellow Program, the Connected Kids Mentoring Program, Project Friendship, and the Northfield Healthy Community Initiative.

Youth assist with downtown flower planting

Members of the Mayor’s Youth Council and other local young people assisted the Northfield in Bloom committee with planting flowers along the pedestrian bridge in downtown Northfield on Thursday evening.    This marked the second  year that local youth aided in this effort to beautify the community.  Check out a few of the pictures below…

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Two full-time positions working with Northfield youth for 2009-10 school year

We are pleased to announce that there are two exciting full-time position openings working with Northfield youth for the 2009-10 school year.  These AmeriCorps Promise Fellow positions are made possible through a collaboration with the Minnesota Alliance With Youth.

One of the positions works with youth at the Northfield High School and one works with young people at the Northfield Union of Youth/The Key.

Application review for both positions begins on June 5, 2009.   Both Promise Fellows will start work on or around August 15, 2009.

Click here for the Northfield High School Promise Fellow position description.

Click here for the Northfield Union of Youth Promise Fellow position description.

If you have  any questions, do not hesitate to call the contacts listed on the descriptions or HCI (507-664-3524).