The following Sunday, February 5, 2012, St. John’s Forum will include a panel presentation at 9:45 a.m. in St. John’s Hall.   Greg Kneser, Dean of Students at St. Olaf College; Joel Leer, Principal at Northfield High School; John Sand, Athletic Trainer and Health Educator at Northfield High School; and Joan Janusz, Member of the Northfield Mayor’s Task Force on Youth Alcohol & Drug Use, will be the panelists discussing addiction and substance use in Northfield.

The events are free and all are welcome to attend.  St. John’s Church is located at 500 3rd Street West in Northfield.

For more information, please call Barb Knaak at 507-664-0444.

•The Northfield High School for the 10th Grade Career Fair.  The high school will host a career fair for all 10th grade students, giving them an opportunity to explore career interests and make connections with adult community members.  At the career fair, community members will speak to students about their careers and answer any questions that the students may have.  Juniors and seniors from the high school will be involved with the planning and implementation of the career fair.  The event follows a “Career Opportunities” lesson taught in all 10th grade classrooms.

•Northfield Area Learning Center students for the BWCAW Experience.  A group of students at the Northfield Area Learning Center (ALC) is planning a trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.  They are working to raise the money needed to outfit themselves and two chaperones for the experience, which is planned for mid-June.  The trip offers outdoor experiences for youth who have never had them before and provides a place to talk about the life choices and challenges each student faces.

•Northfield Middle School TORCH for Celebrate Success.  The middle school TORCH (Tackling Obstacles and Raising College Hopes) program 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 a movie.  Middle school administrators will be invited to these events.

•Vayu Maini Rekdal, freshman at Carleton College.  Rekdal and fellow members of the Carleton cooking club, FireBellies, will be giving cooking lessons to students of the Northfield Middle School Youth Center.  Carleton students will teach basic cooking skills, sustainability, and nutrition, while promoting an understanding of different cultures and cuisines.

•Jennifer Lompart, teacher at Northfield High School.  Ms. Lompart will host a celebratory gathering for all English as Second Language (ESL) students who have achieved good grades in all of their classes at the end of each of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters.  At each event, students and their parents will gather to eat, visit, and watch a movie.

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HCI offers mini-grants to projects and activities that:

• provide the opportunity for young people to develop positive intergenerational relationships with caring adults and/or
• connect Northfield youth with their communities (ex. neighborhood, school, wider Northfield)

Applications are reviewed monthly and are due by the second Monday of the month.  Visit www.northfieldhci.org/mini-grants for more information and to access the easy-to-complete application.

Funding for the HCI mini-grants comes from the Northfield Area United Way, Women In Northfield Giving Support (WINGS), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

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With this funding, the MYC is making grants available to groups to help promote graduation and increase our local graduation rates.

A total of $2,000 is available for Northfield projects.  The application is designed to be short and easy to complete.  It can be found HERE.

Applications are due by Friday, January 27, 2012.

Questions?  Call 664-3524 or email nfldmayorsyouthcouncil@gmail.com

Bullying prevention was a major theme that the students wanted to address with this year’s projects.  Funded projects included:

• Bullying Prevention.  Ashleigh Cimino, Leah Grisim, and Mathilde Mortensen have designed a project to help prevent bullying at Greenvale Park Elementary School.  This group plans to engage the elementary students through activities and art projects to promote respectful behavior among students.

• 5th Grade Self-Esteem Building & Bullying Awareness.  This project, designed by Annie Pumper, Karrah Nelson, Alissa Busssard, and Jillian King, will take place at Bridgewater Elementary School.  The group will discuss bullying awareness and prevention, as well as promoting self-esteem, with Bridgewater 5th graders.

• Bullying Awareness in the Middle School.  Designed by Rachel Marosi, Amber Brezina, Cassidy Hanzlik, Elia Read, Tasha Wang, Oliver Swanson, and Katie Moors, this project focuses on bullying awareness through activities with Northfield Middle School students.

• Kayla Amy, Katie Stadler, Adam Akida, and Jessica Holmes for Animal Cruelty Prevention.  This group of students is raising funds for a local foster-based animal rescue center, while also creating local awareness about animal abuse and neglect.

• Jen Route, Jami DeRop, and Anna Huber for the Adult Bullying project.  These students will promote good sportsmanship among parents and adults through efforts at high school sporting events.

• Human Trafficking Campaign.  Designed by Mitzi Calvario, Juan Carlos Hernandez, Leslie Nieves, and Olivia Woods, this is a project to create awareness about the issue of human trafficking and slavery.  The students are also planning a fundraiser to benefit a Minnesota-based organization that aids victims of human trafficking.

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This marks the second year of collaboration between HCI and WINGS in supporting Northfield High School service learning students in the design of projects.  Funding from WINGS is matched by HCI to help provide seed money for the students to turn their class project ideas into reality.

Community members are invited to attend an open house hosted by the service learning students on Wednesday, January 11, 2012, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the Northfield High School lower cafeteria.  Come and learn about the students’ projects and have the chance to ask them questions.  The event is free and open to the public.

For more information on HCI’s mini-grants program, please visit www.northfieldhci.org/mini-grants .

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Now through December 10, please visit Verizon Wireless World (400 W. 5th Street – next to Caribou Coffee).  All proceeds (100% of retail value) from accessory sales during these three days will be donated to HCI.  100%!  Thus, if you buy a $20 cell phone cover, HCI will receive all $20!

This is a great chance to do your holiday shopping and benefit a local nonprofit at the same time.

For an informational flyer from Verizon Wireless World, click HERE.

Don’t forget to visit Verizon Wireless World from now through Saturday, December 10, 2011!

The Mayor’s Youth Council is sponsoring a winter clothing drive to help increase donations of winter wear to the Clothes Closet.

Here is how local teens can help:

• High school students are encouraged to drop off their donations before school or during lunch at Northfield High School any day this week (December 5-9).
• Middle school students are encouraged to bring their donations to the Northfield Middle School before school next Tuesday or Wednesday (December 13 & 14).

Any student bringing a donation will be entered into a drawing to win a Target gift card.  More than that, however, you have the chance to help assure that everyone can stay warm this winter season.

For more information, check out the article HERE in Saturday’s Northfield News about the clothing drive!

On December 8, 9, and 10, please visit Verizon Wireless World (400 W. 5th Street – next to Caribou Coffee).  All proceeds (100% of retail value) from accessory sales during these three days will be donated to HCI.  100%!  Thus, if you buy a $20 cell phone cover, HCI will receive all $20!

This is a great chance to do your holiday shopping and benefit a local nonprofit at the same time.

For an informational flyer from Verizon Wireless World, click HERE.

Don’t forget to visit Verizon Wireless World from Thursday, December 8 through Saturday, December 10, 2011!

To RSVP for the Northfield training (where space is limited), please contact Heather Kuehl (hkuehl@ricecountychc.com OR 507-403-9696) by Friday, November 11.  No RSVP is necessary for the Faribault training.

The training will be led by Jay Jaffee, the Minnesota Department of Health’s Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Prevention Coordinator.

For an informational flyer on the training, please click HERE.  Continuing education credits are available.

High school students in the Mayor’s Youth Council (MYC) recognized that while there has been considerable community discussion about the levy, the voice and opinions of local youth have been largely absent from the conversation.  In the end, they noted, the outcome of the levy vote will have a significant impact on local young people.

The MYC is charged by the Northfield City Council with working to increase youth input into civic affairs.  As a result, the MYC educated themselves on the upcoming levy and spoke with high school students about the vote.  The MYC members did not advocate for one side, but instead only provided information about the levy costs and impact.

Last Friday, the MYC hosted a youth vote during the lunch periods at Northfield High School.  Nearly one-third of the student body voted.  Final results revealed that over 85% of the high school students supported both the operating and capital projects levies.

Congratulations to the high school students in the Mayor’s Youth Council for their leadership on this project and for their work to increase youth voice in this important community decision!

The training will be led by Jay Jaffee, the Minnesota Department of Health’s Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Prevention Coordinator.

To RSVP for the Northfield training (where space is limited), please contact Heather Kuehl (hkuehl@ricecountychc.com OR 507-403-9696) by Friday, November 11.  No RSVP is necessary for the Faribault training.

For an informational flyer on the training, please click HERE.  Continuing education credits are available.