Students Jasmine Barksdale, Olivia Upham and Jon Fried are surprised with the Making a Difference Award at the December benefit concert. Not pictured is Gabby Frenstad. Photo by Helen Forsythe.

Four teenagers who organized a benefit concert for a family who lost their home in a fire are the December 2011/January 2012 recipients of the Healthy Community Initiative’s  “Making a Difference” Award.  The award celebrates those groups and individuals in the community who have a positive influence on Northfield youth.

Within hours of learning of the Thanksgiving Eve fire that destroyed the home of the Haslett-Marroquin family, ARTech students Gabby Frenstad and Olivia Upham and Northfield High School students Jasmine Barksdale and Jon Fried rallied support for the family through a Facebook page and organized a concert and bake sale.  Their efforts have raised more than $6,500.

“I was incredibly surprised by how amazing the response was,” said Fried.  “Right from when we started organizing, we knew there would be a lot of people involved, and we knew that the event would probably have a good turnout, but it wasn’t until we got a call from the Star Tribune the evening of concert that the impact of what we were doing really hit me.”

Barksdale said her favorite memory of the concert was seeing all the people streaming in through the doors, after worrying that no one would show up.  “I definitely did not expect that many people to be willing to devote their time and money to people who they didn’t really know.  I think it says a lot about the community we live in,” she said.

“What these young people did for our family and for this community’s spirit after our house fire is beyond what we had imagined,” said Reginaldo and Amy Haslett-Marroquin.  “Together with the immense generosity and accompaniment from so many others, they have made our journey bearable and manageable.  The English language does not have a word that would properly express the depth of our gratitude.  What the youth gifted us with was so much more than funds – it was hope, and with hope anything is possible.”

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

Article written by Joy Riggs, HCI Board member and freelance writer

•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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Funded HCI mini-grant projects:

• allow Northfield young people to develop positive intergenerational relationships with caring adults and/or
• connect Northfield youth with their communities (ex. neighborhood, school, greater Northfield)

A record number of projects — nearly 70% — were designed and/or implemented by youth themselves.

HCI wishes to offer special thanks to the 2010-11 funders of the mini-grants program, including:

• Northfield Area United Way
• Women In Northfield Giving Support
• Carlson Capital Management

HCI is currently accepting applications for its 2011-12 mini-grants.  These are reviewed monthly by the HCI Board.  For more information, visit the HCI mini-grants webpage.

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!

•The Northfield Middle School “TEAM UP” (Teaching English Language Learners Action Model to Unite Professionals) group for The Big Good Event.  The TEAM UP teachers are planning a family service night at the middle school where teachers, parents, and students work side by side to give back to the community.  This event is scheduled for Thursday, February 2, 2012, at the Northfield Middle School.  Service projects planned for this event include making table decorations for Thursday’s Table (which is hosted by the Community Action Center of Northfield), making polar fleece blankets and dog food packages for the local human society, creating greeting cards for Meals on Wheels, and more!

•Courage Retreat at the Northfield Middle School.  This day-long event teaches 7th graders about resistance to negative peer pressure and emphasizes acceptance among all students.

•The Northfield Robotics Club for FIRST Robotics.  Students in the Northfield Robotics Club are gearing up for their second year of competition.  This group meets weekly, after school.  Robot building will begin in January with a competition in early spring.  Many students have been referred to this group through the Sparks initiative.

•Riverwalk Market Fair for Youth (Artists’ Market and Farmers’ Market).  Riverwalk Market Fair is establishing a tent just for youth!  Riverwalk Market Fair encourages area youth to sell any art or homemade or homegrown goods they have created.  Riverwalk recognizes that area youth might not be able to afford upfront costs or be able to commit to a weekly weekend sales schedule that the Riverwalk typically requires.  Therefore, area youth will now be able to sign up for a date to sell their products from the youth tent.

•Blanket Making for Police and Fire Departments.  The Developmental Cognitive Delay/Low Incidence (DCD/LI) class at the Northfield Middle School plans to incorporate a service project into the class curriculum.  The class will make blankets to distribute at emergency situations when children are present (example: scene of an accident or fire).  Blankets will be given to the Police and Fire Departments for distribution, as needed.

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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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!

“In a nation where 7,000 students drop out of high school every day, we hope Northfield’s initiatives inspire other communities across the nation to take action to solve the challenges facing their young people,” said Marguerite W. Kondracke, America’s Promise Alliance president and CEO.  “Northfield is especially deserving of this recognition due to their efforts to ensure that their young people graduate high school and go on to lead healthy, productive lives. Northfield refuses to let the challenges they face determine the future for their young people. Instead, they are helping their youth prosper and become contributing members of society.”

The Northfield application was organized and written by high school juniors and seniors in the Mayor’s Youth Council (MYC).  The MYC is a City Council-appointed commission charged with assuring a youth voice in community decision-making.

This year, more than 300 communities from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico were nominated for the 100 Best distinction.  Winners were chosen by a distinguished panel of 20 judges that included: Marc Morial, president and CEO, National Urban League, Roxanne Spillett, president and CEO, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and Michelle Shearer, Chemistry Teacher, Urbana High School, 2011 National Teacher of the Year.

As a “100 Best” winner, Northfield will receive a $2,500 grant, signage identifying the community as one of the nation’s 100 Best Communities for Young People, and access to America’s Promise Alliance’s community development resources.

Congratulations — and thank you –  to everyone who works to help make Northfield a great place for local youth!

The response was fantastic, with many creative youth taking up the challenge. Ten finalists have been selected!  Now the cyberbullying video PSA contest needs your vote!   

We have posted the 10 finalists here. Vote for your favorite by September 30.  The top vote getter will receive one of the $200 prizes!

Share the link. Watch the videos. Cast your vote!