Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
MARY TRCKA, center, a para-professional with Ironwood Area Schools, sits with students during a break in the action. Seated counter clockwise from Trcka are Lyle Somero and with the backs to the camera are Mason Recla, Seth Freeman and Austin Trier. The students are all in ninth grade and took the survey as eight grade students.
By IAN MINIELLY
Ironwood - Karen Wolf, an associate with the Great Lakes Center for Youth Development, hosted a Youth Asset Summit at Gogebic Community College Wednesday.
High school students in grades 9-12 descended on GCC from Luther L. Wright, A.D .Johnston in Bessemer, Ewen-Trout Creek, Ontonagon, the Ironwood Alternative School, and the local 4-H club to hear the results of a survey taken last spring.
The students, upon arrival, were differentiated by stickers and formed into small groups based on possession of identical stickers, allowing kids from the different schools to mix and bond without the requirement they do it themselves.
Wolf and her associate, Becky Nord, developed the plan to create small groups without existing bonds so the kids could brainstorm and develop their own voices as a group for idea development and plan implementation.
"The older you get, it seems the more immature you allow yourself to be," Josh Hemming, a student at the Alternative School in Ironwood said.
Hemming provided the insight regarding how when young, kids all get along and go to each others' birthday parties, for example. As they get older and rise through school, those expansive relationships disappear and become replaced with smaller circles of friends, often tailored to clubs, sports and similar likes that create division between kids, where none existed prior.
Wolf said kids are not alone, "Adults may need reminders about how everyone is unique, too," as she relaying the story about childbirth and how people come together around the birth of a child and often say it is a miracle.
Wolf reminded the kids the miracle does not end with birth, it continues throughout life, as every person is unique and adults often forget this, especially as they interact with children and their perspective on the world.
The youth summit is the opportunity for children to hear their voices among the voices of their peers and then make plans to tackle issues.
Common themes students discussed as troublesome and worth attacking at their respective schools were "bullying, drug use, and the poor quality of school lunches," said Seth Freeman, a ninth grade student at Ironwood who was echoed by students from the other schools.
The students spent the morning communicating and developing action plans to take back to their schools and implement in an effort to modify and improve the culture within their respective student bodies. Next year, the students plan to return and provide feedback regarding how well their plans took root and any successes or failures.
For Crystal Suzik, Gogebic Parent Liaison for the Gogebic-Ontonagon Intermediate School District, hearing the results and action plans "gives kids the chance to voice their opinions, while also enabling teachers to gain greater insight into the problems and issues children face so the teachers can work on their end to make school a more inviting and enjoyable place."
Erin Ross, from the Michigan State University Extension, said there is a real chance for change beyond what the kids elect to work on. "Adults can choose to address those things the kids do not address." In this way, more of the surveyed results are addressed through a multi-pronged effort by kids and adults.
If parents, local citizens, or school district officials are interested in the survey results, they are accessible at glcyd.org.
