by Terry L. Besser
Assistant Professor and Extension Sociologist
Iowa State University
Few things bring a community together as much as the spirit and camaraderie experienced when one of their high school teams wins state acclaim. Well, maybe, responding to a disaster rallies more community spirit, but high school competitions are less costly, more controllable and definitely more enjoyable. Beyond this contribution, schools and youth are generally ignored in community development strategies. This is a mistake.
Involving young people provides them with a fantastic educational opportunity. Through tackling real life community problems they learn problem solving and decision making. They learn how to work cooperatively in a team, how to integrate and apply the various subjects they study in school, while at the same time gaining an appreciation for the other age groups in the community.
The community gains the creativity and energy of young people directed toward projects that are beneficial to all. Also, youth involvement in the community engenders in them an appreciation for community and as a result, encourages them to continue their involvement as adults.
A U.S. Department of Education publication entitled 'The Condition of Education in Rural Schools" gives examples of how rural communities across the country link with their schools for youth involvement and community betterment. One technique for accomplishing this is for schools to use the community as a curricular and instructional resource. Students in history classes studying the depression, World War II or women's suffrage interview local citizens who lived through these events to gain an understanding of how the events were experienced in day-to-day life.
Members of the community from different ethnic groups or countries are asked to help students make a display on that culture, help students learn the language, etc. People with special experiences or skills (e.g., gardening, model plane construction, quilting, music, genealogy, kayaking, investing) give classroom presentations or instruct students in a club format. These events are sometimes open to all members of the community and offered at night with special incentives provided to young people to encourage their attendance.
In some communities students have developed an oral history of the area as a school project. A study of local demographic data could be part of a math, statistics or social studies class. Students in biology classes could conduct environmental studies of the local area The findings of students' oral history, demographic and environmental studies can be presented to the town council and to the whole community via a town meeting or articles in the local newspaper.
Another method of involving youth in local concerns is through school business endeavors. A project promoting school based businesses caned REAL Enterprises (Rural Education through Action Learning), was developed by Sher and Paul DeLargy at the University of Georgia So far the idea has been adapted in 36 schools in the Carolinas and Georgia. REAL enterprises include a day care center, a feeder hog operation, an ice cream parlor, a graphic arts service, a shoe repair shop and a miniature golf business Some schools have developed businesses without the inspiration of REAL. An arrangement between a high school and the state game commission spawned a trout farming enterprise which gives students hands on biology, bookkeeping, office management, and metals classes; and several new jobs for community residents In another instance, students in Rothsay, Minn., a town of 500, opened a grocery and a hardware store after those stores closed in town.
Closer to home, the Jefferson, Iowa, high school owns and operates Ram Restaurant. This is not school cafeteria food served with white linen tablecloths and napkins. Rather the menu items are student inspired, planned, prepared and sewed. The restaurant is open for lunch during the school year by reservation only. It is not their intention to compete with local restaurants.
Ram Restaurant provides all the benefits for students mentioned previously, but in addition it brings to school some community residents who normally don't attend school events, and who don't usually interact with teenagers. Many patrons are senior citizens who leave with a more positive impression of teenagers and a better attitude toward the school in general. Reaching out to an segments of the community, as the students of Jefferson are attempting to do, is critically important in these times when community support for education cannot be taken for granted.
The contribution of youth to community betterment has the potential to be far greater than their participation in high school athletic events. The kind of involvement discussed here win have a more lasting impact on the community than will a trophy adorning a display case.
The future of small towns looks bleak indeed, if we are not able to capture the enthusiasm and commitment of young people to the cause of community preservation. Communities must be prepared to celebrate and reward young people for their community involvement in the same way that they reward athletic excellence.
Contacts:
Terry L. Besser, ISU
Extension Sociology, (515) 294-6508
Del Marks, ISU Extension
Communication Systems, (515) 294-9807
