Community Wide Meeting

Our next community wide meeting for youth leaders and caring adults will be:

Tuesday, July 13th
7 pm
Kirkwood Community Center

Agenda - feedback about our new mission and vision statements; goals and directions for our initiative; sharing/celebrating the positive steps that have taken place over the last year.

Vision and Mission Statements Established

The Vision of KAB: The vision of KAB: to see all young people thrive by empowering our entire community to enrich their lives through shared opportunities and nurturing relationships.

The Mission of KAB: T.E.E.N. - Thrive Empower Enrich Nurture

Next leadership meeting May 11th, 7 pm in the KPD conference room.

Recent Updates

Here are some recent updates concerning Asset Builders throughout Kirkwood.

• Positive Tickets – Good News! A few tickets were given out and a few young people did get their free sodas. Better News! Chief Plummer is 100% behind this effort and wants us to continue to develop this project. He acknowledged that officers might be a little slow in getting it into their routine, but, most importantly, he is behind the effort and will work to make sure it becomes a reality.
  

• Youth Summit – among the other positive ideas about how to proceed as a group is to host a YOUTH SUMMIT. Based on some other input, we feel this could be valuable to our community and youth as well as a great symbol of our united work. One suggestion is late January or February 2011. This gives us plenty of time to be creative and build enthusiasm.
  

• Tutors Needed – The tutoring the program at Turner School that serves Robinson and North Glendale Elementary schools began tutoring on October 14th. But they need more tutors for Wednesdays. The basic schedule 3:45 pm until 5:15 pm and each tutor is typically assigned to one student. They are looking for 10 tutors for this school year. If you would be able to help with this very important and rewarding project, please contact Barbara Swalina, a teacher at North Glendale, by e-mail at barbara.swalina@kirkwoodschools.org or by phone at school 213-6100x3217.

• Leadership – If you are interested in having more input in the development of Kirkwood Asset Builders, please let me know. We value your ideas, input, perspective, insights, and passion for developing healthy youth in Kirkwood.

• Youth in Action – help YIA provide a WISH for a young girl Natalie who has a heart defect. Through the Make A Wish foundation, YIA is trying to help Natalie get her wish of going to Disneyworld. You or your group could help with a fundraiser. For more information, contact Keith Rawlings. http://www.youthinactionstl.com/upcoming_events
  

• Parent Academy – The CFUH is hosting this event to help parents know how to "navigate" the school system. The Parent Academy will be October 17, 2009 – 9:00 am to 11:00 am at the Oak Bend Branch of the County Library behind QT.
  

• “SMOKING BAN” Community Forum – taking no stance other than to facilitate dialogue on the issue with representatives from both positions, the CFUH is sponsoring a forum on the upcoming ban which will be on the November ballot. With a great Asset Building idea, Dennis Roach is hoping to enlist a group of youth to critically evaluate the event and determine how well leaders and participants did in having a successful ‘dialogue.’ The forum will take place October 21, 2009 from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm at the Reim (Stages) Theater (Kirkwood Community Center/Geyer Road.)
  

• KIDDO-PALOOZA – through the partnership of a few Asset Building groups in Kirkwood (the Library, YMCA, Parents as Teachers, and Kirkwood Baptist), we hosted a festival for children last Saturday on the grounds of the YMCA and Walker Park. It was a huge success as more than 1,000 people enjoyed games, activities, free food, and entertainment. More info at www.handsonkirkwood.blogspot.com
  

Boys to Men

Check out this great opportunity for education and conversation at the Missouri History Museum.

Defining Manhood: Boys Will Be Men

Wednesday, September 30

6 p.m.

AT&T Multipurpose Room

FREE. Call 314-361-8059 to reserve tables for youth groups of 20 or more.

Boys are in trouble. The spate of school shootings in 1998 and 1999 amplified a warning being sounded by social scientists. How do boys become men? How do they learn courage, the difference between right and wrong, and the meaning of love? What hurts them, makes them violent, and sometimes kills them? Boys Will Be Men, a documentary about growing up male in America, seeks answers to these questions. Mentors will lead roundtable discussions after viewing this compelling documentary. Refreshments will be provided. Teenagers are encouraged to attend.

Positive Tickets are a go for Greentree

Great news!!! With the help of Chief Plummer we were able to finalize the plans for Kirkwood Police Officers and Police Chaplains to hand out Positive Tickets to young people who are caught doing good things.

Essentially it will work like this. When an officer sees a young person doing something ‘good’ they will present them with the ticket and explain why they are receiving the ticket. The student can then take that ticket to the Kirkwood Police booth at the festival. An officer will initial their ticket (another positive interaction) and return the ticket back to the young person so they can keep it as a positive reminder. The officer will then present the student with a coupon for a free ‘something.’ We’re not 100% on the something yet but our plan is that the youth can get something free at the Kirkwood Parks concession stand next to the police booth. The young person can also get information on our Kirkwood Asset Builders Initiative. Excellent first step.

Positive Tickets

At the 2009 Greentree Festival, Kirkwood Asset Builders (KAB) hopes to get commitment from Chief Plummer to have his officers handing out Positive Tickets to youth and children "caught". If possible or needed, the Kirkwood Police Chaplains may also join the effort.

Positive Tickets started with a single Police Officer in Canada who imagined the positive effect of cops catching kids doing things right. Superintendent Ward Clapham's (rtd) inspiration was the result of hearing a presentation on Search Institute's 40 Developmental Assets. "His vision was based upon the notion of police officers hunting for the positive in youth (instead of just the negative)." For more info, go to www.positivetickets.com.

Our plan is to have the officers issue the tickets and record the name of the youth and what they did. After the festival, KAB will take out an ad in the Webster Kirkwood Times to recognize all the students "caught" doing something good.

Welcome and History

In April 2009, the Chief of Police Jack Plummer - through the new chaplains program - presented the idea of all youth leaders (school system, churches, and any and all service and community groups) meeting together for the purpose of 1) building relationships 2) encouraging one another and 3) discovering the potential of collaborative efforts. Four youth leaders took on the project and began making contacts. We had our first meeting June 1, 2009. Among the group represented were several churches, the school system, the city council, SPROG, CFUH, Hope Unlimited, Young Life, YMCA, and Club 44.

In our discussions, we used Search Institute's 40 Developmental Assets as a common language and framework for how we might work together. Search Institute has been researching what helps develop healthy and successful youth for over 50 years. They also work with communities around the world who are committed to the shared vision of developing healthy youth through an initiative called Healthy Communities*Healthy Youth. Each community's effort looks different but the common thread among them all are people willing to work together to educate and engage their communities in asset building for all youth.

At our second meeting on August 24, 2009, we adopted the name Kirkwood Asset Builders and discussed ideas for generating some interest at the 2009 Greentree Festival. We believe that, by collaborting, we can have a more powerful voice for and a greater impact on youth throughout Kirkwood than we can as individual groups. Our next step is to recruit an initiator team to help develop Kirkwood Asset Builders. If you want more information or have questions, email djohnson@kirkwoodbaptist.org