Michigan uses this pic to promote a statewide Cool Cities Initiative

Simon Boehme, 13, writes a letter to his mayor in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He thinks an annual kids festival, a recreational place downtown with climbing walls, and an aquarium will make the community a better place for kids.

Meanwhile, Amy Deyo, 16, 304 miles north in Marquette, Michigan suggests an indoor roller rink to make her oft-snowy city come alive for people her age.

And in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, lifelong resident Anthony Carter, 16, ponders the future of his town: "All my life I've said how much of a dump it was to me," he says. "I'm willing to change that. So I can be able to say, 'Yeah, I'm from Eaton Rapids, and damn proud of it.'"

The three teenagers are all playing important roles in their communities as they add their voices to those of elected officials, developers, and educators who want to make Michigan hometowns stronger, safer places for youth like them to live.

Adults in the state are increasingly listening to youthful ideas and inviting teens to the planning table, thanks to a program called the Cool Cities Initiative begun last year by Governor Jennifer M. Granholm (D). The mission is to support and develop cities that young people feel good about living in and may even decide to stay in when they become adults.

Cool Cities 2005 The governor's office is almost ready to unveil the 2005 Cool Cities Initiative. A sneak preview will be ready for the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs Annual Conference on December 9. Information will be posted on the Cool Cities Initiative Web site [1].

"Creating 'cool cities' is more than a catchphrase. It is an initiative that is imperative for us to undertake to grow our state's economy and to keep our young, educated workers here," Granholm said recently. "The future economic success of our state is directly tied to our ability to attract and retain exciting new jobs and young workers who are hard wired into the knowledge-based economy."

That means kids are not only listened to, they're also becoming an important money-making coalition. This year alone, young people like Boehme, Deyo and Carter have helped twenty communities receive grants of $100,000 each, for a total of $2 million.

Kid-Friendly Communities
Getting kids involved in community building is an idea that's taking hold in towns and cities nationwide.

Judith Kahn, Executive Director of the Minneapolis Youth Coordinating Board (YCB), an intergovernmental organization dedicated to the city's youth, says that it's important to include kids in the community decision-making process.

More from Brighton, NY Last month, Connect for Kids reported on elementary and middle school kids who were encouraged by city leaders in Brighton, New York to develop an ad campaign to inspire their peers to participate in a national mock election [2]. Now, the town is seeking support from high school students who have interests in parks and recreation facilities and programs. Stephen Dodd, the city's director of communications, explains that the town council wants students to serve on the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, which advises the town on recreational programs for pre-school, youth, adult and senior citizens. In addition, the board provides research and analysis information on park planning and development. "Adding two youth members to this [board] will give the town a unique perspective that is currently unavailable and will give the students a valuable leadership experience and an opportunity to provide an important community service," explains Dodd. "Youth representation on this board will allow the town to better serve the active and passive recreational needs of all of our young people."

"[We] provide support to and work with a youth-led, youth empowerment organization called Yo! The Movement," Kahn explains. "They run an information hotline and provide a range of opportunities for young people in Minneapolis to gain skills to improve the quality of life in their neighborhood and in the city."

The YCB and Yo! are currently collaborating on a project for young people in approximately 25 neighborhoods to help them see what their communities need in terms of resources. Each neighborhood will have at least eight young people who will receive training in leadership skills, meeting facilitation, and interviewing.

When ready, the young people and an adult supervisor will walk up and down their neighborhood streets talking to young people, visiting non-profits and interviewing staff, determining whether stores and other commercial entities are youth-friendly.

"In the end, the neighborhood has a good handle on what's working and what's missing," says Kahn. "But more important, you have a group of young people who are energized by what they accomplished, concerned about what they learned, and eager to do something to make a difference."

Kahn adds that youth "mappers" from pilot neighborhoods are still meeting. The county has even provided a bit of financial support so that they can continue to organize.

Adults, Listen Up
While Kahn is delighted with the input of Minneapolis youth thus far, she also says that more adults need to listen to youth on key issues.

"I am aware that there are national studies that have shown that the majority of adults do not have high regard for youth," says Kahn. "In my experience, adults who have those views have never really taken the time to sit down and have a conversation with young people ... a real conversation with give and take."

Even though 17-year-old Carter has played a successful part in the Michigan Cool Cities Program, he has still confronted some adult biases serving as the sole high school board member of the Eaton Rapids Area Arts Council. "In the last meeting, I was ready to scream," he recalls. "I think at the next meeting, I'm coming with a huge load of information. I'm going to make them see what's going on and how I'm handling it in some aspects."

Does Carter think he has better ideas for encouraging the arts in Eaton Rapids than adults at the table? "They're doing more visualization art than written," he responds. "But now that our banner project has taken off really well, I'm going to brighten their horizons."

In his initial letter to Kalamazoo's mayor, 7th-grader Boehme wrote, "I've always been on your side at election time."

"He knows his politics, right?" says Mayor Robert Jones with a laugh. "I thought it was very nice that a 12-year-old kid would take the time to write a letter like that."

Funds for Youth Service Projects The Youth Service America organization has announced the availability of hundreds of grants to implement community service projects surrounding National Youth Service Day [3], the largest service event in the world. It will happen April 15-17 in 2005.

In fact, after receiving the letter, Mayor Jones called up Boehme, invited him to a city commission meeting, and had him introduce himself to the city commission. Then Mayor Jones passed the letter on to Governor Granholm's office. When she visited Kalamazoo's new air museum earlier this year, Boehme happened to be at the event. "I saw him there," says Mayor Jones. "I asked him, 'How would you like to meet the governor?'"

As it turned out, Boehme met the governor, got his picture on the front page of the city's newspaper and appeared on the evening news broadcast. A kid's festival has already happened in downtown Kalamazoo. Mayor Jones says that an aquarium project may be looming.

Why Bother?
Millions of kids throughout the United States are getting involved. Seventy-three percent of America's 60 million young people believe they can make a difference in their communities, according to a survey conducted by Princeton University.

What drives some kids to take the lead in such efforts?

For Deyo, she wants to support projects that benefit her age group immediately: "We need more positive alternatives to certain activities some chose to take part in," she says.

"[T]he more helping hands a community has, the more that can be accomplished," Deyo adds. "We need to find more constructive ways to use our talents and build each other up and our community, but we also need guidance from the adults as role models of the town."

In response to a 1996 Gallup poll, teens said the benefits of getting involved are multifaceted: learning to respect others, learning to be helpful and kind, learning to understand people who are different from them, developing leadership skills, becoming more patient, and gaining a better understanding of citizenship.

Young people also understand how helping their community helps them. Carter, for instance, has his own entrepreneurial reasons for serving on the Eaton Rapids Area Arts Council. "I want to exploit my art as well," he says. "I currently do pen and ink art, metal sculpting, welding and music."

He's got a lot on his plate, too. "As of now, I'm doing school, arts council, and writer's club," he says dramatically. "I feel like I'm the only kid in school who's having a midlife crisis at 16! It's turning out to be for the better though."

Resources:

• Connect for Kids' Community Building Topics Pages [4]
• Making Youth Voice A Community Principle [5]
• Helping Teens Take Charge of Community Issues [6]

Rob Capriccioso is a former staff writer for Connect for Kids.