Northfield Mayor's Youth Council Provides Funding to Projects That Promote High School Graduation

High school students in the Northfield Mayor’s Youth Council (MYC) approved a total of to support five projects designed to promote high school graduation among Northfield youth.  All grants were made possible through funding from the “” award that Northfield received from America’s Promise.

Funded projects included:

• Transition program for 8th grade low-income, minority, or first-generation college-bound students as they transition to the high school.  This project focuses on a series of events aimed at increasing the comfort of students as they enter high school and will help them develop the skills necessary for a successful freshman year.  Sessions will cover career exploration, academic course offerings, graduation and college entrance requirements, the importance of Grade Point Average (GPA), and related testing.  This project, run by the Tackling Obstacles and Raising College Hopes (TORCH) program, will also include a family event to acquaint parents with the possible access routes to education and the support that is available.

• High School students in the Tackling Obstacles and Raising College Hopes (TORCH) program will attend summer sessions on college campuses.  This program will introduce students who are at risk of not continuing their education to an experience that makes the goal of a college education a true possibility.  Participating students will spend between 1 and 8 weeks on a college campus this summer.

• College campus visits to Dakota County Technical College and to the University of Wisconsin – River Falls.  Approximately 35-40 8th grade students from the Northfield Middle School English as a Second Language class and middle school ALC program will make the field trip to both college campuses.  These campus visits will expose students to two different types of post-secondary programs as a starting point for discussion about the cost and types of training/educational opportunities available.  Most students selected for the campus visits are potential first-generation college students who have had limited or no exposure to the steps and processes that are a part of going to college or visiting college campuses.  These campus visits will stress the importance of graduation from high school and will highlight how additional education and training can improve employment opportunities.

• Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) Experience.  Students from the Northfield Area Learning Center are planning and preparing for a trip to the BWCAW.  Students will use asset- and character-building skills and potentially earn additional school credit for the experience.

• Support for programming of the Northfield Union of Youth (NUY), located at the Key in Northfield.  The Key provides free, quality programming to Northfield youth during at-risk times of the day (after school to curfew).  Students develop and maintain relationships with positive, caring adults during their time at the Key.  Youth involved in Key programming have a history of increased school attendance.  The Key currently has seven weekly programs, including Book Club, Physical Activities Club, Writing Workshop, Family Game Night, Art Night, Movie Night, and Cooking Class.