Category: <span>Civic Orgs</span>

Published December 14, 2008 by

Whither Northfield.org and citizen journalism?

rob-hardyYesterday Northfield Citizens Online board member Rob Hardy added a post titled Citizen Journalism to his Rough Draft blog:

Since its inception in the 1990s, Northfield.org has evolved into more of an electronic community bulletin board than an outlet for the reporting of local news. A few years ago, Griff Wigley, one of the founders of Northfield.org, spun off to create his own group blog, LocallyGrown, which—along with its companion radio show and podcast—does feature hard news and commentary about local issues. Earlier this year, LocallyGrown teamed up with reporter Bonnie Obremski to provide local Representative Journalism.

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Blogosphere Civic Orgs

Published December 14, 2008 by

Salvation Army bell ringers

    Left and center: Northfield area Salvation Army bell ringers had a presence during Winter Walk. Right: Two of them were accompanied by a talented trumpet player at Cub…

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Civic Orgs

volunteerism

Published December 9, 2008 by

Jingle Bell Run/Walk is Saturday

The 7th Annual Jingle Bell Run/Walk will be held this Saturday, Dec. 13. “100% of registration fees will be going to Thursday’s Table” according to my sources. See the photo…

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Civic Orgs Photos

volunteerism

Published December 2, 2008 by

Carrying a Torch for Kids Who Dream of College

matt hart Matt Hart, a student in Doug McGill’s journalism class at Carleton College, has written a piece titled Carrying a Torch for Kids Who Dream of College (PDF – full text below).

Carrying a Torch for Kids Who Dream of College

By Matt Hart

In 2001, two third-grade girls from Northfield had a dream.

They would go to college together and be roommates.  There was only one problem: Stephanie was a blond-haired, blue-eyed Midwesterner, and Alejandra was Hispanic.  Back in 2001, only 18% of Northfield’s Latino population passed the Minnesota Basic Skills Test (BST), a requirement to graduate from high school. 

The odds of the girls’ dream being realized looked grim.

That’s not the case anymore though, thanks to the efforts of TORCH, a nonprofit program designed to improve the high school graduation and college enrollment rates of Latino, ESL, and any other would-be first-generation college students in Northfield.

The name stands for “Tacking Obstacles and Raising College Hopes.”

Beth Berry “Students see kids that look like them and are like them making it,” said Beth Berry, coordinator of TORCH at Northfield High School and one of the program’s founders.  “And they say, ‘I know her, I know her.’”

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Civic Orgs Colleges K-12 People

mentoring TORCH

Published December 1, 2008 by

Neighborhood associations in Northfield – where are you?

Civic Orgs Gov't & Policy

neighborhoods

Published November 23, 2008 by

Election results: Kids Voting Northfield

Civic Orgs Elections&Politics

volunteerism

Published November 22, 2008 by

CAC and CEL team up again to raise awareness of homeless

Civic Orgs Colleges

volunteerism

Published November 18, 2008 by

Google map mash-up: Northfield-area community organizations

Civic Orgs Colleges Technology

Published November 17, 2008 by

Nationwide project soliciting participation from Northfield youth

Photo by Josh Rowan An Iraqi child participates in the War Kids Relief project
An Iraqi child participates in the War Kids Relief project

A Minnesota-based non-profit is spending the next few months partnering children in New York City, Washington D.C., and Northfield with children in Iraq in an effort to build closer ties between the nations.

“We thought about Minneapolis, but decided on Northfield,” said Pam Middleton, executive director of War Kids Relief, which is a program of the Children’s Culture Connection non-profit.

Middleton will help select about two dozen eighth- and ninth-grade students across Northfield to participate. Each child needs to submit an application in school to be considered.

“Northfield is Middle America, but it’s also a special place. The citizens here are so engaged,” she said.

The children Middleton helps select will attend at least three afternoon gatherings in January, February and March at the Northfield Public Library. There, War Kids Relief organizers will help each Northfield teen begin a pen-pal kind of relationship with an Iraqi child. The youth will exchange letters, artwork and videos. The Northfield children will learn about Iraqi culture by hearing stories, playing Iraqi games and eating samples of the region’s food.

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Civic Orgs K-12 RepJ Stories

War Kids Relief