STORY -- Take Charge: A Youth Guide to Community Change, IL

In Freeburg, Illinois, students used the Take Charge curriculum to identify problems in their community. After brainstorming a list of problems and with staff members and narrowing them down, they decided to work toward getting a bike trail built in their local park.

Learning from the example of the building of a skateboard park outlined in the Take Charge curriculum, participants collected signatures on petitions to gain community support and awareness for the bike trail. Students also wrote letters to the park board explaining why they would like a bike trail at the park. Ultimately, the park board agreed.

In another instance, the Sinnissippi Centers project involved middle- and high-school aged youth working together with elementary school students in the planning, research, and implementation of a community beautification project. This project involved the communities of Sterling and Rock Falls, which are separated by the Rock River and connected by two bridges.

Using the processes outlined in the Take Charge curriculum, youth from both Sterling and Rock Falls conducted research by traveling through both towns with digital cameras that they used to document different community problems.

Using their photo research, participants focused on graffiti that covers one of the bridges that is adjacent to the Center. They met with city officials including the department of public works and the police department, to coordinate re-painting the bridge. They matched paint colors and had solicited materials donations from Sherwin-Williams to provide the paint they needed to remove the graffiti and beautify the bridge.