Recreation Action Committee Work
I write today to tell you quickly of the work we are doing on the Action committee for Recreation in Woodbine. We worked very hard on our first project the past few months. This project is a community supported fitness center that would be open 24 hours a day and would be accessible by an electronic key. Our hope is/was to find a site on the school campus to have this facility so that the school and community could share resources and so that the youth would be able to take advantage of this facility in a large way during their sports training times. We see this center as a win win for the school and the community at large. As of this posting, we are still working through the process of deciding where this facility would be best located and we are also addressing the appropriate boards to have them help us to better meet the needs of the steakholders (city and school). So far we have had a very successful go at this venture, but some space issues are now holding us up a bit. I believe that this project WILL go through but it may be on a longer time line than we initially hoped.
The recreation committee is also working on an outdoor walking path idea as well as a program called the 5th Quarter. This program is an OUTSTANDING way to involve the youth of the community in positive activity after sporting events. Ideally this program would be held within the school buildings and would be a FREE program offering food, sports, game rooms (electronic and board games), movies and of course positive adult chaperones. We feel that this program addresses poverty of many sorts. Social poverty of the student body is a big concern. Some students have nowhere to go on weekend nights and would greatly enjoy the social interactions they’d have with people they would have NEVER been able to spend time with on a Saturday night before. Just imagine their suprise when two VERY different types of students realize that they are BOTH very passionate and good at the same video game or at dodgeball etc. That could spark into a new level of respect or friendship for them??? Also, with this designed to be a free or very very low cost function, it would allow our youth (who have limited job options here in Woodbine) to be able to go somewhere safe and to enjoy a night out at NO or VERY LOW cost. There is much to be worked out with this project. I have a HUGE materials list for an “ideal” program, but the committee has not met much on the program yet and we have yet to involve anyone outside of the committee in this project….so it’s in it’s beginning stages. I think that the school will find it to be a great concept for keeping kids away from drugs and alcohol as well as a great way to tie into the mentor / mentee program they have established through TeamMates.
Through the recreation committee work, we’ve visited Dunlap’s shared school / community facilities. We see great potential here in Woodbine to be able to take the good things they have done and to duplicate many of them here. Sharing ideas with our neighbors can really catalyze the processes of getting things accomplished. It keeps that energy we have going right now in Woodbine growing and producing good things. Many of which you can read about in these blogs and some of which we have yet to have time to write about.
All of the things I’ve written are very much just thoughts in terms of where things are right now and will certainly evolve as we gain inputs from the school board, superintendant, faculty, city council, and community at large. Our projects are certainly not our own and all that we do is intended to be something that we ALL can appreciate and benefit from. So if you happen to be reading and think that you would like to be involved in the work or have an idea on how to improve or how to get a project going please call anyone you know who works with these programs. We’d love to hear from you! Thanks for reading and for all you do to help Woodbine become a more thriving community!