Lawrence heralded as promising spot for youth / LJWorld.com

Archive for Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Organization founded by Colin Powell names city among 100 Best Communities for Young People

September 27, 2005

Lawrence has been named one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People by America's Promise, the national organization founded by retired Gen. Colin Powell, the former secretary of state.

"This really speaks volumes for our community," said City Commissioner Sue Hack, a former teacher. "I really do believe that Lawrence is a community that feels a special responsibility to young people."

The judges ranged from former baseball great Cal Ripken Jr. to former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala. They praised Lawrence's unique United Way Center, which provides coordination and joint office space for 23 social service providers. They also noted the large number of boards and organizations that include student representation.

Lawrence officials on Monday said many local organizations deserved credit for the award. Frequently mentioned were local schools, the Success by Six program, classes by the Lawrence Arts Center, the after-school program run by Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Lawrence and Bert Nash's WRAP, or Working to Recognize Alternative Possibilities, program.

Photo by Nick Krug

Young artists Sungmoon Lim, 9, left, Gabrielle Pierotti, 10, and Jeremy Kwon, 10, work diligently on still-life bottle drawings during a class at the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 N.H. Lawrence was named Monday by America's Promise as one of the 100 best communities for young people.

"The reason that the community has been successful in the past is that through our words, actions and funding choices, we have always made children a high priority," said Margaret Perkins-McGuinness, manager of the Roger Hill Volunteer Center, which helped prepare the award nomination.

Lawrence was selected from about 1,500 applications. The city will receive a $2,000 stipend to send two representatives to a Nov. 2 national conference in Washington, D.C., which will highlight programs used by winning communities.

Several community leaders said the award also should serve as a reminder of the importance of meeting future challenges related to youth services. David Johnson, chief executive of the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, said continuing the WRAP program was a prime example.

The program, which places mental health professionals in all of the city's public schools, will lose its grant funding at the end of the school year. That will leave Bert Nash searching for approximately $900,000 a year to continue the program.

Hack said she was confident that area governments and members of the public would step up to the funding challenge.

"With programs like this, we're paying money upfront to prevent huge expenses down the line - so it makes sense from that standpoint," Hack said. "Plus, we're helping children, so it definitely makes sense from that standpoint, too."

Other Midwest communities that were included in the first-ever list of the 100 Best Communities for Young People by the America's Promise organization:

¢ Greater Kansas City metropolitan area

¢ Salina

¢ Springfield, Mo.

¢ St. Joseph, Mo.

¢ Boys Town, Neb.

¢ Buffalo County, Neb.

¢ Denver

¢ Loveland and Fort Collins, Colo.

¢ Oklahoma City

Discussion

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27 September 2005
at 6:08 a.m.

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Jayhawk226 (Anonymous) says…

When the heck did the Midwest begin including Oklahoma City and Denver???? Perhaps the Chicago elitist in me wants no association with Oklahoma…but I can't even justify how Colorado can be clumped in with “Midwest communities.” Was this a New Yorker who compiled that list? After all, anything west of Virginia and east of California is Midwest to them, right?

Though definitions vary, any definition of the Midwest would include the Northwest Ordinance 'Old Northwest' states and often includes many state that were part of the Louisiana Purchase. The state of the Old Northwest are also known as 'Great Lakes states'. Many of the Louisiana Purchase states are also known as Great Plains states. The Midwest is defined, by the U.S. Census Bureau as these 12 states:

Ohio: Old Northwest, Ohio River and Great Lakes state
Indiana: Old Northwest, Ohio River and Great Lakes state
Illinois: Old Northwest, Ohio River and Great Lakes state
Michigan: Old Northwest, and Great Lakes state
Wisconsin: Old Northwest, and Great Lakes state
Minnesota: eastern part Old Northwest, and Great Lakes state; western part Louisiana Purchase
Iowa: Louisiana Purchase
Nebraska: Louisiana Purchase, Great Plains state
North Dakota: Louisiana Purchase, Great Plains state
South Dakota: Louisiana Purchase, Great Plains state
Kansas: Louisiana Purchase, Great Plains and “border state”
Missouri: Louisiana Purchase and once, a Southern “border state”
27 September 2005
at 9:33 a.m.

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egress (Anonymous) says…

Dude, calm down!!! Colorado and Oklahoma are in the of the country - therefore Midwest to those who have not done there homework as, um, dutifully as you obviously have.
27 September 2005
at 10:36 a.m.

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Jayhawk226 (Anonymous) says…

Don't worry I wasn't nearly that worked up…I copied-and-pasted 2/3 of the post, ya know, the part thatincluded actual academic information.
27 September 2005
at 11:23 a.m.

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egress (Anonymous) says…

Good work, then! : )
27 September 2005
at 11:26 a.m.

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Jayhawk226 (Anonymous) says…

LOL….thank you much!