1.5 Our Community...Our Youth Initiative, Janis CallisonTEL:
March 7, 1995
Mr. Don Ashworth
City of Chanhassen
Mar // 07 95 14:59 No . 004 P.02
14600 Minnetonka Boulevard
Minnetonka, Minnesota 55345
Telephone (612) 939 -820o • Fax (612) 939 -8244
/..6-
Dear Mr. Ashworth:
L
In the spring of 1994, the Minnetonka School District began the process (flat lead to the
creation of the Our Community... Our Youth Initiative. The underlying; premise of the Initiative
is summarized in the proverb, "It takes a whole village to raise a child." We believe it takes a
whole community to raise healthy children.
As part of the Initiative, a steering committee was formed of representatives of the. various
elements of the Minnetonka School District community, including: parents, seniors, religious
institutions, the medical profession, business... and local government. John Anderson, Mayor of
Excelsior, and I represent local government on the Steering; Committee. As I discussed with you
previously by telephone, we would like to spend 10 -15 minutes on March 13 addressing the
Chanhassen City Council, sharing the information we've obtained about the youth of our
community and the goals of the Initiative. Because neither John nor I is able to attend your
meeting on the 13th, Betty Jenkins, also of the Steering Committee, will make the presentation.
We also invite Council members who are interested in a broader discussion to attend a meeting;
with other local city council members on March 15, 1995 from 7:00 to 9 :00 p,m. in the Gray's
Say room at the Minnetonka Community Center.
Decent studies of suburban youth conducted by the Search institute of Minneapolis show
thot the average youth in grades 6 -12 has only about 16 of 30 developmental "assets" that are
important for healthy development. These assets -- crucial for developing caring, responsible, and
productive citizens -- include:
• Strong families
• Adult relationships outside family
• Clear rules and guidelines
• involvement in adult- supervised structured programs.
The task facing our'community is to create a community -wide commitment to ensure that these
developmental assets become more common in the lives of our children and youth. With
sufficient assets in place, our youth will be able to better withstand and cope with the temptations
(such as alcohol, tobacco and drugs) so prevalent in society today.
We look forward to discussing how we as local government can continue to do our part in
working together to help create a better present and future place for the youth of our community.
In you have questions, please contact John Anderson at 470 -3544 or me at 935 -7010.
Very truly yours,
-/Janis Callison
City Council, At -Large