Smells Like Teen Spirit

Jay County recently underwent a consolidation of schools in the area. It was 45 years ago that Jay County consolidated into one school system with elementary schools scattered throughout the county, two middle schools (East Jay and West Jay), and one high school. Now, the corporation has reduced to one middle school that will be located within the high school property. This likely will reduce opportunities for youth to participate in school-sponsored activities, especially those with fixed roster sizes. For example, if the county currently has 2 eleven-person school basketball teams (22 roster spots total, plus 2-4 team manager roles), a consolidated school will have 1 eleven person basketball team (11 roster spots total, plus 1-2 team manager roles). This impact could be felt across sports, clubs, leadership groups, etc. Many youth are exposed to teamwork, collaboration and leadership through participation in school-sponsored activities. In addition, many local boards/clubs/councils/elected official positions are not populated with younger people from the community.

Jay County challenges FFC innovators with providing a unique solution(s) or programs that will maintain and/or increase the ability of youth to gain teamwork and leadership skills post-school consolidation and/or increase younger representation in local organizations.

How might we provide youth leadership opportunities in light of recent school consolidations which have reduced the number of school-sponsored activities?