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Quincy students want to make community safer for teens
Submitted photo
Youth Action Group members, back row left to right: Rosa Guerrero, Adriana Luna, Oscar Pineda, David Navarro and Claudia Valenzuela. Front row: Maira Hernandez, Blanca Corona, Jessica Esparza and Airely Beltran.
Earlier this year, Maristella Webley, who works as the Quincy School District’s Readiness To Learn coordinator, and Kaye Baumgartner, who is affiliated with Partnership for Youth, a local group that aims to promote the healthy development of children, gathered a collection of Quincy students together with an idea.
“We wanted to see what ideas they had for things to add to the community, really give them something to do, see what their interests were,” Webley said. “At the first meeting, we said that we’d like to have an opinion of what they’d like to see done in the community, and we wanted their group effort to make it happen. We wanted some ideas as well as action to force some things to happen.”
At that first meeting, the students weren’t very vocal, but Webley and Baumgartner did learn of their dissatisfaction over the lack of options for teenagers and younger people regarding things to do in the Quincy area.
“They wanted to create something to do, not only keep kids out of trouble, but to provide a safe place,” Webley said. “They started talking about doing something over the summer in a park, where families can come together in a clean environment.”
That’s how Quincy’s Youth Action Group was formed, and Saturday’s day-in-the-park event came to be.
The event will be held at East Park from 3 to 7 p.m. and will feature a variety of entertainment options, such as sports, fishing games, sack races, music and other activities.
The group currently consists of 11 Quincy students and endeavors to create safe and fun places and activities for area youths.
“There are not always safe and fun environments (for teenagers) to spend time with friends and family, and Youth Action wants to change that,” said Kory Webley, one of the group members.
“We are here to get the community and youth together and give them something worthwhile to do. This group of students is the kind that you would want your kids to grow up to be. (The day-in-the-park event) is a day to bring your family and friends together to have fun and build stronger relationships. Youth Action has tried to get inside the community to find out what kind of things people are interested in, and this day will be proof of that accomplishment.”
Recently, Maristella Webley took four of the group members to Phoenix to participate in youth leadership training sessions that focused on establishing anti-drug and underage drinking coalitions.
“They learned different skills and techniques,” Maristella Webley said. “They took what they learned at the leadership training to the next group meeting. They want to make things happen, and they know that everyone has to do their part.”
She said the community could benefit from the group’s activities in several ways.
“We’re helping kids find a voice and giving them the opportunity to do something they didn’t necessarily know was possible,” she said. “They’re doing things adults do. The funny thing is that they did it quickly, and they’ve gotten a quick response from the community. They’re actually doing something instead of waiting for opportunities to be created.
“There’s not much to do in a small community, and if you don’t have a car, you’re stuck here, and the options are limited. They’re providing a fun, safe place for students to go, and that benefits everybody. The students are the next generation and our next leaders.”
Two group members — Jessica Esparza, who will be a senior at QHS this fall, and Oscar Pineda, a sophomore-to-be — presented a plan for Saturday’s event at a city council meeting last month.
“We are here to get the community youth together and give them something worthwhile to do instead of causing trouble,” Esparza told the council.
Esparza also said further activities are planned for future Friday nights, such as movie outings, open gymnasiums and community speaker presentations.
“We want to do this so that teenagers have something to do on a Friday night instead of going out and doing things they probably shouldn’t be doing,” Esparza said.
Esparza and Piñeda were told that they would have to pay $50 for the use of the park without official city involvement.
At that point, council member Jose Saldana volunteered to pay the fee if necessary.
“We’ve been getting a lot of great community support,” Maristella Webley said. “We made presentations at Kiwanis and Rotary meetings, and they also made donations.”
Maristella Webley said the group members have made strides since their first meeting.
“We’ve got students from all walks — we’ve got 4.0 grade-point average kids and at-risk kids,” she said. “We’re bringing all of that together, and that in itself says a lot. They all have different strengths, and we’re pulling strengths from each one and building them up in areas where they’re not as confident.
“At the first meeting, only one kid was talking. At the last meeting, there was a lot of brainstorming going on, and it was hard to get them to be quiet. They’re a great group of students, and they’re all leaders in one way or another. We’re just trying to build on skills that they naturally have.”
