Out of “The Loop?”
For those of you who are new to the Horizons Process in Whitehall (welcome! we are happy you are here, and we need you!), here is some background information.
Sep 06: Informational meeting: We found outabout The Horizons Project, sponsored by the Northwest Area Foundation.
Feb 07: Party: We hosted a chili cookoff and community information night at the civic center. We BBQ’d a pig, had a chili contest, and recruited participants for Study Circles.
Feb-April 07: Study Circles: Over 150 people and 21 facilitators were involved in this community discussion about poverty reduction in Whitehall. To learn more about Study Circles (they are pretty cool) click here!
April 07: Community Forum: We had desserts! Also, each of the individual study circles presented the key points from their time together. After some sorting and categorizing, the following common themes emerged as focal points for Whitehall’s future improvements:
Ongoing Community Beautification
Economic Development
Licensed Daycare & Increased School Age Child Activities
Walking trails and Recreational Development
Job-Search Assistance
More Efficient Law Enforcement and Drug Problem Intervention
April/May 2007: LeadershipPlenty Class: 29 adult students completed the LeadershipPlenty Curriculum, taught by Tara Mastel, Tom Harrington, Terri Marx, Sue Patacini and Holly Harper. The curriculum focused on assets-based, effective community change by individuals through skillsets that enhance leadership.
August 2007: LeadershipPlenty in the High School: A one semester English elective started that includes the LeadershipPlenty curriculum is being taught to 20 high school juniors and seniors who will learn how to effectively lead in their community. This course will be offered once annually at WHS for the foreseeable future.
Sep-Oct 2007: Visioning: Using the information gathered in 1996 for “Whitehall 2010″ and the information already provided by the study circle process, the steering committee will once more seek widespread community input so that the Whitehall Community can create a broad-based, community-generated vision statement that will represent the ideas of a large percentage of the community. This vision will serve to guide us through the changes that are swiftly coming to Whitehall.
Now you are in “THE LOOP!” If you are a Whitehall community member, we want your input!! Please post a comment on the blog!