Red River Cluster Youth Engagement Day

On Thursday, September 13 (2007), a gathering of more than 220 youth and interested adults from Tulia, Hart, Dimmitt, Nazareth, and Friona, TX assembled at Hart High School, in an event billed as a Youth Engagement Day, sponsored by Ogallala Commons Red River Regional Cluster (Castro, Swisher, and Parmer counties).

Each year in any Great Plains community, high school graduates leave for colleges never to return, and more young families move away due to lack of job opportunities in their hometowns. While many believe this is a trend due strictly to economics, a closer look reveals that rural towns may be giving a message to young people that equates with, “You are not really needed here.”

Instead of youth out-migration as the accepted outcome, the adults and youth that gathered on Sept. 13th heard a strong and inspiring message about youth engagement, according to Darryl Birkenfeld, Director of Ogallala Commons.

“Youth are not simply the bystanders in our communities, waiting to grow up so they can do something. We want our youth to become more engaged in the life of their communities, and we want to tap into their amazing gifts…their creativity, their service work, and their ideas for creating new businesses and other good things for a community. Clearly, we want young people to have great opportunities: to travel and have new experiences. But, we also want them to know, that when they are ready to settle down in the future, we want them to consider coming back home.”

“There are more great opportunities to start a business and build careers than ever before,” Birkenfeld adds, “so instead of just taking those careers somewhere else, we want to engage youth to think about creating their jobs and careers here, in their hometowns. And above all, we want youth to know that if they are ready, that our communities will help them to come back home.”