Middle schoolers! What a revelation they are! Over the last five weeks, I’ve spent quality time with several of them, their teachers, parents, and interested community members. The CVC’s Study Circles focused on middle schoolers just concluded, and the Action Forum is on Wednesday, March 12, from 6:30-8:00 at the Hub. More on the Action Forum in a moment.

As you may remember from my last column (or not – I can seldom remember what I’m looking for in the fridge, so no shame there), we hosted Study Circles, community conversations working toward action. Circle participants met two hours a week for five weeks in facilitated discussions looking at Sheridan County middle schoolers’ experiences from many angles. Challenges and assets were examined, viewpoints considered and challenged, and solutions created.

The Study Circles’ magic and ironclad reason for all the past successes is that the participants create all the solutions. They committed the time, brought their expertise and experience, considered the community, and came up with initiatives to make real change. They’re also the ones who sign up to make those initiatives happen. The CVC has neither the staff nor the budget to take any of them on, and, quite frankly, they wouldn’t be nearly as effective. These Study Circles are by the people and for the people.

And speaking of by and for the people, it would be presumptuous of us (though as adults considering what’s best for kids, we are nothing but presumptuous) to examine the issues middle schoolers face without asking the middle schoolers themselves. So we did! We hosted facilitated Circles with Sheridan Junior High students during their lunch period (of course, we fed them! Are we new here?) and Clearmont Junior High students. We also had a Big Horn High School student join one of our community Circles.

For those who think middle schoolers are a hot mess with nothing but drama and angst, I’m happy to counter that perception. Middle schoolers appreciated having a voice in this issue and had creative and thoughtful suggestions to improve their lives. Action Forum Spoiler Alert – they would like opportunities to volunteer in their community, have a way of finding out what activities are available to them, and a way to get to those activities.

To find out the rest of the initiatives, please come to the Hub on Wednesday from 6:30-8:00 p.m.  You’ll hear short descriptions of the initiatives from Circle participants and the opportunity to sign up for the first meeting of one (or all!) of those initiatives. If you can’t attend, the CVC will have the list on our website at sheridancvc.org. You can call or email us with your interest, and we’ll make sure you’re included.

Middle schoolers’ success equals our community’s success, so we all have a stake in this issue. Come to Wednesday’s Action Forum and plant your flag. We’ll have cookies.