Community forum panel students plan Junction City projects

May 6—The six students who sat on the panel for the Diversity and Equality Community Forum in March are now planning their own individual projects to help connect people in Junction City.

After the forum, Jerry Lonergan, former interim director for Junction City Main Street, worked with Ed O'Malley, director of the Kansas Leadership Center, Theresa Bramlage of the R2B4 Bramlage Family Foundation and the principals of Junction City High School and St. Francis Xavier Catholic School to provide the opportunity for the students to implement their ideas to help connect community members.

The R2B4 Bramlage Family Foundation pledged $1,000 for each student to use to implement their ideas. Lonergan stated the projects will be entirely planned and put together by the students.

The students met together with Lonergan at St. Francis Xavier Catholic School on March 24 to learn about the project and come up with some ideas. On April 27, the students met again at Junction City High School. Newly hired JC Main Street Director Michaela Self joined the group, and O'Malley and Maren Berblinger, civic engagement manager for the Kansas Leadership Center, helped facilitate discussions on the projects and encourage the students in exercising leadership. The students established their goals for the projects.

In the next few weeks, the six students will provide their project plans in writing to Self, and in turn, they will receive their checks for $1,000 each to help accomplish their projects.

Lyla Hayden, freshman at JCHS, is working with her friend Jasmine Laster to accomplish her goal of bringing more entertainment to Junction City. She said her project is to bring the community together through a movie night at Junction City High School.

Hayden said the movie will be family oriented and all community members will be invited. She also plans to have concessions with popcorn and other snacks. She plans to have the movie night in late summer, before the upcoming school year starts.

Nathan Amaro, sophomore at JCHS, said his focus is on bringing more activities to Junction City's young children. Amaro is working on a project to create school activity days in elementary schools, such as regular reading and snack events, starting in the upcoming school year.

"My project is to create positivity for children," he said. "Allowing kids to come together."

Grace Lichtensteiger, junior at St. Francis Xavier Catholic School, said through her project, she wants to connect her high school and JCHS students. Her idea is to beautify Heritage Park with flowers and to put a painting or mural in the park that connects the two schools in some way. Lichtensteiger said she plans to get started this summer.

Bethany Wells, freshman at JCHS, is working with her friends Janyea Webster, Darrion Pope and Gorgeous Jones on her project. Her goal is to put on an event for school age children.

Wells plans to hold two events. The first one will be a fundraiser for the second one. For the fundraiser, she plans to rent out a space to throw a party for middle and high schoolers with hotdogs, burgers and snacks for $20 per person.

This will raise money to help rent out the community pool for a pool party and BBQ at 5th Street Park. Wells said she is leaving for the summer, so she is trying to get all the planning done in the next few weeks.

Elijah Evans, graduating senior at JCHS, is working with students Trevon Grey and Randall Banks and his mother Crystal Davis. His goal is to connect students in the community and to make an event that has long-term sustainability and occurs each year.

Evans is planning a Back to School Bash for the tentative date of Aug. 14. At the event, children will be able to get free book bags and school supplies, as well as free haircuts for the new school year. The event will be for all school age children and their parents to attend.

"I'm learning how to project manage in real situations," he said. "The biggest goal would be for this Back to School Bash to have long-term sustainability over the years to come."

Casey Sexton-Snow is working with his friends Jakob Black and Lauryn Peterson in the goal of beautifying the city. His project is to restore and beautify Coronado Park throughout the summer.

Sexton-Snow said he picked Coronado Park because it is a large park and many people in the city live close to it.

The students all said they did not expect to have such a large opportunity to make a difference in the community after the forum, but they are thankful for the trust placed in them to help connect the community and make Junction City a better place to live.

"It's nerve wracking, to be honest. It's a lot of pressure but it's an amount of pressure I think I can handle," Lichtensteiger said. "I'm excited to see that I can make a change."