Teen Powered Lock In

Eleven hours, 29 teens, locked in the library with one focus – building community. Some of them came for the waffles, others for midnight karaoke, but they left feeling connected to our community and invested in its future. Spooner Memorial Library partnered with Wisconsin Humanities’ Community Powered to host the library’s first lock-in on March 11-12th. Teen Powered, a name reflective of the event’s outcome, brought 29 teens from four different schools together to develop community-focused projects with the support of community leaders.

At the lock-in, some teens discovered that many in their community are trying to make a difference, “I learned that there are a lot more people actually leading groups to try and make our community better.” They realized that they weren’t the only ones that noticed community needs and that they didn’t have to try to solve them alone. “I learned that people care more than you think.” Overall, the event helped teens develop their awareness of community resources and needs, inspired teens to take ownership in addressing community needs, and connected teens with other teens and adults in their community.

A panel helped connect teens with local, knowledgeable community leaders who talked about the strengths, resources, and needs they have witnessed in the community. The panel included Chet Hurt Program Coordinator for Washburn County Mental Health Task Force, Jacquie Buchmann Assistant Director of Lakeland Family Resource Center, and Renae Essenmacher a Forester with Department of Natural Resources.

Eleven teams were formed and were challenged to brainstorm local community service projects. For 2.5 hours, teens created, developed, and presented their ideas. While this portion of the lock-in was teen-led, adults served as resources for teens with questions about community needs, resources, and gaps. Teens were engaged during this process with project ideas ranging in topic and scope. Project ideas included: Adding a safe place for teens to play sports outside of school; building a free, 24-hour shelter for those who cannot safely be at home, including 3 meals, a shower, a clean bed, emotional and legal support, and rides to school and/or church; creating a world without sickness and disease and raising money for hospitals and scientists; working with a business to use their unused space for kids/teens to play and hang out with their friends in the evening; helping local businesses advocate for a drug rehab center closer to Spooner that helps individuals with addictions and their families; increasing awareness and support for a more neurodiverse friendly school, including a survey of needs and campaign to help others learn how to help; and a monthly community clean-up.

Four teams were motivated to further develop their projects. Inspired by Renae’s discussion about environmental needs in the community, three teams focused their service projects on environmental issues. One team plans to host a community clean-up event to clean up trash in Washburn County. Another team plans to raise awareness of recycling and composting in the community, starting with their school. Another team plans to create an environmental youth group to help others enjoy and appreciate nature, including partnering with the DNR to remove invasive species, like buckthorn, from City Park. Another team, inspired by Jacquie’s food insecurity conversation, plans to create “Little Free Pantries” to make food more accessible in the community. Spooner Library and Wisconsin Humanities’ Community Powered invite the community to come together to support their efforts for Youth Service America’s “Global Youth Service Month,” April 14th-May 14th.

Chet made a statement about the size of our community that impacted many teens; he said that since our community is small, we can each make a big impact. One teen wrote, “I learned our community wants to help and improve each other. Small=Strength“. Conversations like this helped teens leave the event with the confidence that they, “can start something good“, “spend more time helping the community“, and “be more courageous in speaking out“.

If interested in helping these teens make their community projects a reality, reach out to Angie (Spooner Library) at director@spoonerlibrary.org.