High school students from Kenai Peninsula Youth Court and the Kenai Peninsula Resilience Coalition are creating a calendar for teens in the southern peninsula.
The calendar – which is funded by grants and the youth court – will feature community events geared towards middle to high school students. Youth court intern and high school senior Ashe Dias said the calendar aligns with the court system’s goals.
“When you give a youth or a teen something to do, then they're less likely to engage in delinquent behavior,” he said.
Dias said they’re currently reaching out to local organizations that offer events and services to teens to figure out the best way to work with them to keep the calendar updated.
“Our first thought was to just call the agencies but then we were like, ‘you know, they're probably more likely to be excited about it if we gave them some tea and cookies,’” he said.
At their first meeting earlier this month, organizations including the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic, Homer Public Library and more received information on the calendar’s goals and updates on the website.
Creating a community calendar has its challenges, including maintaining contact with organizations to keep the calendar updated. Dias said that there will be someone dedicated to reaching out to organizations.
As a senior, he said that they also are looking for more teens to continue maintaining the calendar as the current project members graduate.
The calendar is slated to be completed by summer of next year.
