Union of Youth

The Key’s Writing Workshop program, guided by program instructor Olivia Frey, recently went on a field trip to Chicago’s Columbia College to view Jack Kerouac’s original manuscript scroll of On the Road.

On the Road was written in 1951 and published in 1957 and is largely based on the experiences of Kerouac and his friends during numerous road adventures during the late 40s and early 50s. Many critics and fans consider On the Road the defining work of the Beat Generation which sprang up in the aftermath of World War II.

Seven youth and two chaperones made the trek to Chicago, traveling by Megabus and staying overnight in a hostel in Greektown in central Chicago. Participants explored many different districts of Chicago including Chinatown, Greektown, The Loop, the Pier, and other areas via foot, subway and “the L.” Participants even came across a Gay Pride Parade at the Federal Building on the way to Columbia College.

More photos here.

The Northfield Skateboard Coalition and the Northfield News are teaming up for a city-wide contest that is available to anyone who enters. The competition is simple: find 6 of the painted skateboards by November 20 and you can enter to win a drawing for $50 in Northfield Chamber bucks. Simply email the location of six boards to Jaci Smith at the Northfield News (jsmith@northfieldnews.com) or drop off the completed form below to the Northfield News office (115 W. 5th Street). But hurry now! Time is running out! All skateboards are visible in certain Northfield downtown businesses.

All of the skateboards are for sale. Money raised from their sale will be used to buy skateboards to give out to low-income children as part of the Community Action Center’s Christmas Sharing program. If you see a skateboard hanging in downtown Northfield that you’d like to own, call 664-3524.

The lost art of silk screen has made its way back to The Key. This Art Project was done on an almost monthly basis years ago, but has hidden by the wayside as of late. Glad to see it is back. If it wasn’t for Art Projects of the past I wouldn’t have my “two weeks” shirt, my “Free Cat Sevens” shirt and a friend wouldn’t have his “I hate every ape I see, from Chimpan A to Chimpan Z” shirt.

Every Saturday at 7pm, the Key hosts Hip-Hop Night. Each week we will focus on a different aspect of Hip-Hop (MC’ing, DJ’ing, Break Dancing, Graff Writing, Beat Boxing, etc). This week is the official kick-off of Hip-Hop night, and we are hosting a rap battle!

Anyone, and I mean ANYONE may participate. If you wish to rap, we ask that you contact us ahead of time, so we can gauge how many people will be there. Walk-ins are welcome though.

This is a FREESTYLE battle! No pre-written rhymes! Anyone who is caught using pre-writtens WILL be disqualified.

Everyone is welcome to come and watch, and crowd participation is a must!

For questions, call 507-663-0715 or 507-649-1326

Somehow, through the series of magic tubes that make up the world wide interweb, Dan “The Man” Zenner has not only obtained a podcast site for the KeYMN radio program, but you can subscribe to it in the iTunes store– FOR FREE!

Just search “keymn” when you are perusing the iTunes store, and you will find our humble radio program.

Big thanks again to 1080AM in Northfield for letting us broadcast from their station every Saturday morning, and thanks to Dan “The Man” for understanding how the internet works.  Because I sure don’t.

Thanks to Dan “The Man” Zenner, we now have a podcast site for the radio show.

Check it out!

Check out the following link to listen to The Key’s radio show, broadcasted on 1080AM in Northfield.

The radio page will be updated with new shows available for download, so keep your eyes peeled.

Terrible headline. In any case, yes Unicycle club is still meeting. They meet Mondays at the Key at 7:00pm. They are currently looking for indoor space for the upcoming winter months. This program is free. open to anyone regardless of age and experience. This program is guided by Zane Anway.

On Tuesday the 14th, the Key’s Art Project, under the direction of the phenomenal Grayce Forsythe, made hemp necklaces and bracelets. This coming Tuesday the 21st, Art Project will take on the underappreciated world of the collage. Make it political, make if funny, make it stupid. Whatever. Promises to be a good time. We carve pumpkins on the 28th. Get ready!

Josh

On Monday October the 13th, the Primetime Grant Collaborative and its Primetime Fellows were celebrated for their wonderful contribution to the Northfield community. The PRIMEtime Fellows are high school students that assist with elementary and middle school at after school and summer programming. The Fellows were a recent winner for the Red Wagon Award in Minnesota, which is co-sponsored by the Minnesota Alliance with Youth and Lieutenant Governor Carol Molnauand and recognizes young people who have demonstrated the following:

* Increased academic achievement
* Civic engagement & service
* Exemplary leadership

The Northfield Skateboard Coalition was a recipient of the award in 2007.

The School Board Meeting also included a presentation by the Primetime Collaborative Team in which they went over successes and numbers for the 2007-2008 school year and summer programming. PRIMEtime stands for Promoting Responsible Individuals through Mentoring and Enrichment and is a collaborative effort to assure out-of-school-time programming for Northfield youth in grades 4-12 and is funded by the Minnesota Department of Education. Over 1000 youth participated in the Primetime programming during the 2007-2008 grant year and included: PLUS - an after school program that meets four days per week at Bridgewater Elementary School & Greenvale Park Elementary School; the Middle School Youth Center - open daily after school in the Northfield Middle School; The Key; and Summer PLUS - a summer-long academic and recreational program for elementary and middle school students. Community partners include Connected Kids Mentoring, Aztec Dancers, Comadres, Reaching Our Goals (ROG), Woman’s Circle, TORCH, and many others. Northfield Healthy Community Initiative did an excellent job as the hosting agent and helped coordinate and implement many aspects of the grant.

Thanks to Marnie Thompson, Pat Parlin, and Roger Jeni giving the presentation as well as the youth who also spoke at the meeting.

Check out Griff’s Wigley’s post on Locally Grown; it has much better photos than this post.

Anyone interested in the powerpoint presentation (minus the pictures, sorry) can download it here:
primetime-powerpoint-minus-pictures