HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016 08-13 Kid Council teaches kids how to work out their problems PIONEER PRESS8/16/2016 Kid Council teaches kids how to work out their problems
Kid Council teaches youngsters how to
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PUBLISHED: August 13, 2016 at 6:31 am I UPDATED: August 12, 2016 at 10:10 pm
"Three, two, one, action," kids yelled as a small group of their peers took a makeshift stage inside a room at the
Maplewood Community Center Friday.
Over the next five minutes, the following scene unfolded:
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Kid Council teaches kids how to work out their problems
One youngster asked another to play basketball. The game begins, and soon after one of the kids shoves the other
at the prompting of a nearby classmate. The altercation gets heated, and anotherclassmate runs and tells a
teacher. The teacher doesn't care and leaves them to work it out themselves.
"So who faced something that was unfair," Shari Aronson, co -creative director for Z Puppets Rose nschnoz asked
the kids gathered in the room. "It's a little tricky to figure out because everyone has a different perspective."
After little discussion, the group decides the one who first got shoved is the one who got the raw deal in the
scenario. Then they spend the next 20 minutes strategizing through live-action theater how the situation might
have ended up better for him.
Creative problem solving is at the heart of Kid Council, one component of a new program underway in Maplewood
that has big dreams of helping the inner -ring suburb tackle some of the challenges it faces building community in
its increasingly diversifying city, according to Aronson and others involved.
The city has seen rapid growth in its East African, Latino, Hmong and Karen populations over the years. It's unique
shape — Maplewood is shaped like a seven — can further isolate sections of the community, city officials say.
The program — called Kid City— is a partnership between Z Puppets and Maplewood's Parks and Recreation
Department. It's first year was funded via a roughly $100,000 grant awarded to the city by the Minnesota State Arts
Board. The city landed $130,000 to continue it for another year. The St. Paul Foundation and the F.R. Bigelow
Foundation also are chipping in.
In addition to Kid Council, program organizers have been hosting "laugh -labs" at area schools to explore the power
of humor and silliness with young people.
Maplewood also had a citywide "laugh -in" event in the spring, which essentially involved some 250 community
members watching city council members and police officers face-off in a joke -telling competition.
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Kid Council teaches kids how to work out their problems
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"Playfulness and laughter are universals in just about every culture," Chris Griffith, another co -creative director at Z
Puppets said about the choice to focus on those elements in Kid City. "It's something that we often associate with
childhood but it also manifests in our adults lives and I think it's the basis for community building and building
trust among people... When you laugh together, you start to feel a social bond."
The hope is that the problem -solving skills and community building happening between kids involved in Kid City
will, overtime, "trickle up" to adults in Maplewood, Aronson said.
Maplewood Mayor Nora Slawik has been involved since the outset. Slawik described the process as an "interesting
journey" for the city.
"In many ways it's exceeded our expectations... We had a great turnout for our Day of Laughter and a lot of great
interaction... But we've also had our struggles," Slawik said. "It's not easy to do community organizing in a city
shaped like Maplewood that doesn't have a specific city center... We're learning as we go."
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Kid Council teaches kids how to work out their problems
So were the kids involved in the Kid Council workshop that unfolded Friday. Program staff have hosted 10 sessions
at various schools over the past year with about 40 kids. Topics tackled have ranged from how to respond to a
student praying in the lunchroom to how to make sure you don'ts leepthrough your alarm.
Participants took turns offering different solutions to the basketball squabble Friday.
One youngster suggested the individual pushed should tell the principal. Another advised confronting his bully. A
third suggested he insist on reaching a verbal agreement with his opponent next time he agrees to play basketball
to ensure both play by the rules. Kids alternated tagging into the scene to act out the options.
"There area lot of things we try that won't work and then some will, but that's like real life too, right," Aronson told
the group. "We just have to keep trying different things until we find a solution."
Treygan Adams, 13, was one of the participants Friday. He'd been involved in the program all week.
"I've meta lot of new people," he said of his experience. "You get to see what's happening in the community and
learn different problem -solving skills and that there really are lots of solutions if you just think about it."
His father, Roy Adams, was in the audience during the role-play. Roy Adams is also on the Kid City Board. He
commended the way it's including children in city issues.
"Too often adults move forward with initiatives and programs without kid voices... This gives kids an opportunity
to participate in the process," he said.
The Wilder Foundation will help the city assess its success after it wraps up its first year. Slawik said she's hopeful
the city can continue it for at least a couple more years.
Tags: Education, Maplewood
Sarah Hornerjoined the Pioneer Press in 2011. She covers news in St. Paul and the surrounding northern suburbs
in Ramsey County.
Follow Sarah Horner; i°ryh°oi nsaiah°i
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