'We
Are Lincoln'
Putting words into action — Part 4
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[December
19, 2013]
Last week Wednesday as the
second meeting of the "We Are Lincoln" group began to wind down, Patrick
Doolin said he would like to see a progress report at the January meeting
that showed: "This is what we talked about, and this is what we did about
it." |
He noted that he wanted this movement
to progress from talk to action, and in one month he wanted them to
be able to check off what they have done.
Doolin's comments then segued into a
discussion about smart goals. Moderator Michael Gowin said the group
needed to set smart goals that are measurable, attainable, relevant
and time-bound.
Gowin said the action to take place
should be identified, and then the progress documented to show how
it is moving along. The goals chosen should be reasonable and
attainable goals. He said each goal should have a timeline of sorts
that outlines when the goal should be achieved.
Patrick Doolin also commented that
what the group is talking about is a master project that will never
be completed; it will always be changing and evolving into another
step.
Jeanette Harris said one project
she would like to get involved in would be a collaboration of all
public service agencies, where multiple agencies could meet and
share resources and information. Aaron Cantrell said he would
volunteer to work with her on that project.
April Doolin said she would post a
comment on the Facebook page asking people to list their action item
from tonight. She asked the group to be proactive in posting to the
page, letting the public know what is being worked on and
encouraging others to join in.
Another member of the group said
there needed to be something that addressed the youth and young
adults in the community. She said there are lots of young people
wandering about aimlessly because there isn't much for them to do in
Lincoln.
Patrick Doolin said this had come
up at the last meeting, and it was Craig Lindvahl who said that no
matter what town you live in, the kids of that town are going to say
there is nothing there for them to do.
This moved the group into talking
about education and retention. Andi Hake, director of the
Lincoln/Logan Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber does have a
college outreach program and scholarship programs. She said she
didn't know how many other organizations in town have scholarship
programs for the local colleges.
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column] |
Robert Bagby talked about the Lincoln
High School Foundation and said it has given out $72,000 in local
scholarships. He said the high school partners with Lincoln College
to give kids an opportunity to earn college credits while in high
school. The high school also offers a vocational program and is
working on a partnership with Heartland College to get vocational
students enrolled there to finish their associate degree. He said
LCHS also has its own alternative school and will soon graduate the
100th student from the alternative school.
Also on hand was next year's
president of the Lincoln Jaycees. Tom Hackett said that while the
Jaycees have been in Lincoln for 60 years, they are currently one of
the lesser known organizations in town. However, he said one of his
goals this coming year is to correct that and bring more attention
to the organization.
He told the group that Jaycees is a
youth-oriented program for young business people. He wants to
increase involvement of those young professionals, and he wants to
do more in the community to help local youth. He encouraged those in
the room to offer comments and suggestions and to get involved with
the Jaycees.
At the end of the night, Gowin had
a list of projects that will be the first priorities of the We Are
Lincoln group. He asked if the group could get together in a month
and talk about the list and what has been accomplished. After a few
moments of discussion, the group came up with a tentative date of
Jan. 9 for the next meeting. The date and time will be confirmed on
the Facebook page.
The Facebook page for We Are
Lincoln can be found by pasting the following URL into your browser:
https://www.facebook.com/wearelincolnillinois.
[By NILA SMITH]
Past related articles
'We Are Lincoln'
|