Highlighting America’s 100 Best Communities for Young People
The 100 Best Communities for Young People competition honors outstanding efforts on behalf of young people by multiple sectors of communities. In cities, suburbs, small towns and counties across the country, this annual competition is leading communities to assess their efforts, work more effectively together for young people, and share best practices. Each week one of the 2007 100 Best Communities will be highlighted in the America’s Promise Bulletin and on our web site.
Nampa, Idaho
By Christopher Epps
Every July, Nampa— located just 20 miles west of state capital Boise— comes alive to host Snake River Dayz, a 10-day festival drawing thousands of rodeo enthusiasts from near and far. Showcasing team roping, barrel racing, bull riding and other circuit events, the annual celebration gives people around the community a chance to show off their spirited city.
Home to the Amalgamated Sugar Company, a sugar beets processing plant, another sweet aspect of Nampa is its willingness to take care of its children and their families; consequently, the city provides a network of safety policies offering support. The Nampa Family Justice Center, for instance, addresses family violence issues, offering on-site counselors and a safe haven for children and parents so they may receive help rebuilding their lives in a non-violent atmosphere.
Exceptional relationships have been developed with state agencies, universities, nonprofit organizations, early childhood educators and others to create a town devoted to serving the needs of young people. When the city council approves construction of new subdivisions, they keep Nampa's children in mind, asking will there be adequate sidewalks linking the homes to schools, and are they neighborhood-based and connected to the rest of the community?
A results driven community, Nampa concentrates serious efforts on improving things for its children. Using statistics as a catalyst, the community’s labor is paying off—80 percent of Nampa students graduated from high school in 2005, up from 74 percent a year earlier, and teen birth rates fell from 42.3 percent in 2000 to 33.5 in 2004.
Focusing on an Effective Education, students in the city’s high schools can choose an academy similar to a major in college. Academies include Automotive Technology, Business and Finance, and Engineering and Information Technology, among others. The graduation rate in Nampa’s high schools has steadily improved over the past three years. The gains can be attributed to the addition of small learning communities and the academies in each high school. In addition, there are multiple alternative schools provided through nonprofit organizations or the school district for students to access. Two of the alternative schools are directed to at-risk youth and abused girls.
Other initiatives that led to Nampa’s two-time designation as a 100 Best Communities winner include:
Healthy Families Nampa
(HFN) is faith-based collaboration, with a goal to increase the emotional and financial well being of children. Led by a diverse group of churches, the city, and state of Idaho, HFN is a pilot project of the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services. In its third year it has benefited well over 1,300 children through its parenting, marital and family counseling and education programs.
Mayors Teen Council
advises the community on a variety of policy issues. The Teen Council undertakes special projects throughout the year. One of the Council’s greatest accomplishments is Seatbelt Awareness Week, where members went to schools and events giving presentations emphasizing the importance of wearing seatbelts whether behind the wheel or as a passenger.
Total Learning Commitment Centers
are after-school programs that assist children with reading, homework, and computer skills while helping to improve social interaction skills, school grades and Idaho Standards Achievement Test scores. In the last three years, there has been an increase in the Idaho Standards Achievement Test scores of young people participating in the Centers.