From Jody Miller
Monroe
To the Editor:
My name is Jody Miller and I am the Monroe Youth Center Director. We have reopened recently and have had a handful of students attending daily in these first few weeks. We have hopes of attracting more students as we spread the word that WE ARE OPEN after many months of Covid uncertainty.
The Monroe Youth Center is open to any Monroe middle schooler in 6th to 8th grade regardless of what school they currently attend. We are open as well to homeschoolers in the area. The center is located at 1504 11th Street in Monroe. Our phone number is 608-325-4678 and our email address is youthcentermonroewi@gmail.com. Our current hours of operation are 3-6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and on Friday, which is early release day, we are open 1-6 p.m. A registration form is required and you can pick that up anytime the Monroe Youth Center is open or it can also be emailed to the parent.
We are a free program and we offer planned activities, homework support, snacks and crafts each day. We had Monroe Library day last week where Monroe Library presented and gave information on teen programs the library offers and gave each student a book and take home craft project. The assistant at Monroe Youth Center is Miss Anna Spoonhour. Miss Anna shares her artistic talent with the students and they have already decorated our chalkboard.
We are currently doing a community project with Green County YMCA Kids Club to create Christmas cards for Meals on Wheels recipients and home-bound seniors of the community. We have had a few Friday Fun Days where we had Pizza Hut delivery and movie afternoon day. Also we’ve had slime day where we created fluffy slime and kids were able to add their own color or beads to create a unique slime.
I asked the students to come up with ideas that they would like in the future. Food Day was on top of the list, but they also came up with a basketball tournament, making oobleck, field trips to area businesses, window decorating, designing a new sign for Monroe Youth Center and several more ideas.
I believe the students involved in Monroe Youth Center are our leaders of the future and I would like to bring in community leaders to talk about various careers and to find volunteers to teach a class, help with a project or lead an activity. I have lots of other ideas for getting involved and I am sure the students will bring even more ideas. If you would like to volunteer at the center, please contact me. Also, we are always looking for charitable contributions or donations of snacks and craft supplies.
