Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
HURLEY STUDENTS explore downtown Montello, Wis., during their first impressions trip. Among those on the trip are, first row from left, Tabitha Morello, Reilly Kangas, Allison Huff, Brooke Piilola, Emily Strand, Dale Ofstad, Gianna Morello. Second row, from leftm Amy Nosal, Jacob Berlyn and Neil Klemme.
HURLEY - As part of his mission as the youth development agent with the University of Wisconsin's Iron County Extension Office, Neil Klemme recently took seven Hurley teens to Montello, Wis., to participate in a first impressions survey.
The survey entails two groups visiting each other's communities to offer feedback based on the "first impression" of a visitor, Klemme explained.
"You're looking at the community's assets. What are the positives in the community and what can they do to enhance those things and make them better," Klemme said.
While the survey has traditionally been completed by adults, the extension office has adapted it to teens, with the first trip involving teenagers taking place in 2013.
"We thought there were some things that kids could give us feedback on that adults may not look for," Klemme said, "like one of the big things was Wi-Fi access in the community and what businesses have it, where they can get it, phone signals around town, kids are always looking for that kind of stuff."
Among the adaptions to make it more suited for teens was teaching participants where to find certain information, Klemme said, such as housing prices and how to deliver criticism in an effective manner.
This year's trip - which had the students travel to Montello, in Marquette County - also incorporated a self-reflection survey regarding things participants would like to see in Hurley.
Participants filled out their surveys on their phones, Klemme said, as they were supposed to play the role of "secret shoppers."
"Every teenager looks at their phone," Klemme joked, "it doesn't look suspicious at all."
The group travelled to Montello on Friday, July 24, and spent one night in the community. The follow-up, self-reflection meeting took place in mid-August.
One of the big take-aways from the experience, according to Klemme, was the teens' desire to use the area's outdoor space - especially the Montreal River - and incorporate it into downtown Hurley, specifically noting a kayak rental location combined with a riverfront restaurant as one idea that was especially highlighted.
They started to look at Montello and go 'we should do that,'" Klemme said, adding that another item the students focused on was the desire to see a greater variety of businesses in downtown, specifically those targeted toward youth.
He was able to point several teens who advocated for developing a trail along the river to the regional trail committee that is working on developing a route that is almost identical to the one they envisioned.
Getting kids involved in discussions about the future of the area is especially important to Klemme.
"The whole intent for me is not even the community development piece to it, my purpose is to get young people engaged in making decisions that effect their community, meaningful decisions," he said. "They are not just there as token teenagers, they are there to give meaningful feedback that people will hopefully take seriously and take into consideration.
"I'm always going to be an advocate for raising up teenagers ... especially considering we are trying to attract and retain young people in Iron County, we have a whole group of young people that live here, so lets try and figure out how to keep them here or get them to come back after college."
Klemme said the teens also noted the lack of empty storefronts in Hurley compared to Montello as a positive in their own community.
Montello's group, which visited Mercer rather than Hurley - several Mercer students were involved in the process at its early stages but didn't make the actual trip to Montello - hasn't turned over its first impressions of Iron County to Klemme.
He hopes to continue the first impressions trips, potentially visiting a community near Oshkosh, Wis., and have representatives from both Montello and Hurley's groups present to the Iron County Comprehensive Planning Committee.
"Anytime you get kids to start thinking critically and start to problem solve issues that everyone in Iron County is facing, I think it's good," Klemme said. "I think they really did that, they took it seriously."
