Small towns lose too many of their high school graduates: they drop out, they move away, they leave for college, they get involved in drugs, they vandalize, or they are just lost. What can you do?
Read “This small town nurtures its teenagers,” a success story from Canada. Here’s the end of the story:
The moral is pretty clear. Rural communities that want to survive must put the development of their young people at the very top of their agendas. The heart of that development is respect and responsibility. The pimply teens soon emerge as scientists, teachers, entrepreneurs, doctors — adult citizens with a major contribution to make. If they have grown up believing that the community truly belongs to them, that they are respected and trusted as well as loved, that the community provides the soil in which they personally can flower, then they will probably want to raise their own children in that same place, in that same way.
What are you doing to engage young people in your business and your community?
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Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
Becky,
This is one of the best links I’ve seen anywhere in months. Thank you.
Having been a middle school cross-country coach for the past few years, I’ve recognized intuitively the truth in this article.
You are a busy person and I haven’t blogged on my old site for many months due to pending organizational change (poor excuse, I know), but if you have a few minutes over your coffee, I’d be honored if you’d browse a few of the old posts at http://www.homerunevents.blogspot.com. It may give you a better feel for why I find your content so valuable in the small town non-profit arena.
From this brand new, baby boomer tweeter…you’re making this fun, Becky. Very refreshing for those trying to make a difference in small communities.
Bobbie, thank you for all the work you are doing to make change and make a difference. I’m honored to think anything we offer is useful to you. And I’m glad to see you chose to start posting again today.