Adventures
Adventures is an after school program offered to all students in grades kindergarten through 5th grade in Watonwan County. We collaborate with the University of Minnesota Extension- 4H and provide programming during the school year and summer.
Adventures provides youth with fun, educational activities after school with topics changing monthly.
Some topics covered are science/engineering, painting, cooking/nutrition, theater, physical education, agriculture/gardening, etc.
How to register for Adventures:
Registration for Advetures is now online! You can register for available activities at https://SaintJames.RevTrak.net under the Youth Development tab. Flyers will come home from school informing families of the upcoming activities.
Call the Youth Development staff if you need any help registering your child(ren).
Big Buddy
Big Buddy is a mentoring program that helps build positive, caring relationships between youth and volunteer mentors in the community.
Monthly group activities are provided for participating youth, such as; game nights, arts and crafts, movie nights, bowling, swimming, community service projects, and holiday parties.
BECOME A MENTOR
Complete a short application, provide references, and complete a background check.
You must be 17 years of age or older, and be willing to spend at minimum 1-2 hours per month with a youth.
BECOME A LITTLE BUDDY
If you are between the ages of 5-17, you may join the Big Buddy Program. Youth are provided monthly activities and/or a mentoring relationship with a caring, responsible adult role model. Most activities are free of charge or at a reduced cost for all enrolled youth.
STRIVE
STRIVE is a partnership between St. James Senior High School, Watonwan County Youth Development and various local service groups and clubs. St. James High School wants each and every student to be successful in their learning experience. All the programs sponsoring this program share the same commitment.
STRIVE is designed to help students increase their grade point average by offering scholarships for post-secondary continuing education. An outline of the STRIVE program is as follows: monthly meetings with other STRIVE students and adults from the community, information on topics important to students as they prepare to graduate, and, occasionally speakers from the community.
Teen Court
Teen Court provides juvenile non-violent offenders with an alternative to appearing in District Court before a judge. In Teen Court, youth offenders are held accountable through a sentence determined by a jury made up of teens who volunteer to be on the jury. This gives offenders the opportunity to face their peers and make up for harm done. Teen volunteer jurors are able to make a difference in their communities by deciding on a fair consequence for the offender.
Goals for Teen Court:
Hold juvenile offenders accountable in a timely and fair manner
Educate youth on the legal system
Reduce the number of cases in District Court
Youth Council
Vision: Youth are empowered to be active and engaged in the community decision process now and in the future.
Mission: The St. James Youth Council provides the youth in St. James an opportunity to learn leadership skills and to put them into practice solving problems or issues that affect them and provide the youths' perspective to the community as a whole.
The Youth Council meets the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month at the Watonwan County Library.