Be a Part of the Solution

Add comment August 27th, 2008

In another month, JA will officially kick off the third edition of the Rockford in 20 contest, which provides K-12 students with the opportunity to answer the question “Where do you see Rockford in 20 years?”

In the last few years that we have done this contest, it is amazing to see some of the creative answers that comes from the minds of our youth. While they are dreamers, they all have realistic plans of how we can reach the best Rockford.

Many of us adults in the community have an unfortunate “Well I’ve seen this before” attitude whenever some idea is introduced - anti-truancy programs, downtown development, crime prevention plans.

“Rockford is Rockford and it will always be that way.” That’s something I hear occasionally and, when I do, it isn’t meant as a compliment. The people who say this are those that need to get out and visit other places. See that other places, while beautiful, have their own set of problems. If you do that, you will see that Rockford, like most any other place, is also beautiful with its own set of problems.

Before we go around making our own children jaded, let’s get a full picture of this community, what it has to offer and encourage your children to do the same. Make them creative, productive optimists who will see the problems you see, be a part of the solution, and increase the beauty in this community to an even greater extent.