News Release

Blacksburg Middle School Students Win Youth Group Effort of the Year Award at the Annual Virginia Statewide Neighborhood Conference

This past weekend, Blacksburg Middle School won the Youth Group Effort of the Year award at the annual Virginia Statewide Neighborhood Conference. This award reflects the partnership between the school and local government that was fostered in 2004 when Blacksburg hosted the annual conference. Kim Kirk, with Community Neighborhood Services, has been instrumental in recruiting Blacksburg Middle School civics teachers Donna Logan (retired), Beth Levinson and Gus Teller in an attempt to make civics come alive for students by making civic participation a way of life. Together they have been successful in launching a number of activities that contributed to their winning of the award this year.

Last year, as part of the civics class, students participated in Project Citizen which required them to identify a public policy issue, research the problem and offer a policy solution. Students successfully learned about their local issues through cooperation from many local government officials who came in to talk to them and to listen to final presentations. This activity ended with a trip to Richmond where a group of students got to see first hand how the General Assembly would vote on the smoking ban legislation a number of students had worked on as their topic. In addition, students worked with Karen Drake who heads the Comprehensive Planning Commission for Blacksburg by presenting their ideas for Blacksburg development. These suggestions were adopted last year in the final Comprehensive Plan. A small group of student representatives attended the Virginia Statewide Neighborhood Conference last year in Danville. At this conference the students learned about participation on the local level, ways to improve their own neighborhoods, and about issues that present challenges to other Virginia neighborhoods. As a result of the active civic participation of the Blacksburg Middle School eighth graders last year, they have been honored with the Youth Group Effort of the Year award.