San Juan Basin Health Department, Celebrating Healthy Communities coalition, and Boys and Girls Club of La Plata County are pleased to announce the winners of the 2015 La Plata County Adult Role Model Award. Having an adult role model who exhibits positive, responsible behavior is one of the 40 developmental assets that research shows help young people grow up to be healthy, caring, and responsible. The more Developmental Assets young people acquire, the better their chances of succeeding in school and becoming happy, healthy, and contributing members of their communities and society.
Youth were asked to nominate adults in their lives who model positive, responsible behavior. Nominations were broken into five categories: there is one winner from each town (Durango, Ignacio, and Bayfield), as well as winners from the Native American and Hispanic communities. Selection committees compiled of adults and young people were formed for each nomination category to determine winners. The winners are: David Boyd (Native American), nominated by Sara Chakee; Joey Hodlmair (Bayfield), nominated by Aspyn Jenkins; Maria Gonzales (Hispanic), nominated by Katie Williams; Dublin Wilmer (Ignacio), nominated by Hunter Cayle Robbins; and Jacob Hetrick (Durango), nominated by Ethan Giersch.
"Congratulations to our winners," health department staff wrote in a press release. "And thank you to the young people who nominated over 250 adults in La Plata County. All young people who participated also won a $12 gift certificate to Maria's Bookshop in downtown Durango. If you, or a young person you know, nominated a role model, go into Maria's Bookshop any time before Sept. 30, tell them who you nominated, and pick up your $12 gift card to spend at the shop!"
The Adult Role Model award contributes to increasing developmental Assets among youth, a major goal of both San Juan Basin Health Department and Celebrating Healthy Communities.
Specifically, efforts aim to raise awareness about the importance of positive adult role models and promote those who are already positively impacting our youth. These efforts also give youth a way to acknowledge and publicly recognize those members of our community. Although we're thankful for all adults in our community who work to positively impact youth, there are still improvements to be made: data from a 2014/2015 survey show only 37 percent of youth from participating schools in La Plata County perceive that parents and other adults model positive, responsible behavior. The average number of Developmental Assets in La Plata County is 21.9, an improvement from an average of 19 in 2007. This is due in part to the collaboration of community members and organizations working to support youth and provide positive outlets to help them develop and thrive.
For a full list of the 40 Developmental Assets, please visit: http://sjbhd.org/files/40Assets%281%29.pdf.
For more details about the awards, please contact Cindy Schultz at cschultz@sjbhd.org.
