Here is a trivia question for readers. What do Dave Cloud, Carole Hamik, Charlotte Moss and Anita Harry have in common? If you guessed it has something to do with years of supporting youth in the Homer area, you are close. If you guessed it relates to helping operate extra-curricular activities at Homer High School for years, you are closer. Finally, if you guessed they were founding officers of the Homer High Booster Club in 1995, you win! They started a legacy of community support for teens in Homer that has continued for 30 years, establishing a major thread in the fabric of our community that has now become part of our culture.
A closer look at the Booster Club’s history shows how its work cut across all sectors of our community. In addition to the founders, Booster Club officers included Janet Scajkowski, Shere Baechler, Susan Weaver, Sonya Smith, Cindy Farrens, Chris Perk, Connie Isenhour, Janelle Siekaniec, Karen Devaney, Becky Wyatt, Kristen Brown, Diana Hutt, Lucinda Martin, Charles Walsworth, Harmon Hall, Torrie Marrison, Amber Cabana, Brad Roberts, Kathy Beachy, John Rohr, Brad Roberts, Julie Fisk, Kristin Metz, Desiree Smude, Nancy Bishop, Amy Stonorov, Marge Dunn, Kary Adkins, Ginny Evans, Joy Overson, Keriann Baker, Corise Story, Winter Allen and myself. Its most current leaders are Vanessa Fefelov, Amanda Miotke, Melissa Bunker, Arwen Weisser, Britny Bradshaw, Delane Hamik, Paul Story and Erik Niebuhr.
You could not find a more diverse group of parents, coaches, administrators and teachers than this list, all working together to build opportunities for high school students to compete and perform. Most of us did it because we valued the immediate benefits of these activities for our kids. I still remember how “game days” were my best days in high school, and I wanted my daughters to feel that same engagement, challenge and passion. The direct benefits to the community are also clear — for example, the pride we feel when our state champions are escorted back home, or the awe we experience admiring high school artistic performances.
The long-term benefits of these activities are even more impactful, but until recently they were less understood. Thanks to the findings of the Icelandic Prevention model (IPM), we understand better how healthy activities benefit teens much more significantly than the direct benefits of their game day highs. Evidence from the initial project in Iceland, and in worldwide communities which have adopted the model since 2017, shows that the more opportunities youth have to engage in activities they love, the less likely they are to use substances and make other unhealthy choices. Many of us have understood this intuitively, but now we can look to the IPM to learn how to measure and apply this correlation for our youth. Planet Youth Homer is the local initiative to use the IPM framework. This initiative aims to strengthen and reinforce that thread of support that the Booster Club helped spin decades ago.
As we celebrate recent achievements of the high school competitors (state championships in girls’ and boys’ cross country and a repeat state title in football, as well as 24 musicians named to All State Band and Choir), let’s appreciate the behind-the-scenes work of the Booster Club to put those athletes and artists in a position to succeed. (Literally, the Booster Club helps get these kids to competitions by providing travel funds or the actual vans they ride in.)
While acknowledging the importance of schools in supporting healthy activities, the IPM also emphasizes the roles of family and community in that work. Homer already has many out-of-school groups “boosting” kids’ activities. Let’s recognize those programs such as the Nutcracker, Homer Hockey, the Rope Tow, Civil Air Patrol, Community Recreation, Coastal Studies, The Galley, HUFC, the Skate Park group, Teen Night and many more. Like the Booster Club, they all lift up our youth. Imagine the power of harnessing their work with more coordination and purpose. Think of Planet Youth Homer as a community-wide Booster Club, bringing together all the community partners supporting youth to work more strategically to connect them with healthy activities.
As evidenced by 30 years of Booster Club history, this work is not new to our community. The work won’t change, but it will be smarter and more effective because we are applying a proven model of action, grounded in the evidence based premise of primary prevention. I can’t think of a project more aligned with our community’s shared values. Please join the effort.
Ginny Espenshade runs the Kenai Peninsula Youth Court and is part of Planet Youth Homer and wherecanihomer.org. She volunteers at the SPARC and Megan’s Place. To learn more, you can contact her at ginny.espenshade@gmail.com, the Booster Club at homerhsbooster@gmail.com or Planet Youth Homer at anna@elementalconsulting.solutions.
