Nobles County
Integration Collaborative
117 11th Ave. Suite 1
Worthington, MN 56187
Tel. 507 376-3300
Fax 507 376-3320

maps & directions

NCIC Staff Members

Coordinator:
Sharon Johnson

Program
Aides:

AmeriCorps

Promise

Fellows:

• Thongsay Chantharath
• Jaidy Kolander
• Aida Simon

• Heidi Fransen

• Nancy Landeros

Click names to send email.

more about the staff

Website Menu

·  Advisory Boards & Schools

·  Goals

·  Staff Members

·  Culture Corner

·  Theatre Performances

·  Mini-grant Information

·  Collaborative Retreats

·  Summer Programs

·  Youth Diversity Corps

·  English/Spanish Interchange

·  Map & Directions

·  Elementary Spanish

·  International Festival

·  Staff Development

For information on the YDC 2007-2008 Project Ignition Performances click here.

YDC performed for 8th-grade students at the Exploring Prejudice Retreat in January 2008.  Their performances were paired with a presentation by Timothy Scott called "The Spirit of the Holocaust".  The speech and dramatic sketches were very powerful.

YDC performed for a series of skits dealing with bullying for elementary students in Ellsworth, Worthington, Fulda and Brewster on April 9, 2008.  The elementary students responded well to the presentations.

YDC kicks off the 2006 with showcase performance at MN West

Youth Diversity Corps performed a series of five powerful and emotionally charged dramatic sketches at their 2006 Showcase performance on Monday, November 13. Fourteen high school students from Ellsworth, Adrian, Fulda, Round Lake-Brewster and Worthington High Schools participate in the Youth Diversity Corps (YDC).  The Showcase performance is the YDC’s first performance each year.  Following the Showcase the group schedules performances in area schools and with other organizations to stimulate open and honest discussion about challenging topics facing communities.

According to YDC Coordinator, the YDC members meet together at the beginning of the year to discuss topic that are challenging in their schools and communities.  From these discussions, the group creates its own dramatic sketches to illustrate the types of situations that youth and families face.  Members meet together to practice at least twice a month throughout the school year. 

This year the topics that the students have chosen to focus on are cultural sensitivity, dealing with depression, promoting healthy choices, breaking the cycle of abuse, and preventing violence in schools.  Two of the five sketches are primarily actions with a musical background.  “Even with few words spoken, the images are clear and thought provoking,” said Cristina Guajardo, YDC Coordinator.

At the close of the program, Cristina Guajardo facilitated a discussion with audience members about the content of the dramatic sketches.  Audience members commented favorably on the students’ ability to portray difficult situations in a way that challenges people to evaluate their own attitudes and actions.  Guajardo said that one strength of the group is the representation of members from different high schools.  The presence of a few students from each town lets students in the audience know that there are other students in their school who want to make a difference, who want to promote positive choices and change in their schools and communities.

Members of the 2006 YDC drama team include: Abby Bullerman, Matthew Cook, Alice Reker, Adrian; Gabrielle Cross, Ally Cross, Chena Flora, Round Lake-Brewster; Mahirit Abraham and Mary Stirn, Worthington; Max Kaufman, Jared Mitchell, Tammy Peterson, and Emily Ramerth, Fulda; and Travis Koppen and Rayna Sandoval, Ellsworth.  Ashley Markus, an alumni of the group, serves as a mentor and Heidi Fransen, Nobles County Integration Collaborative youth initiatives coordinator, assists with the coordination.

Groups interested in booking a YDC performance may contact the Nobles County Integration Collaborative at 507-376-3321.

YDC members Matthew Cook, Emily Ramerth, Jared Mitchell, Mary Stirn and Max Kaufman portray youth at a party, in the skit “Never the Same”, which depicts a distracted, or maybe drunk teenage driver causing a serious accident.

Marhiret Abraham, Rayna Sandoval and Mary Stirn portrayed teenage students riding in a car with a distracted and possibly drunk driver in the YDC skit “Never the Same”. 

Tammy Peterson, Chena Flora and Mary Stirn portray a family in which the teenage daughter struggles with depression in the YDC skit “They All See”.