The kids in Commerce City are definitely all right, with the help of the Youth Services newsletter, which came out Dec. 12.
By sharing resources, classes and events for the youth of the Commerce City community, the newsletter, published by the Youth Services division of Commerce City’s Parks, Recreation and Golf department, serves as a “one-stop document” for all things teen-related.
Shannon Griffin, Youth Services supervisor, and Megan Krabbe, recreation coordinator of Youth Services’ general programs, have teamed up to shine a spotlight on the ongoing events and resources that their division offers.
“This newsletter really just highlights our bigger programs and when we are out in the community doing outreach events,” Griffin said. “This is just a way that we can keep all of our monthly updates in one document that we can share with families in the community.”
The most recent newsletter provided a 2024 Youth Services In Review, where they highlighted “Kickstart to Adulthood,” where a Youth Commission Conference brought together 45 high school students to learn more about mental health and student rights.
The newsletter also stated that the Youth Services offered 240 programs and served around 3,759 community members in 2024. In addition, the newsletter reminds the community of upcoming events such as their famous upcoming annual Daddy Daughter Dance in February 2025 where the Youth Services hosts 300 participants at Bison Ridge Recreation Center.
Griffin and Krabbe have worked with Commerce City for close to 10 years, and there has always been a newsletter. Over time, with the increase of technology and the move from paper to digital, the newsletter received a revamp about two years ago. Since then, Griffin and Krabbe have continued to better highlight the important youth-related topics and events in the area.
“We can reach a little bit more of a broader outreach with a better online version of it,” Griffin said.
The revamp of the newsletter includes clickable links and QR codes to easily access programs for specific age groups, and even a “family” link and QR code for a family program by the recreation department.
“We really just want to make it as easy and user-friendly with those links,” Krabbe said.
Creating an easily accessible and user friendly newsletter is key to creating a newsletter that resonates with teens and the community.
“We live in a busy world and if people can’t find what they need right away then they might just forget about it and not register for the program,” Griffin said. “The easier that you make it for participants to register, the better.”
The Teen Newsletter is bilingual, available in English and Spanish and is distributed to all who sign up to receive the monthly updates. Griffin and Krabbe also mentioned that the newsletter is distributed to Adams 14 and 27J schools in Commerce City. The digital route continues to look more appealing and allows the newsletter to have the information it needs without overwhelming the reader.
“We think it’s important that the schools receive the newsletter because they’re the ones that have daily touch points with the teens and youth of the community,” Griffin said. “We serve preschool all the way up to teens so this is just like a collective way that we can put everything in one document so that we can make sure that we capture all of our programs.”
The opportunity to curate a newsletter for teens can be exciting, but letting teens know that their local government holds a space for them is special. Krabbe shared that the most rewarding part of working on the newsletter is seeing the excitement whenever youths try different programs or something new.
“One of my counterparts, she does all of our outdoor programming, so to get to see them do like rock climbing, something that they don’t typically get to do and just seeing the excitement for that is one of my main rewards on why I want to do this newsletter,” Krabbe said. “To get everything pushed out to them so they know what is offered and what they can take advantage of.”
One thing that Krabbe said isn’t featured in the newsletter but that she would like readers to know about is their free teen drop-in room at the Eagle Pointe Recreation Center that’s open from Tuesday to Thursday from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
“On Mondays we have one up at Bison Ridge Rec Center and that’s free for teens. That’s something I really would love for them to know, to utilize,” Krabbe said. “It’s an open, free space for them, just somewhere safe to come at night. We have all kinds of games and video games, and we do all kinds of different activities. It’s free to them; they just have to come in. I want them to know how much we offer for them so that they can get outside of their house and come and do things with their community.”
The Youth Services Newsletter is released monthly, normally in the last week of each month. To sign up, visit https://www.c3gov.com/living-in/notify-me or for more information on Youth and Teen Programs, visit https://recreation.c3gov.com/classes-programs/youth-programs.
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