By Ryan Duey

During the February 14th Clay Counts Coalition meeting Wade Reh with K-State Research and Extension spoke about resources for community mental health and vitality. The River Valley district represents 4 area counties. The group spoke about how Clay Counts could use the resources of KSU Extension and Research in the future.

Another discussion came for Raegann McDonald and Izzy Blackwood of YLinK, who spoke on the Teen Mates initiative, where high school students would help mentor younger-aged students. They currently have 12 high school students signed up to mentor and hope to start this program at Garfield Elementary School by the end of the month.

A proposal was made for a Community Garden to be added North of the Health Department. The plan is to make this an above-ground garden so donations and supplies would be needed to build garden boxes. Superintendent Nelson mentioned during this topic that the high school construction tech classes could possibly help with the boxes.

As a reminder, Saturday Night Lights at Common Ground will take place this Saturday, February 24th from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm. All Clay Center and Wakefield High School students are invited.