Update: 11/20/08

Hello MJ:

Today I had the opportunity to host a early morning breakfast with the Principals of the two MJ middle schools and MJHS. Joining us was the MJPD Chief, Andy Garrett, and his Deputy, James Hambrick. Also, Mr. Dennis Buchanan, Director of Parks and Recreation and his Deputy, Mr. Rocky Lee were there as well as Dr. Shanna Jackson, Executive Assistant to the President of Volunteer State Community College.

The purpose of the meeting was to establish better lines of communication between our schools and city staff. Working with Mr. Mike Davis, Director of Wilson County Schools, we thought the opportunity to meet one-on-one with the school and city leadership; to discuss issues of mutual concern; and to share information about upcoming events would be a worthwhile investment in time. It turned out to be better than good! The forum provided those of us on the city staff side the ability to speak directly with the men who make day-to-day decisions regarding the education of Mt. Juliet’s young people. We talked about the vandalism that took place at South Mt. Juliet Park and updated the Principals on other crime issues that we’re seeing in our community. We brought these school leaders up to speed on recreational initiatives we’re taking, including last weekend’s teen concert at Charlie Daniels Rec Center, which attracted nearly 200 young people. He talked about better ways to partner with one another, including using the high school’s electronic media program to reach students and parents in advertising our programs, and better ways to promote our Police Explorer program (yes we have one and we are recruiting boys and girls between 15 to 18). We also had the opportunity to hear from Dr. Jackson, who, along with the Dr. Kayleen Gebert, Provost, Middle Tennessee State University, are looking to conduct a higher educational needs assessment in MJ early next year. We’ve been speaking with the leadership of both Vol State and MTSU about starting college and university level classes in our community, and they’ve been very interested in hearing what we, and you have to say. Stay tuned for more on that later.

I want to thank Mike Davis, and Mickey Hall, Director of Operations for Wilson County Schools, for helping to make this initiative happen. Most of all I want to thank Principals Mel Brown, Wendell Marlow, and Mike Gwaltney for taking time from their day to open direct dialogue with us. All agreed it was a long overdue effort that will be sustained in the future.

On a different note, I want to thank the entire crew of the MJ Parks and Recreation Department and several members of the MJ Police and Police Reserves for making our first effort into the world of teen music a tremendous success. As noted above, nearly 200 teens packed Charlie Daniels Rec Center last Saturday, to hear 5 local bands perform. We realize there’s not a lot of recreational opportunities for teens in Mt. Juliet, so this was a learning curve for us. I also want to offer a special thanks to Ms. Mar Augelli. Mar was part of the catalyst behind this venture. Bringing her years of experience from running the Café Express, Mar was instrumental in securing the entertainment for the night, and showing us the ropes of a teen music concert. By every measure this was a success; one we plan to replicate in the near future. We think, with a little more advertising, we’ll be able to pack the house next time. Finally, speaking of Charlie Daniels Rec Center, one of the reasons we wanted to do the concert is to showcase our new teen center. Thanks to a very generous contribution by Dr. Charles Kaelin, the Rec Center now has several pool and ping-pong tables, a large screen TV with electronic games, and even a foosball table. We’re trying to make this a destination for young people, and hope parents who read this will consider your teen center the next time you hear “there’s nothing to do around here”.

That’s about all for now. Let me know if there’s something on your mind. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

R. Robertson