Forum addresses future needs for community

The Scurry County AgriLife Extension Service’s Futures Forum was aptly named — it was designed to solicit public opinion on what community issues the service can address in the future.
Extension Agent Rhonda White said the forum, held Thursday evening at the Scurry County Senior Center, is held every four or five years to gather input on how her office can best address community needs.
People attending the forum voiced their ideas in four general areas: youth development, community development, families and health and agriculture and natural resources.
White said she was encouraged by the amount of feedback she and fellow Extension Agent Greg Gruben received from the public during the forum.
“I was very pleased with how things went tonight and the feedback we received from attendees to help us identify critical issues in our community,” White said.
During the forum, White asked the audience to identify three issues in the four areas that most need addressing.
Under the youth development category, the consensus was the need for a “Life Skills 101” class to help prepare young people for the future. This class would include instruction on communication skills, how to conduct yourself during an interview and the proper way to fill out applications and resumes.
Following that, the audience identified relationship building as a critical need, saying that a program that encourages young people to be engaged with their families, friends and community would be beneficial.
Finally, audience members said that apathy among young people was an issue that needs to be addressed.
Under the families and health category, a need for parenting skills classes was the top issue, including the need for instruction on how to resolve conflicts, increase parental involvement in their children’s lives and developing ways to counter “cell phone addiction.”
The need for job retention and career counseling classes was the top issue identified under the community development category, followed by the need for quality of life services for at-risk groups such as the poor, elderly or shut-ins and a mentorship program to help people deal with a variety of career or personal issues.
In the agriculture and natural resources category, water conservation was identified as the biggest need, followed by agriculture profitability and youth gardening education services.
White said extension agents would take the information collected during the forum and see how they can be best addressed through her office.
“Now that the issues have been identified, we’re going to look at the programs we have available,” White said. “All this will be put in our five-year plan to prepare us for the near future.”