“When I think about Asset Champions, I think about 
superheroes,” observed St. Louis Park high school senior Laura at an Asset Champion meeting in her community. “We should have someone dress up as a superhero and talk about what it is to be an Asset Champion.” This is how it came about that the mayor of St. Louis Park found himself dressed as a superhero in a red cape and mask, along with his sidekick, Children First co-chair and high school senior Erica, talking about what it means to be an Asset Champion for the launch of Children First’s new Asset Champions Network last January.
St. Louis Park, Minnesota launched its Asset Champions program in January of 2007. Asset Champions are adults and youth of all ages that have gone through asset training and are committed to supporting youth and asset building in the community. There have been 100 people trained in the last year and there are big plans brewing for the upcoming months, including an asset champion coloring book made up of St. Louis Park citizens who are “superhero” asset builders in the community.
Some of the things that the Asset Champions do in the community are fairly simple. “When they all went through the training, we told them to think of simple ways that they could integrate the assets into what they already do,” said Karen Atkinson, director of the St. Louis Park Children First initiative. One woman wanted people to know that a love for reading is an asset and she now talks about assets with volunteers involved in the school’s Read-a-Thon. The Community Education Department is putting the words “asset builder” on the back of the t-shirts worn by the staff in their summer programs to raise awareness and get people thinking about assets. “We’d love for people to do grand things, but we also don’t want them to get overwhelmed, so we ask them to start small,” says Karen.
The coloring book idea was born of the same inspiration that persuaded the mayor to dress up as a superhero. At the core was a desire to recognize the great things that people were doing for kids. If it had to do with asset building, why not make it fun? Partnering with a local artist who donated his time, the superheroes will be caricatured and their images placed in a coloring book, ready to be filled in with bold and brilliant colors by some of the same kids that had nominated the asset building superheroes in the first place. Nominations were solicited around the community and there was an overwhelming response. Though in the end there will only be fifteen superheroes highlighted in the coloring book, Children First received an astounding 120 nominations.
Though only some of the asset builders in St. Louis Park will have the honor of appearing in the superhero coloring book, the community does an excellent job of recognizing many others. Children First recognizes asset builders in more detail, writing up a small article about that person that is highlighted in the asset-builder spotlight. In January the asset builder spotlighted was Pastor Carl Darrisaw. Last October an entire family of asset builders was recognized. There are no flashing lights or awards ceremonies involved in recognizing the good work that these asset builders do; just acknowledging and thanking people for what they do is enough, as the work is very rewarding. Whether it is the book that will be distributed to kids across town, an online news article, or asking someone to dress up in superhero getup, St. Louis Park shows its appreciation for the little things that people do in the community. And that’s really what asset building is all about – the little things.
Karen Atkinson can be reached by phone at (952) 928-6075 and by email at atkinson.karen@slpschools.org
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