Barton County Commission meeting at a glance
Here is a quick look at what the Barton County Commission did Tuesday morning:
• Heard a Community Anti-Drug Coalitions Of America Mid-Year Training Institute recap.
Tyler Morton, prevention advocate with Juvenile Services, and Holly Bowyer, with the Center for Counseling and Central Kansas Partnership board member and Suicide Prevention taskforce leader, supervised a youth trip to the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America Mid-Year Training Institute July 16-20 in Dallas, Texas. Local students Aaron Deason, Jasmine Figueroa, Makinzie Beneke, Grace Vandine, Alvin Bowyer and MaKiah Webber attended the training as well. The group provided details.
• Approved an update to the employee handbook.
In January, the Commission adopted policy 110, DOJ / OVW Funding – Interaction With Minors, into the Employee Handbook. The Office of Justice Programs Hubbard, office manager and investigator with the Barton County Attorney’s Office.
• Appointed Linn Hogg, director of Volunteers in Action, to the Southwest Kansas Area Agency on Aging Sub-Regional Council.
The county recently sought applicants for one position on the SWKAAA Sub-Regional Council. SWKAAA helps determine long-term needs and adequate programs for all senior citizens in southwest Kansas, said County Administrator Matt Patzner. Appointees are required to attend four quarterly meetings per year, with mileage reimbursed. The uncompensated position ends in September 2026.
• Approved a one-time $2,000 contribution to the county employee trust fund in honor of commission Chairman Shawn Hutchinson for his efforts with the Courthouse HVAC replacement project.
Following the agenda meeting, the following appointments were scheduled:
• 9:45 a.m. – program update with CKCC Director Amy Boxberger and Juvenile Services Director Marissa Woodmansee.
• 10:30 a.m. – program update with Barton County Conservation District Manager Veronica Coons.
• 10:45 a.m. – vehicle repair update with County Works Director Darren Williams.
• 11 a.m. – regular business discussion with County Administrator Matt Patzner.
A group of youth from around Barton County told Barton County Commissioners Tuesday morning they felt energized after they attended the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions Of America Mid-Year Training Institute in Grapevine, Texas, last month.
Tyler Morton, prevention advocate with Juvenile Services, and Holly Bowyer, with the Center for Counseling and Central Kansas Partnership board member and Suicide Prevention taskforce leader, supervised Barton County Youth Crew trip to the conference July 16-20. Local students Aaron Deason, Jasmine Figueroa, Makinzie Beneke, Grace Vandine, Alvin Bowyer and MaKiah Webber attended the training as well.
“We have five of our six youth group reps here today to talk a little bit about what they learned,” Morton said. “This is one of our big training conferences throughout the year” and there were 2,500 members with 500 youth there from 20 countries in attendance.
“You should be very proud of the youth that did go,” Bowyer said. The Barton County members were selected to go on stage at the end of day two and present what they learned.
“They were complemented and did very,” Bowyer said.
Following a video presentation highlighting the trip, the students took center stage.
“I just want to touch base on some of the stuff that I learned,” said Figueroa, who will be a junior at Great Bend High School. “The most important one that stuck out to me was there was one about marijuana and how early use into it can cause medically induced dementia or other diseases like that, even heart disease.”
There are even cases where 25-year-olds were developing dementia.
“With the potency, nowadays, marijuana should be considered a hard drug” she said. “It is so much more than what it used to be. “
The local group had the chance to challenge some of the speakers on why kids find the alcoholic hard seltzers so appealing. The speakers said it was they are low-calorie.
“Afterwards, we finally went up and talked to him,” she said. “We really don’t count calories anymore, it’s not something we’re caring about at a party.”
She also liked a session on how alcohol companies market their products towards teens. It opened her eyes to the tactics used to engage with youth.
Lastly, she said she got a lot out of a session on dealing with different personality types (bullies, critics, etc,) and how to better work with others. The speaker “talked about that there’s no I in team but there is a me” and everyone has to find their own strengths and apply them in team settings.
Beneke will be a freshman at GBHS. “We learned many things in our key essentials group. But one thing that really stuck out to me is we learned logic models,” she said.
“We learned how to take problem statements which are like taking a problem from your community and explaining it in a reasonable sentence with different key components,” she said. They chose to tackle the vaping issue, specifically the favorable attitudes towards it and social access.
Other groups took on topics like gun safety, cannabis and heroin. “There were a bunch of different and interesting things and it kind of just showed us the difference in what’s going on in our communities and how it’s not just in our community.”
Now, they are bring this message back home and trying to spread the word, she said.
“One of the things that I wanted to bring back to Barton County the most was prevention against tobacco,” said Webber, who will be an eighth grader at Hoisington Middle School. There is a lot of talk about vaping, “but I think we should have talked more about cigarettes because, yes, although people vape way too often, teens also smoke cigarettes as well.”
Tobacco use can lead to many cancers and other diseases. “Now I don’t know about these other teens, but personally I don’t think it’s worth it,” she said.
Still, “I learned a lot,” Webber said. “I learned that most teams are pressured into vaping, meaning if teens could just say no there will be less vaping. But I do know that’s tough.”
On a positive note, the State of Kansas passed a law that went into effect July 1, that people must be 21 to buy tobacco products, “which I find amazing, because that is going to make it harder for teens to actually use tobacco.”
“What is important to me was underage drinking,” said Alvin Bowyer, a sophomore at Ellinwood High School. “The kids who do this usually brag about it at school.”
