The Inver Grove Heights Parks and Recreation Department won an award from the Minnesota Parks and Recreation Association for creating a successful event for middle schoolers who want to have fun and stay safe after a Simley High School football game.
Middle schoolers are a tough crowd. Inver Grove Heights found a way to entertain them.
The city’s Parks and Recreation Department recently won an award for the “5th Quarter” lock-in event held after a Simley High School football game.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
July 26, 2024 at 12:00PM
Nearly 200 students from Inver Grove Heights Middle School showed up at the Veterans Memorial Community Center for its “5th Quarter” lock-in event after the Simley High School Homecoming football game in September. While there, they ate pizza and played inflatable games; the community center’s turf, gym and ice skating rink were open as well.
A parks and rec employee came up with the idea because her previous employer held youth lock-ins, said Rachel Mikel, Inver Grove Heights’ recreation coordinator.
“It was very popular and it’s something for the kids to do,” said Mikel. “We were hoping for at least 50 [kids] and then it just kind of took off.”
The Minnesota Parks and Recreation Association gave the department an award through its “sponsorships and partnerships” category because the event was a collaborative effort with Inver Grove Heights’ Spartan Prevention, Advocacy, & Resource Coalition (SPARC), a group of community and local school district leaders encouraging kids to make choices that don’t involve drinking, vaping or other chemical use.
The event will take place again this fall.
The governor said it may be 2027 or 2028 by the time the market catches up to demand.
