ROCHELLE — Rochelle Middle School students shared some of their ideas for the city’s rebranding initiative in a presentation given Monday morning.

Art teacher Bob Donovan assigned a “Rochelle Rebranding” project to the eighth grade students in his second hour class. The class was split into six groups, with each one asked to identify what they believe is working, what needs improvement, and what else might be needed in the Hub City. The groups covered several areas including entertainment, tourism, education, transportation and recreation.

All of the groups illustrated their points with a slide show that Donovan presented and discussed with the class as a whole. Representatives from the city’s branding committee, Jenny Thompson and Sue Messer, were also present.

More than once the students expressed a need for a recreational center, similar to a YMCA. The students said although there are several recreational attributes such as Spring Lake swimming, the skate park, bowling, Little League and fishing, they said not only would the YMCA be an asset, but also mentioned a water park would be too.

“It will raise money for our town, would be a place to go and play basketball year round, will create basketball teams, and will attract lots of people,” were some of the positives that students Garrett Burdin, Michael Schlenbecker, Nolan Morrissette, and Blake Haley brought forth regarding a rec center.

The students also listed several ways to fund the new project including fundraisers, donations, sporting events or running events such as marathons, 50/50 raffles and even celebrity endorsements.

Several other ideas for areas included more technology in any new schools built and new bus stops spread around Rochelle.

Other possible ideas in the presentation included music festivals located at Atwood Park’s band shell featuring all types of genres, an apple orchard, a bigger ice rink, and a spa or salon at Hickory Grove Convention Center.

Students also liked the thought of one day using the quarry located on Dement Road for action-type sports, referencing one in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Great opportunity

Donovan said that due to a scheduling error, most of the eighth grade students in his second hour class were already enrolled in art in the first or second trimester. It was the perfect opportunity to expose the students to art using technology during the trimester. As Donovan explained, the branding design is a form of art.

The RMS project also coincides with the branding initiative started with the city over two years ago, which has included new logos for the city — an art form.

“We went 100 percent technology. The students haven’t touched a paintbrush, clay or even a pencil this entire trimester. For this project, I thought it would be a great idea to compare 13 and 14-year old ideas with adult ideas and see what they come up with,” Donovan said. “They think totally different than adults do about those things.”

Downtown revitalization efforts

The students asked about some of the ideas generated from the city’s rebranding efforts.

“There has been discussion of a plaza with a grassy area and a splash pad that would turn into an ice rink during winter months,” explained Thompson. “The idea is that we would have entertainment or other things 250 days a year. So every weekend, several weeknights there would be movies in the park, bands…things happening all the time so you always have a reason to go downtown.”

Messer added the idea for the plaza is to spur development downtown, which would bring in restaurants and other shops to appeal to people of all ages.

“People bring stores. We can’t bring stores and want people to come. We need activity downtown for people to decide it’s worth their investment to create a store,” Messer said.

More ideas

Thompson asked for more input from the students on what they would like to see at some of the area events. Some notable replies include a pet adoption fair, basketball tournament, street hockey, paintball, soccer tournament, music geared toward the middle school age group, and a hot dog eating contest.

“We love to hear ideas from local kids!  When planning community events we try our best to plan something for everyone and including our middle school kids in the planning process is an excellent way to ensure they too enjoy a sense of community,” Thompson said.