Concert honors KidsMatter’s ‘founding mothers’
Mary Ann Bobosky and Marianne Boyajian have done a lot of mothering.
The Naperville moms raised a combined seven children. They’ve been active in the community with husbands who have been equally active — one with Century Walk and the other on the city council.
Together, the women have nurtured KidsMatter, an organization credited with empowering kids communitywide by giving them the tools to manage everyday stress and ultimately thrive.
Their loving hands helped lay the foundation, and they’ll be honored tonight at the inaugural “Ignite the Nite” benefit concert that features talented children from area schools, as well as “American Idol” contestant Gina Glocksen.
They’re both tickled to be considered the “founding mothers,” honored to be given such a prestigious place in KidsMatter history.
Yet, they say, many others have embraced the concept of building assets in the Naperville community — an idea that resulted from a study done by Edward Hospital in 1995 that pinpointed destructive teen behaviors as a concern in Naperville.
They’re quick to recall names of those they feel played an equal role in the inception of KidsMatter, perhaps none larger than the organization’s executive director, IdaLynn Wenhold.
“It’s dear of her to honor us. It is IdaLynn who is the backbone of this entire organization,” Boyajian said. “She was the one who really built this to be a very viable, well-funded organization.”
Wenhold is quick to turn the credit back to its founding mothers.
“The focus was on creating a communitywide approach, and that was their impetus,” Wenhold said. “They stayed with that initial startup and wanted to see it become a reality. When I came in they were very inspirational to me.”
Following the Edward Hospital study, a task force formed to examine the harmful increase in reckless behavior that was bringing more and more teens to the ER. It seemed some kids thrived despite family hardships while others floundered. Nobody understood why.
The task force — Bobosky and Boyajian among them — sought out Search Institute, a nonprofit organization that does research to benefit children and youth, to explain that there are 40 concrete, positive assets that help kids thrive.
A group of Naperville kids surveyed identified an average of 21 assets out of 40, which is above the national average of 17. The more assets children have, the more they thrive.
The group took on the formal name KidsMatter in 2001. Asset-building became their mission.
The organization doesn’t problem-solve. It’s preventive. It works to head off the potential issues before they become major problems.
“It was a belief that you don’t treat symptoms of problems, you try to prevent problems before they even begin,” Boyajian said. “It was not for — or at — kids. It looks to adults and organizations to be asset-builders.”
In its early days, individual schools picked from a list of 40 assets — some worked on family support, some developed parent education. Others focused on empowerment or creating boundaries for young people and the constructive use of their time.
It was taking parental involvement beyond the bake sales, Bobosky said.
“In order for parents to really be supportive of kids, parents had to become more involved,” Bobosky said. “It’s where parents are not just doing bake sales, they’re doing school improvement teams, they’re giving support to other parents and other social teams.”
Now, years later, Bobosky’s four children are grown and she has 10 grandchildren.
She and Boyajian repeat the names that joined them in KidsMatter history, among them Dennise Vaughn, Karen Sweeney, Sandy Stelmach, former Naperville Unit District 203 Superintendent Don Weber and many others.
“I’m really embarrassed. Don’t ever say it was the two of us. It couldn’t have been without the support of the entire town and, you know, (Mayor) George Pradel. He supports everything,” Bobosky said. “Nobody is ever going to be perfect, but I think with everybody working together it’s just a great partnership.”
Today, KidsMatter has several annual events, including the volunteer fair and the job fair — events that connect kids to hundreds of volunteer and job opportunities in the community. It hosts an annual skater’s picnic and promotes Families Matter Month, an event dedicated to spending quality family time together.
“We’ve planted seeds and other people have taken them and ran with it,” said Boyajian, whose three sons are now all graduates of Naperville North High School, as well as Purdue University.
The women are honored to be celebrated at the inaugural “Ignite the Nite” event — a showcase of local kids’ talent Thursday at North Central College’s Wentz Concert Hall — but they say KidsMatter’s success goes way beyond their own efforts.
“I think the story is KidsMatter. It isn’t the people who work with it,” Boyajian said. “It’s the way that the Naperville community, city departments and businesses embraced asset-building. Our youth is an asset to us.”