Silver Bay YMCA Ticonderoga Teen Center March Newsletter

SILVER BAY YMCA TICONDERGA TEEN CENTER

OUR MISSION

To provide local youth with a safe space to connect with their community, to engage in opportunities to grow and have the freedom to be their best selves.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The Silver Bay YMCA Ticonderoga Teen Center is a free drop-in program for 6th12th graders located on the main floor of the Armory at 123 Champlain Ave.

Read on for our March highlights!

. Mondays: 3pm-9pm

Tuesdays: 3pm-9pm Wednesdays: 3pm-9pm Thursdays 3pm-9pm

Fridays: 3pm-10pm

Saturdays: CLOSED Sundays: CLOSED

Reach us at: youthandteenstaff@silverbay.org

$5,000 GRANT AWARDED

On March 15 Silver Bay YMCA announced in a press release that the Cloudsplitter Foundation has awarded a $5,000 grant for the Silver Bay YMCA Ticonderoga Teen Center to continue its work providing a safe space and enrichment opportunities for local youth. It is grants like these that allow us to remain a completely free drop-in program and truly accessible to all. The Cloudsplitter Foundation is a philanthropic organization “dedicated to improving the future for the flora, fauna, communities, and people of the Adirondacks.” We are truly grateful for this recognition and support and are eager to continue to grow our program and meet the unique needs of youth in our rural community.

END OF WINTER CARNIVAL

The Silver Bay YMCA Ticonderoga Teen Center was happy to once again be a part of the Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce’s End of Winter Carnival in the Armory Gym. Several of our Leaders Club members volunteered to run carnival style games for families and children in attendance. They also set up candy and prizes for kids to win. Thank you to our teens for participating and helping to make this fun community event a success!

A TEEN LEADER PREPS PRIZE BUCKETS FOR CARNIVAL GAME PLAYERS

DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS

The Teen Center introduced a brand-new program this month based on teen interest and started a Dungeons and Dragons club every Wednesday afternoon. It has been a huge hit with some teens having a bit of prior experience and others trying it out for the first time. The group has continued to grow with each playing session as observers have wished to join the adventuring party. We would like to give a huge shout out to staff member Lana Hurlburt who has made this possible by making her first foray into running a D&D campaign as dungeon master. Lana has not only helped each player craft their character and provided materials to help beginner players jump right into a very complex role-playing game, but she has also concocted themed snacks for players to enjoy as part of the world building. In the first session, players went to the rescue of a dwarven family who were celebrating a holiday and tried delicious cranberry cakes being served as part of the festival. In the next session, players got to partake in a real venison stew! Thanks to all who have joined this adventure so far, and we are excited to continue this offering at the Teen Center.

TANGHULU

There was an abundance of treat making in the Teen Center kitchen this month including Tanghulu, Irish Soda Bread, Banana Bread, Shamrock Shakes, Bubble Tea, and fruit smoothies! Tanghulu is a traditional Chinese snack consisting of sugar-coated fruit on a skewer. Staff helped melt sugar and honey in a pan while teens skewered their choice of grapes, strawberries, and clementines.

BREAD BAKING

In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, the teens baked Irish Soda Bread. They always love baking, so it’s no surprise that when some of our bananas were starting to pass their prime, they took advantage of the ingredients we have on hand to make banana bread too.

SHAMROCK SHAKES

Another festive St. Patty’s themed treat was homemade shamrock shakes! This activity was easy and straightforward, but the teens loved it all the same. Sometimes it’s nice to go light on the new skills we ’ re teaching in favor of celebration. We certainly loved seeing the smiles on the teens’ faces when they shared this frozen dessert.

BUBBLE TEA

The teens did learn a few new skills as they worked together to make their own bubble tea. This was a several step process involving brewing green tea, prepping the boba (tapioca balls), cutting strawberries, and adding lactose free milk so that everyone could enjoy. Bubble tea originated in Taiwan in the 1980’s but has spread globally and become wildly popular in the US over the last decade. However, since it can still be hard to find outside of larger cities, our rurally located teens were thrilled to learn how they can prepare it on their own.

FRUIT SMOOTHIES

Staff also incorporated important information about nutrition through the highly motivating method of making fruit smoothies with the teens. Smoothies can be made with many bases including milk, yogurt, or juice and can be a great way to help youth, including picky eaters, incorporate enough fruit into their diet. Because they can be made with fresh or frozen fruit and prepped in advance, smoothies can also help reduce food waste from tossing out produce that has gone bad.

TEEN CENTER DINNER

We were once again joined by Silver Bay YMCA’s Chef Anthony Basile and Brianna D’Haiti for our March Teen Center Dinner. The teens worked together to make tamale pie, a creative casserole style version of some of their favorite foods. We are so proud of the commitment that several of our participants have made to help prepare every dinner and learn all they can from Chef Tony. We have some aspiring future chefs in our midst and it’s wonderful to see them take full advantage of this learning opportunity and gain confidence while exploring their passion for cooking.

ARTS & CRAFTS

Our teens have been eager to express their creativity this month and have regularly been pulling out paints and art supplies. They have also been taking advantage of sunnier days to paint on the steps or the lawn outside. Sometimes the kids like to have a little structure and set out with a specific goal for what they want to make, other times they just enjoy playing with color and texture and seeing where it leads them. We’ve been having lots of discussion about how art and creative expression can be an asset to wellness and help relieve stress. Coming up next month we ’ ve planned an activity specifically around drawing as a mindfulness practice and two of our Leaders Club members have prepared craft activities to lead for their peers.

SPORTS

The Armory gym is busy as ever with teens getting their exercise in regularly through pickup games of classic sports as well as games they have been making up themselves. Teen Center access to the gym is slightly reduced in the coming weeks as we share the space with community sports teams, but teens still have full access for several hours each weekday. March Madness is underway with many teens and staff members having filled brackets to compete for prizes. We are happy to support our own young players and love to see them help one another improve their skills and have fun doing so.

The Teen Center hosted not one, but two egg hunts in the last week of March! The first was for our own teens and consisted of dozens and dozens of eggs hidden throughout our rooms, some of which contained candy while others were full of slime, were empty, or contained tickets for special prizes. We had great participation, and the teens had a blast scouring the building for every possible hiding place. The second egg hunt was run by our Leaders Club members for the kids in the K-5 after school program. This was arguably even more fun for the teens as they got to experience the excitement of the younger children, some of whom were younger siblings, cousins, or neighbors of our participants.

We will be open during our standard operating hours through Ticonderoga students’ spring break!

Come support our Leaders Club as they fundraise to attend upcoming Northeast Regional YMCA Youth Leader Rallies! Our teen members will be selling baked goods as well as art and face painting at Walmart on Wicker St in Ticonderoga on Thursday April 18th between 4 and 6pm. Please stop by!

Our Spring Fling Dance will be held on Friday April 26th from 7-9pm. We hope to see you there!