Silver Bay YMCA Ticonderoga Teen Center May 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 May 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

LEADERS CLUB SPRING RALLY

From May 3rd through 5th our Leaders Club members travelled to Camp Jewell in Colebrook Connecticut for the YMCA Northeast Teen Leaders Spring Rally. The Northeast Y Leaders program is the premier Teen Leadership Conference in the region, and we were so glad to bring a full contingent from our local Club. We joined advisors and teens from all over New York State, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut for a jam-packed weekend of team building exercises, games, and values workshops based around service, leadership, and relationship building. Teams competed in a giant relay challenge and then we wrapped up the weekend with a “Decades Time Machine” themed dance. The teens had a great time and will have the opportunity to participate in the 50th anniversary Leaders School, a weeklong summer camp version of a Leaders Rally, this July at our very own Silver Bay YMCA.

TEEN CENTER DINNER

For our final Teen Center Dinner of the school year the kids worked with staff to make a delicious meal of breaded chicken tenders, baked mac and cheese, and baked potatoes. Chef Tony was not able to join us in person this month but was with us in spirit. The teens showed great teamwork and demonstrated many of the skills they have learned over the year from Chef Tony. We are so proud to see their confidence in the kitchen grow each month and hope that the life skills they are learning in this program stick with them. In addition to our monthly large scale family style dinners, teens have regularly been using the supplies we have stocked in the teen center kitchen to cook meals individually and in small groups. We are excited to continue our teen cooking program when we reopen in the fall.

ARTS AND CRAFTS

Teens wrapped up the year by finishing ongoing art projects they had at the teen center. We also did some new painting activities and general crafting with leftover supplies from the year. We love providing a creative outlet for the teens and hearing about their lives as they have fun and get messy. During this school year, teens expressed themselves through acrylic, watercolor, and spray painting. They had a great time creating masterpieces using stencils, decorated picture frames,

RTS AND GAMES

We had some awesome games of kickball in our last month. Teens did a great job adjusting teams to remain fair and calling plays with the support of staff. We also had the usual pick-up basketball games and lots of kids having fun playing on the oculus, x-box, and computers.

DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS

Our Dungeons and Dragons club wrapped up their first campaign, The Dragon of Ice Spire Peak. They had so much fun joking around and role playing and managed to defeat the dragon!

Due to popular demand, the Dungeons and Dragons club will be continuing to meet over the summer using Discord. It will be on an open server monitored by multiple staff including Jackie Palandrani, our Youth and Teen Director, per YMCA policy. Parents are welcome to join to monitor the chat or even join in to play. All participants must adhere to the posted server rules and follow the same behavior policies that are expected in person at the Teen Center or they will be blocked from the server. Meeting times are to be decided through polls in chat. The soft deadline for players to sign up and create their characters for the new campaign is June 23rd.

Access the server at https://discord.gg/uejPRhnKVY

CLOSING DAY

Thank you to all who joined us for our last day celebration! We had so much fun playing a wide range of games. In the gym we had gaga ball and four square in the air. We also had Can Jam, virtual reality games, and some card and board games going on. The teens enjoyed many free sno cones and ate their fill of popcorn. It was a great send off for the summer and we look forward to seeing everyone again in the fall if we don’t see you at camp first!

FIELD TRIP BOAT TOUR

Our last event of the school year happened a few days after the official closing of the Teen Center. On June 4th we were able to bring a van of teens down to Silver Bay’s campus for a cruise on the tour boat. We visited a bald eagle’s nest along the protected shoreline of the Margaret Boyd Rowan Preserve and lucked out with an eagle sighting. We also visited Snug Harbor South for ice cream! It was a beautiful day to be out on the water and a great time was had by all!

TEEN CENTER CLOSED FOR SUMMER

Going to miss us over the summer? Register for day camp at Silver Bay! We have 8 one week sessions from June 24-August 16 and financial support is available. We also have breakfast club this year to make it easier for working parents to drop off their kids before the regular camp day starts. For more information, l