Silver Bay YMCA Ticonderoga Teen Center October 2024 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 1318 year olds located on the main floor of the Armory at 123 Champlain Ave.
Read on for our highlights from September and October!
. 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
REGISTER NOW!
Registration is completely free! Please register for the 2024-2025 school year even if you registered last year.
We are now on a new registration platform, and it is important that we have up to date emergency contact information for each teen. More than 70 teens have attended so far this year! By creating a profile for the whole household, you will be added to our mailing list and receive the most up to date information about the Teen Center.
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HOMEWORK HELP
Homework help is offered every day after school from 3-4pm but is available by request any time the program is open. Here at the Teen Center, we believe that education is key to unlocking opportunities. Our staff are always happy to help teens with their academic work. Schoolwork is a top priority, so don’t hesitate to ask for help even if there are other big activities going on. If your teen is falling behind in school and missing work, please get in touch with our staff and encourage your teen to make the most of this resource.
COOKING PROGRAM
We are pleased that our cooking program has continued to grow this year thanks to the receipt of grant funding. The Teen Center addre meal components available at all times for any guided cooking and baking activities to teach p range of ingredients on hand so that teens can Our staff have helped teens make dinner nearly year
Some of the unplanned meals that teens have made so far, with the help of staff, include pancakes, spaghetti, tacos, nachos, kielbasa, roasted carrots, mac and cheese, hamburger helper, and pizza bagels. They have also enjoyed having ready snacks on hand such as apples, clementines, grapes, and granola bars.
FAMILY STYLE DINNERS
HOMEMADE PIZZA
Our first family style meal of the year was homemade pizza from scratch. The teens were surprised by how simple the process was despite the unfamiliar steps of proofing yeast and kneading dough. The basic ingredients resulted in a delicious crust and the teens were able to customize their pies with different shapes and toppings.
GNOCCHI
The October recipe was a repeat of a big hit from last year. The teens made gnocchi, a potato-based pasta, from scratch. They rolled, shaped, and boiled the dough themselves and enjoyed it with their homemade marinara sauce and garlic bread.
A favorite component of our cooking program is our monthly large scale family style dinners. We are fortunate to regularly welcome Silver Bay’s Chef Anthony Basile up to the Teen Center to offer instruction to the kids and introduce them to new recipes. The only requirement for teens to partake in these meals is their participation in the meal prep and cleanup process. It is important that we teach the kids self-sufficiency and life skills as well as creating the o t
BAKING
Everyone loves a sweet treat and we tend to get great participation for our baking activities. So far this fall the teens have particularly enjoyed seasonal favorites featuring apple and pumpkin. Our first major cooking activity of the school year was baking Apple Crisp with special guest Karen Skalla from Silver Bay. The teens were involved in every step from peeling the apples to enjoying the pastry fresh out of the oven served with ice cream. October also featured pumpkin pastries, which were very popular, as well as popcorn balls which were as sticky as they were delicious. Leading up to the dance, teens made a skull cake, a number of creatively frosted cupcakes, and other Halloween themed treats to serve to their peers.
LEADERS CLUB
We are thrilled that our Leaders Club has continued to grow this year! Joining the club is as easy as dropping by any of our meetings held at the Teen Center each month. Our club is part of a broader National network of Y Teen Leaders clubs and participation allows teens to attend seasonal youth leadership conferences in the Northeast. Leaders Club and its associated rallies focus on personal development and community service with abundant opportunities to build confidence and lifelong friendships. Fall Rally will be November 22-24th at Frost Valley YMCA in Claryville, NY. Participation for our Leaders Club members is free as transportation and all associated costs are covered by the program.
LEADERS MEETINGS
Leaders Club meetings are generally 45 minutes to an hour and are held on varying days and times to accommodate the many scheduling conflicts of our teens. Ideally club members are able to attend at least one meeting each month. We generally kick off with an ice breaker or check in activity, continue with items of business, record service hours, and do a values activity. This month we had a particularly fun meeting in which teens brainstormed what characteristics they value most in a friend and what personal values they want to develop in themselves.
FALL FEST
Our first major community service opportunity this year was at Ticonderoga’s Fall Fest in Bicentennial Park. The Teen Center operated a kid’s corner with several carnival style games, a craft table with mask painting, and ballon animals. Teens worked hard leading up to the event to learn some balloon crafting skills. We so appreciate those who volunteered and are happy to say that our station was a hit within the community with so many families stopping by that we went through dozens of masks and 100 b ll !
HAUNTED HOUSE
Our second major volunteer opportunity was at Silver Bay’s Haunted House. This program was largely supported by our teen Leaders Club but was open to others as well. We drove up to nine kids down to Paine Hall on Silver Bay’s campus every Friday in October to participate in this free program for the community. With the teens' help we made it a different experience every night. Hundreds of guests came through and our teens did an amazing job evoking screams and ensuring everyone had a wonderfully spooky time.
HIGH ROPES
On October 26th Leaders Club had a special field trip to Silver Bay’s campus to experience the high ropes course that was installed this past spring! With several varied and challenging elements, it was awesome to see the teens support each other as they each took a step outside of their comfort zones. Club members were introduced to the principle of challenge by choice and practiced setting their own goals and deciding what level of difficulty they were willing to take on. They started with crossing a high wire element and then moved to the “Caterpillar” in which teens had to work together to pull the element into position for their teammate to cross. The universal favorite was the “Giant Swing” in which teens used a haul cord to hoist each other to their desired height and then pulled a self-release mechanism to swing through the trees. Not only was this a fun bonding activity for our Leaders Club members, but it also introduced them to the principles of adventure education and leadership development.
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BASKETBALL
Here at the Teen Center, we like to encourage the kids to get active and move around in our gym space. One of our most popular physical activities is basketball. There were a few nights this month when we had a full gym and teams competing in back-to-back games. Tuesday and Thursday nights in November, the gym will be reserved for High Schooler’s (grade 9 and up). This is by request, and we encourage older teens to come and make use of the space during those times. Of course, younger teens are welcome to use the gym if High Schoolers are not occupying it at that time or may ask to join in at the High Schoolers’ discretion.
TABLE TOP GAMES
There is always something fun to do at the Teen Center. So far this school year teens have been making great use of our air hockey, pool, and ping pong tables. If teens are looking for a competitor, they are always welcome to challenge staff. We’ve also seen several riveting games of chess as well as a few board games. Some favorites include Codenames and Poetry for Neanderthals as well as the classic card game Uno. Computers and X boxes are also available with games like Minecraft and Jackbox.
DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS
Dungeons and Dragons is back and better than ever! No experience is necessary to join the current campaign. Have you ever wanted to bankrupt some mercenaries in a tavern? Or maybe hang out with some weird circus goat lady? Or you can just be a guy named Harry. Join the McFart Squadron on a monumental task to save Baldur's Gate from the destruction of the Hells! Shenanigans included. Join us every Monday in November!
ARTS AND CRAFTS
The Teen Center encourages all our participants to express their creativity and try new things. We always have art and craft supplies available for teens to use whenever they are interested but we also facilitate specific programs regularly. This October we were inspired by Halloween and had a mask making workshop which resulted in some cute, creepy, and hilarious creations. Teens also had fun making and customizing their own slime with glow in the dark glue, coloring, and glitter. Right before the holiday over a dozen teens put their skills to work carving jack-olanterns which served as decoration both for our dance and for trick or treaters. Check out some of the fun designs they created!
COSTUME CONTEST
On October 30th the Teen Center hosted a costume making contest in which competitors had one hour to create the best Halloween costume they could out of the provided materials and whatever else they could find around the Armory. The teens were incredibly enthusiastic and came up with some truly impressive costumes given the limited resources and constraints. The staff then voted for their favorites and passed out prizes. With some truly creepy clowns, an undead nun, and Mr. Krabs coming out on top, who would you endorse for first place?
HALLOWEEN DANCE
We had a fantastic turnout for our first dance of the school year. Over 30 teens showed up for our Halloween Dance. We’d like to extend a big thank you to our Leaders Club members and others who helped plan and set up the dance. Teens chose a graveyard / Beetlejuice theme and made a coffin and balloon arch for the photobooth, baked delicious treats to share, and strung up caution tape, cobwebs, and other decorations to prepare. Photobooth photos have been developed and are available for pick up at sign in, so stop in and grab yours if you haven’t already! Thanks to all to celebrated with us, we hope you had a great time!
