Art!

Kristina stopped by yesterday for another awesome day of art with the youths of the Teen Center! She came equipped with clay we used to create some really unique paintings. We carved designs into the clay, and used them as home-made stamps for our masterpieces!

The group gets instructions.

Noah's carrot piece is coming along nicely!

Maverick makes a good canvas...at least Ashley seems to think so.

I've created "thumbs up" monsters!

Ashley shows off her final product. Austin approves.

Tomorrow, we will be having FREE pizza at 3pm when we show the 2009 movie Sherlock Holmes. Please note that this movie is rated PG-13 for some violent sequences. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0988045/

If you do not think this movie would be appropriate for your youth to view, please encourage them to spend this time elsewhere.

Reds Game 5/28

Hi there, everyone!

We took a trip out to the Cincinnati Reds game on Friday, May 28. The Reds won 15-6, and the fireworks show was incredible! It was a really great time. Here are some pics from the event!

Noah and Shane swear this is how their school pictures look too.

The universal way to indicate that you're having a great time is the thumbs up. Too bad my face seems to have confused the message.

The crew gets psyched about a 7-run lead!

One word - FROGGY! (Ask your kids what it means!)

Just a reminder that we have lunch EVERY day from 12-1 and snack EVERY day from 2-3. It's completely and TOTALLY FREE.

No field trip this Friday. We'll be having a Teen Advisory Board meeting (pizza included!) from 2-3 on Friday, and will be showing a movie from 4-6. Stop by the Teen Center for free pizza, and give us your input on what you'd like to see us do around here!

Mentos and Diet Coke!

Our Science Guy, Kris, stopped by tonight with a special lesson on the physical reactions that take place when a Mentos mint is placed into a 2-Liter of Diet Coke. (Here's a hint, it's AWESOME!)

I hopped onto the Roof of the Teen Center, and let the bottle drop to the skate park below. The results were intense! One shot back up into the air, above my head! It soared at least 30 feet up.

The kids patiently wait for the bottles to be prepared.

My view from on top of the teen center. Tyler keeps an eagle eye on the proceedings.

Kris prepares the next bottle. That streak underneath Bryan is the result of the first bottle's takeoff.

Summer Programs

Hi there, everyone! I just wanted to keep you updated on some programs we will be offering this summer.

Free Lunch Program - Starting Tuesday, June 1st, the Dayton Teen Center will be providing FREE lunch and snack to any kid who walks in our doors. It will be every day of the summer until school restarts. We will be serving lunch from 12-1pm Monday-Friday. Dayton Independent Schools are being kind enough to bring over meals for the program. Snack will be distributed 2:30-3:30 every afternoon. This is a great opportunity for your kids to get access to free healthy food every day of summer break. So, if you have to work during the day time, don't hesitate to send your kid down to the Teen Center to get a meal, and participate in some of the great games and activities we provide!

Reds Rookie Success League - This month-long program is run by the Reds Community Fund. It is an opportunity for any kid 12 and under to go to Reds practice fields, and learn the fundamentals of baseball, sportsmanship, meet Reds players and coaches, get FREE equipment (gloves and bats!), and have FREE meals every day they're there. It meets twice a week (Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday). Transportation is provided. If I get enough kids to sign up, I will be a coach, and be in charge of whatever team your kids would be on. It will be a great experience!

http://www.redsyouthbaseball.org/pages/default2.asp?active_page_id=75

Summer Service Group (STAR - Serving Teaching and Reaching) - Starting in June, we will be kicking off our Summer of Service initiative at the Teen Center. We will be going into the community and providing service for its members. The Grace Pentecostal Church has been kind enough to take leadership of this program. Any kids who participate in this program will also be giving themselves the opportunity to participate in our Summer Select Field Trips. These trips serve as rewards for kids who demonstrate a genuine commitment to helping others. We will be going to King's Island, The Beach Water Park, and we will be taking a 3-day canoeing and camping trip in late July on the Little Miami through Morgan's Livery. We are also tentatively planning other trips throughout the summer. This is a great opportunity for our kids to show how good they can be, and to have unique experiences they wouldn't have otherwise!

Swimming Wednesday - Starting the first week of June, we will be going to the Campbell County YMCA's outdoor pool every Wednesday from 4pm-5pm. There is absolutely no cost to attend. Just show up at the Teen Center at 3:30, and be ready to get wet!

A note on field trips and swimming - In order for us to transport our kids to the various destinations throughout the summer, we will be using a YMCA Minibus that seats 13 kids and 2 staff members (a driver - me, and an additional staff member). I may be able to acquire an additional bus from a different YMCA for special trips, but that will be a rarity. In order to assure that everyone gets the opportunity to participate in our trips, I will be giving priority to those youths who participate in our character building activities and programs throughout the week. These programs include Art with Kristina (Mondays), STAR (Tuesdays), and Science with Kris (Thursdays).

If the number of youths intending to participate in field trips becomes large enough, I may have to do a pool of names from a hat. Each program a youth participates in counts as one extra time their name gets put into the hat as an opportunity to be selected for the field trip.

Art with Kristina

Hi there, folks!

Monday, 5/24 marked the beginning of a new era of art for the Teen Center. We are re-newing our commitment to providing outstanding arts and creative output opportunities for our kids. We've opened the doors of our Art Lab to local artist and Thomas More graduate Kristina Marcelli to stop in every Monday at 4pm. She'll bring in art projects that inspire us to think and create.

Yesterday, we created an "All About Me" collage. We hunted through an assortment of magazines in search of words, images, and ideas that we think best define ourselves.

Here are some pics of the kids in action -

The kids hard at work!

Austin shows off his collage from within the Art Lab.

For more information on Kristina, and to see some of the amazing work she does, check out her website!

http://web.me.com/kristina.marcelli/kristina.marcelli/Home.html

Laser Adventure 5/21

This past Friday, we went out to Laser Adventure in Florence for some laser tag and mini golf fun. Everyone had a great time, and we look forward to the opportunity to make a second visit out there later in the summer!

Everyone on the bus! I couldn't convince the kiddos that NPR was worth listening to on the way there. Someday. Maybe.

In pre-game briefing. I think they've all got the rules down, because no one seems to be paying attention!

Lights out!

The crew!

SLIP N' SLIDE!

This past Friday, May 14th, we were scheduled to make a trip up to the Campbell County YMCA. Unfortunately, a scheduling conflict prevented us from getting the bus to drive us up there. Sorry again, guys! To make up for it, we decided to get out our 7 massive tarps, and lay them out along the side of the flood wall behind the building. With some baby oil and our hose, we created the most intense slip n' slide for miles around! Rodney set the record for farthest slide early on, and was able to hold the title the whole day. Well done, Rodney!

Here are some pics!

Austin zooms down while some of the boys head back up the hill for another round.

Rodney is a slip n' slide champ!

Ezra is the king of the hose. Special thanks goes out to Bryan, Danny, Ryan, Ashley, and April for helping to set up the tarps!

Also, a big thank you goes out to April for taking these pictures for us!

Science With Kris

Hey guys!

Just wanted to take a second to let everyone know about our Science with Kris program every Thursday night at the Teen Center from 5-7. Kris Thomas is a YMCA employee and Graduate student at the University of Cincinnati, studying Geology and Education. Kris is an incredible resource to have around the Teen Center. Kris uses his insight and understanding of the scientific world to enlighten us on how things work! Kris brings with him fun and interesting activities that encourage discovery and curiosity.

Last week, we went out to the river behind the teen center to learn about the natural geography and history of our own back yard. Here are some pics!

The river has always been a vital aspect of our natural ecosystem, and its social and cultural influence is immeasurable! Understanding and respecting the river is important.

Everyone into the Tech Lab for a quick review of what we've learned. Oh yeah, and did I mention all the popcorn you could ever want?

Reds Game 4/23

The kids from the teen center went to Great American Ball Park to see the Reds play the San Diego Padres. The Reds were down by 10 runs by the 6th inning, but we still had a blast! At about the 4th inning, we decided it would be more fun to use the opportunity to do an impromptu scavenger hunt. Our good friend Cole from the YMCA's Camp Ernst took a group of kiddos around the ball park collecting signatures from people of all walks of life - vendors, baseball fans from as far as California, ushers, mascots, police officers, the fire chief for Cincinnati, and many more folks. By the time they were done, they had collected 4 pages worth of autographs, and met a lot of really cool people!

During the pre-game batting practice, YMCA kid Maverick got a ball tossed to him by a Reds player! Very cool! We are returning to Great American Ball Park on Friday, May 28th for their home game against the Astros.

Here are some pics from the trip!

The older teens enjoy the game. Their leadership and character is a valuable asset for us!

The kids patiently wait for the action to get underway. Check out Mav's ball!

Welcome to the new YMCA Teen Center Blog

Hey everybody! Welcome to the NEW blog for the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati's Dayton Teen Center. Check in here for daily updates on events, happenings, and activities going on at the Teen Center. We'll also be using this to post pictures and videos of what we've been up to.

Feel free to leave your feedback and suggestions in the comments section!