Pasadena Child Development Associates, Inc.
Pasadena Child Development Associates, Inc.
"OurSpace" Teen Club
Learn About the PCDA Teen Club Program
OurSpace Blog Entry, 5/16/09
Sports Tournament at Victory Park
For a recreational activity to celebrate the warm May weather, the teens decided to get active with a sports tournament at Victory Park. To have enough people for teams, they decided to combine the groups and plan this one together. First they came up with a list of all their favorite sports, such as Baseball, Volleyball, Bocce Ball, "Cross My Ocean," Frisbee Golf," Extreme Hide and Seek," etc. They decided to let everyone have 3 votes to see which ideas had the most interest. The top two ideas were Dodgeball and Capture the Flag, so they decided to play these on Saturday, with a snack break in between. Everyone figured they would need plenty of water!
On Saturday at Victory Park, first the teens had to figure out where to play. The park was very popular, but they found a space between several large trees that had enough room and plenty of shade. They decided to make the boundary line between two trees. Once everyone had decided which side they were on, the big, light ball began flying back and forth, and they had to decide on some rules as they went along. Are you out if the ball hits you after it bounces? They decided no. Are you out if someone catches a ball you threw? Yes. If you get out, do you have to leave the game, or do you join the other side and keep playing? Join the other side. Some teens who tended to catch the ball more often would pass the ball along to their teammates to let them play too. The teens played for nearly an hour then took a break for snack.
During snack, one of the girls (who used to be pretty shy!) suggested we play Kickball after the break. The group as a whole had chosen Capture the Flag, but this teen spoke up and advocated for her idea, and she convinced some of her friends to come with her to play. Way to go! So some of the teens played Kickball, and some played Capture the Flag. In Teen Club, if we listen carefully and negotiate with our friends, we can usually find something for everyone. This sports tournament in the park was really fun!
Cure Autism Now Walk
On Saturday, April 25, several teens represented Teen Club at the Walk Now for Autism at the Rose Bowl. At the Resource Fair outside the stadium, they volunteered at the PCDA booth, assisting younger children with crafts and talking with families who wanted to know more about what they did. Then, with so much activity at the Resource Fair, the teens wanted to look around and see what else was going on. So they took handfuls of flyers and walked amongst the huge crowd of parents, professionals, and other supporters. Wherever they went, they found people to talk to, and they continued building their confidence interacting with people in the community. It was an overcast morning that became sunny, and by the time they met their parents at noon, they were pleasantly tired from their own "walks" for autism.
OurSpace Blog Entry, 1/15/09
By Joseph K. and Andy D.
In teen club all the teens can decide to choose what things we can do. On Saturday we meet at the place we planned. On January 10, 2009, the teens decided to go for a vocational activity at "Home Boy Bakery Industries." The teens went to have a tour there. We learned from the staff when they want to finish college, or a high school diploma. "Home boys" can help each other to finish it. The teens loved mostly the baked goods and food at the Home Girl Café.
Note from Dr. Brandt:
Homeboy Industries was founded by Father Boyle in the inner city to provide working opportunities for former gang members and others who have chosen to make positive contributions, changing their world for the better. This group of teens had identified vocational interests in food services management, so they have also visited restaurants, worked in a soup kitchen, and taken a tour of a restaurant supply warehouse to learn more about this area of interest.
Newsletter article, August 2008
What's Teen Club up to these days?
by Dr. Brandt
Last time, the teens wrote the newsletter article themselves, but this month they are just too busy planning their upcoming activities, so I just asked them to shout out all the different things they thought we should include in the article, and they filled up an entire page of butcher paper. That's too much to fit into one article, so I'm just going to mention a few of them.
For example, there's the community service project working on the Eagle Rock Canyon Trail. All the work on the trail, including planning, digging, and upkeep, has been done by local volunteers over the last two years. The teens have gone back several times. Once they helped an Eagle Scout from a local troop with his Eagle Project installing trail markers and a sign for the trail. Another time they focused mainly on planting plants and trees at the base of the trail, helping start a botanical garden. Other times, they've cleared weeds away from the trail to keep it clear and useful for hikers. Going back to volunteer with the same community groups multiple times is a way to get to know, and become part of, a community.
Social and recreational activities are also great opportunities for building friendships. Being able to hang out with friends is a big part of the teen years, when social development calls for increasing independence from the family and increasing involvement with a peer group. So a couple of weekends each month, we plan "fun" events in addition to our community service and vocational ones. Bowling, miniature golf, taking the Metro to someplace interesting (Chinatown, or downtown, or an ice cream parlor in South Pasadena) - these teens are going to know how to get around in the community.
We also think about other things that all teens think about. What am I going to be when I grow up? What's out there in the "world of work"? When we meet on Thursday evenings, in addition to planning the next activities, we also review the previous activity and talk about what jobs we saw. For instance, at a movie theatre, there are people selling tickets, taking tickets, and running the snack bar; there are also managers who run the place. The teens wanted to know more about that, so they planned a trip to a movie theatre to get a behind-the-scenes tour with the Manager, who answered all kinds of questions about what it's like to work there.
Our Thursday evening meetings are PCDA are always chock-full of activity. The smaller groups report back on their weekend activities to the whole Teen Club, and they plan new activities as much as a month in advance. Sometimes we also have time to get into other topics. Last Thursday, for example, we were exploring the topic of teasing and bullying at school. The teens came up with a list of different examples of teasing and bullying they'd seen or heard about at their schools. Then they picked a situation (somebody insulting you because of how you look) and we acted it out, with teens and staff members role playing all the parts. They tried various responses, and they explored how those responses might work out. We're always trying out new things and stretching our limits!
June 2008
We are in the Teen Club. Teen Club is a fun, educational place where we make friends and do things. Here are some things we have done: we took the train (Metro), we went to the mall (city bus), we planted trees for a trail at Eagle Rock, and we worked on a float for the Rose Parade. It won the Princess Trophy! We went to a museum, a bowling alley, and the theatre (movies). We helped fix up a playhouse for Ronald McDonald House and took a tour. We have used public transportations. They were both Metros. We learned about jobs, helping other people, and about people with hardships. We learned about money. We learned about how much the Metro costs and we learned about how to get change back.
We wrote this article. (A person who writes articles is a journalist.) We research everything on the Internet. The PCDA staff helps us plan everything. We have fun no matter what the weather is!