This facility provides an environment for teens to study, plays games, grab some chow, watch movies, or just hang out.
It's also a platform to cultivate & nurture meaningful relationships, have conversations, and create opportunities that enhance development within three broad dimensions of life.
It's also a platform to cultivate & nurture meaningful relationships, have conversations, and create opportunities that enhance development within three broad dimensions of life.
Social Competencies
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Individual Character
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Life Skills
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Culinary Arts & Food Science
We come from families that spend a lot of time in the kitchen. It's a place where we share stories, experiment, make messes, sneak cookies, and cook some killer food. It's the one place in the home, above all others, where essential life skills are developed. Apart from just having a good time, the activities that occur in our kitchen develop skills that can be applied in a range of environments as kids progress in life, whether it be for a college student, a single working mom with 3 kids, or a home that supports a large extended family. The articles below are worth considering. We encourage you to take the time to read them, then consider the importance of our food service activities.
Out of School Meal Program
We are excited to participate in the USDA's Summer Meals Program. There are a few hoops to jump through to become an official Site, but we expect to be up & running by the summer of 2023. This program will augment our current food service activities that provides free after school meals during the school year. It will also provide free or discounted meals to younger, school-aged children that would normally be too young for teen center activities.
Maintaining a Healthy Social Environment
When it comes to raising children, we place a lot of value on individual character and social competencies. Yes, every kid is different, and the experiences of each child have certainly shaped who they are and how they behave. That said, regardless of the backstory, we believe there is such a thing as "right" & "wrong" behavior, and history has proved, time and time again, what means are useful for training & bringing up a child. Old civics books tell us a lot about our nation's history, and we like to reflect on the importance that previous generations placed on developing the character of their children so they became respectable, hard-working, responsible citizens - and they understood that such things are the foundation of community health.
Guided Group Discussions
Guided discussions & activities occur every Friday after dinner. The group is informal and aimed at developing best practices as an organization and informing youth so they can better navigate life's challenges. This activity is rooted in a firm belief that healthy, offline, social interaction fosters development and results in youth being more informed & better equipped to move forward through adolescence. Surprisingly enough, we’ve discovered that the kids who attend these activities are more than ready to share their thoughts and discuss what is going on in their lives. Our approach is simple: we create a platform for the group, organize activities that are engaging and fun, then discuss topics that are relevant to the participant’s lives.
