1 RYVES YOUTH CENTER Magazine “Miracle on 14 th Street” _______________________________________________________ Summer 2016 Volume II No. 2 _______________________________________________________ Director’s Message from Jim Edwards At Ryves Youth Center summer is busy inside and out. Children leave school for vacation and often have no direction. They just want to hang out in the center. This summer we were able to offer outdoor activities to the children. For example, with the help of reTHink, we started a community garden. Each day children would walk across the street to make sure that their plants were watered. Some of our children had never watched a plant grow, and picking their first ripe tomato was quite an event. Also, our scouts went camping, and our preschoolers got a renovated playground thanks to the United Way Day of Action and Union Hospital Health Group. Many of our children visited the ISU Community Garden where reTHink held their Salsa Club. Children picked their own vegetables and learned how to make their own salsa. Each week they would bring back samples of their recipes so we all could have a taste. Another field trip went to the Chinese School of the Wabash Valley which held a summer camp where the children learned about Chinese culture. Not all activities were held outside of the youth center. Boy Scout Troop 22 continued its weekly meetings, and tutoring and reading help benefited several of our children. Purdue Extension Office held weekly Health and Nutrition activities, and the TIME for Me mentoring program matched several mentees. In This Issue Director’s Message 1 Preschool Graduation 2 Day of Caring 3 School Supplies 4 TIME for Me 5 First Connections 5 Scavenger Hunt 6 Eden of Ryves 6 Community Garden 8 Salsa Club 9 Chinese School 9 Boy Scout Trip 10 Veteran Graves Project 11 Community Resources 14 Ray Dolle, editor Jennifer Sedam, assistant editor
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RYVES YOUTH CENTER Magazine
“Miracle on 14th Street” _______________________________________________________ Summer 2016 Volume II No. 2 _______________________________________________________
Director’s Message from Jim Edwards
At Ryves Youth Center summer is busy inside and out. Children leave school for vacation and often have no direction. They just want to hang out in the center. This summer we were able to offer outdoor activities to the children. For example, with the help of reTHink, we started a community garden. Each day children would walk across the street to make sure that their plants were watered. Some of our children had never watched a plant grow, and picking their first ripe tomato was quite an event. Also, our scouts went camping, and our preschoolers got a renovated playground thanks to the United Way Day of Action and Union Hospital Health Group. Many of our children visited the ISU Community Garden where reTHink held their Salsa Club. Children picked their own vegetables and learned how to make their own salsa. Each week they would bring back samples of their recipes so we all could have a taste. Another field trip went to the Chinese School of the Wabash Valley which held a summer camp where the children learned about Chinese culture.
Not all activities were held outside of the youth center. Boy Scout Troop 22 continued its weekly meetings, and tutoring and reading help benefited several of our children. Purdue Extension Office held weekly Health and Nutrition activities, and the TIME for Me mentoring program matched several mentees.
In This Issue Director’s Message 1
Preschool Graduation 2
Day of Caring 3
School Supplies 4
TIME for Me 5
First Connections 5
Scavenger Hunt 6
Eden of Ryves 6
Community Garden 8
Salsa Club 9
Chinese School 9
Boy Scout Trip 10
Veteran Graves Project 11
Community Resources 14
Ray Dolle, editor Jennifer Sedam, assistant editor
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Two theatrical performances also were held here this summer. The Crossroads Repertory Theatre brought their production of The Big Bad Bullysaurus to Ryves Stage. This production showed how children feel who are bullied. Theatre7, a new company housed in the Indiana Theater, held their premiere performance at Ryves. Here in the Universe used middle schoolers’ poems about fitting in and put them to music. Both shows touched many young hearts and addressed their feelings. These performances led us to offer regular theater activities for our children. Who knows where this may lead? Howard Stone tells that Saturday Night Live was started as an improv show that Lorne Michaels and he did at a summer camp when they were 14 and 15. As you can see, summertime at Ryves has not been “lazy” by any means. When the youth center first opened very few children attended during summer months. Now, children usually are at the doors waiting for us to open. At Ryves Youth Center we strive to help all children grow into productive adults. This is best done through engaging them in as many opportunities as possible.
Preschool Class of '16, Pam Otte
Congratulations to the 2016 Graduating Class of Ryves Youth Center Preschool! This year’s graduates are Brooklyn Heckman, Mason Crockett, Cameron Cooper, Ka'Marion Johnson, Curtiss Massutti, and Kaden Wilkey.
Kaden Wilkey, Brooklyn Heckman, Cameron Cooper, Curtiss Massutti, Ka’Marion Johnson
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On June 3rd, we held a ceremony for the graduates and their families and friends. Certificates of completion were handed out, and each student received a bag of school supplies for their upcoming kindergarten year. All of the students passed their Kindergarten Readiness Exam with flying colors and are ready to take this next step in school. They also are now invited to play with the “big” kids upstairs in the gym and to join clubs and activities downstairs. It has been a joy spending time with these children, and I hope they take with them pleasant memories of Ryves Youth Center Preschool. Each child exhibited special talents and abilities, and I wish them all the best in the future.
Day of Caring, Pam Otte
United Way sponsored “Day of Caring” on June 21, and a team of volunteers from Union Hospital Health Group helped Ryves Youth Center renovate our playground. What started out as a simple weeding project took on a whole new dimension when Dr. Bollinger stepped up and said, “I have a plan.” Before these wonderful volunteers left, they stripped the playground of its old mulch and landscaping, and laid new ground cover and wood chips delivered by Bunch Nursery. In the heat of the day, these caring people worked on after I went inside. At one time, I looked out the Preschool window and saw small tractors leveling the ground and large trucks hauling out weeds and old landscaping and bringing in the new material.
Miss Pam lends a hand in the playground
The volunteers left with a promise to return and spread more wood chips. They also asked us to compile a wish list of toys, sand, and supplies for the playground. I am overjoyed to know the children will benefit from a playground that is safer and vastly improved. I appreciate the efforts of the United Way in organizing the Day of Caring, and we are extremely grateful to the volunteers from Union Hospital Health Group.
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School Supplies, Jim Pinkstaff
As summer comes to a close, we work on getting the children of Ryves Youth Center prepared for the new school year. A major concern for many of the families we serve is not having the resources to purchase school supplies. This year we were blessed with donations from local organizations, church groups, and businesses.
The Breakfast Optimist Club, UAP Clinic, MDWise, HIP (Healthy Indiana Plan), Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, First Prairie Creek Baptist Church, Hair with Flair, Toppers Salon, the American La France Aux Club, Terre Haute Fire Dept., Ryves Community Optimist Club, as well as private donors, all helped to give our children enough supplies for school. On July 29, the Verve hosted the South High School Class of 1986 reunion. Money collected went towards supplies for middle school and high school students. Dever Distributing and Pepsi also provided 100 backpacks.
Many of our children are transient and bounce from home to home. As a result, many misplace their school supplies. Other children run out in the middle of the year. Recognizing a need for supplies during the entire year, the Ryves Community Optimist Club hosted an event in February, Growing Up in the Hood, to fill this need. With the help of the youth group from North Terre Haute Christian Church, as well as our children and regular volunteers, we filled all the backpacks with supplies to start the school year. Just in the first week of August, we provided backpacks full of supplies to over 200 children.
Brionna Gaines and Hailey Bennett with their backpacks from South High School Class of ‘86
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Trauma Informed Mentoring, Juhi Beri
TIME for Me, or Trauma Informed Mentoring for Excellence, is a new program at Ryves Youth Center. Mentors are being trained in Trauma Informed Care, a therapeutic model utilizing sensitivity by the mentors. Research shows such mentoring to be a positive experience in a youth’s life. It is an effective way to decrease delinquency by improving self-esteem, behavior, and academic success.
Catholic Charities in Terre Haute was recently awarded a 3-year grant through Catholic Charities USA from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to develop a trauma informed mentoring program. Named “TIME for Me,” the program looks to match a minimum of 33 youth with adult mentors. The intent is to provide youth ages 9 – 17 with a supportive relationship to help them build skills necessary to succeed in life. Each mentor and mentee commits to meet at Ryves Youth Center for two hours on a weekly basis for one year. They also have monthly TIME for Me meetings with group activities, such as a scavenger hunt, movie night, and water balloons.
TIME for Me has ongoing recruitment for adults. Trauma Informed training sessions for mentors are based on applicant availability and schedules. Mentors who have completed training so far are Regina Dickens, Patricia Reichert, and Daniel Snider.
Juhi Beri, Mentoring Coordinator, stresses the importance of mentors in a child’s life. “Many children face traumatic life events on a daily basis. They may have an incarcerated parent, live with an extended family, or deal with abuse. The TIME for Me Program begins by evaluating the developmental assets of each child and creating a plan for the mentor to use to provide practical ways to help the child succeed in life.”
First Connections, Juhi Beri
Typically adults who consider mentoring choose the youth they would like to mentor. They indicate girl or boy, age-range, or common interests. Sometimes, however, the child chooses the mentor.
Our first mentor match turned out exactly like that. Felicity chose Gina Dickens and declared, "Ms. Gina, I am stuck on you and I want to be wherever you are.” Thus began their inspirational relationship. It only made sense that TIME for Me asked Gina to consider being a mentor for Felicity. She agreed to the 12-month commitment, and participated in the eight-hour training. Their relationship continues to strengthen by meeting every week for two hours. They schedule their own meetings. Whether working together in the kitchen serving snacks side by side, or just sharing their week in conversation, Felicity and Gina grow closer each time.
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Scavenger Hunt, Hailey Bennett, age 12
One afternoon the TIME for Me group took a field trip to Rose Park on Locust Street. On the trip, we had a scavenger hunt. We had to find rocks, feathers, berries, litter, pine cones, and other things that you would find in nature. We learned how to work in groups to find all the items. There were three groups, and we competed for points from a checklist that we were given. My team won by two points and got first pick of popsicles. The kids then played on the playground for a while before walking back to Ryves. I wish there were even more things to find, because working with my team to hunt for stuff was a lot of fun. I would love to scavenger hunt again.
Eden of Ryves, Shikha Bhattacharyya
“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow. “ Audrey Hepburn’s words of faith and patience are in action at Ryves Youth Center this summer. “Eden of Ryves” is a garden on the south side of Locust across from Terre Haute Catholic Charities Foodbank in the lot between 13 ½ and 14th Street. The children have enjoyed tending this little garden since May. Tiny hands worked hard to make the three raised beds built using cinder blocks, and filled with horse manure and composted leaves. Hundreds of tomatoes, peppers, and okra plants were put in, along with flowers and fruit trees.
Nicolas Pinkstaff, Alex Nichols, a pear tree, Serenity Hair, Sarah Bruce, and 2 tomato plants
Ryves Youth Center feeds nearly 1400 children every year. This garden project in collaboration with reTHink is taking that mission further by teaching children to grow their own food so they can learn to be self-sufficient.
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reTHink is a budding organization in Terre Haute to promote environmental sustainability and waste management. It is an educational organization that works mainly with children and empowers them to take care of our Earth. reTHink has joined hands with Ryves Youth Center to empower these children to garden, take care of their environment, and lead in this cause. Eden of Ryves is teaching these children how to grow, cut, clean, and use vegetables. Once finished, it will be a meeting grounds and a living classroom for children to learn cooking, composting, and healthy eating. Gardening is not just a fun activity for children. Gardening provides time in nature. Gardening means fresh produce that is not available in Ryves neighborhood. The CDC recognizes that fresh fruits and vegetables are necessary for health, development, and prevention of prevalent diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. Urban agriculture is part of a solution to these problems. Youth-centered urban agriculture promotes community sustainability and serves as a gateway to employment for at-risk youth in a positive, productive atmosphere. Gardening is also therapeutic for emotional problems, such as stress, anxiety, nervousness, and low self-esteem. Today’s children are tomorrow’s citizens, and it is important to teach them the values of conserving resources and taking care of their environment. Planting trees and plants is one of the most important solutions to the global crisis of our fragile planet.
Shikha Bhattacharyya and Serenity Hair digging onions
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Community Garden, Michelle Egy, age 8
We built a community garden across the street this summer. I help every time we go out. I like helping because my friends help and I like learning from the adults. It was hard work putting in the heavy bricks for the beds. Planting the garden was not easy either. We planted tomatoes, onions, peppers, and 2 cherry trees and 2 pear trees. We had fun scooping horse poop on the plants to fertilize them. We covered the beds with hay to keep the dirt wet. It’s a lot of fun watering the garden and watching it grow. I can’t wait to eat the fruit and vegetables.
Michelle Egy watering in Eden of Ryves
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Salsa Club, Cierra Gaines, age 11
Every week the Salsa Club goes to the ISU Community Garden on Chestnut Street. We take turns, and I got to go twice so far. We pick fruit and vegetables to make fresh salsa. We used tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, cantaloupes, sweet peppers, and squash. We made one with onions and one without. I learned that fruit is good in salsa. Making salsa is a lot of fun. After we pick the ingredients from the garden, we wash the vegetables and fruit. Next we chop them up. Then we put them in a large bowl and mix it all up. Finally we get to eat what we make. We ate our salsa with hot and mild blue corn chips and scoop chips. I would love to make salsa again.
Cierra Gaines eating fresh and chopping cucumber for salsa
Chinese School of the Wabash Valley Day Camp, Brionna Gaines, age 12
Thanks to scholarships from the ISU Center for Community Engagement, I attended a day camp for the Chinese School of the Wabash Valley with other kids from the youth center. The camp ran from July 18-22 at Indiana State University’s University Hall. It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed learning how to introduce myself in Chinese. The teachers and kids cooperated well, and the teachers were nice and helpful.
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They explained the meaning of the Chinese words so they were easier to remember. We learned 3 songs in Chinese and how to properly pronounce the words. We talked about the Chinese zodiac and learned what years we were born. I was born in the year of the monkey. The younger kids learned how to count up to 20 in Chinese. My group learned how to count to 999. On the last day of camp, we put on a performance. The show was scary at first because I’m usually shy when meeting new people, but it was also a lot of fun. I was both scared and proud. My Aunt Kathy, Uncle Marty, Grandma Eula, Jim Edwards, Jim Pinkstaff, Miss Pam, and Jenni Sedam came to watch us perform. If I have the chance, I would love to do this again next year.
The grand finale of the Chinese School summer day camp
Boy Scout Camping Trip, Tom Bruce and Christopher Lawson, age 16
On July 15-17, Troop 22 made a field trip from Ryves to Ohio, where they camped at Heuston Woods State Park and toured the Air Force Museum in Dayton. The Scouts who went were Jarod Cuffle, Jason Gosnell, Will Hamilton, Damien Jacobs, Jacob Johnson, and Chris Lawson. The trip was funded by Marsha Nasser and David Llewellyn, members of the Troop Committee.
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Our camping trip was too great to forget. Starting was the hardest part. We needed supplies from Ryves, which really helped on our trip. We then had a two-hour car ride to the camp site. Once we arrived, we set up for the weekend and grilled bratwursts. There were lots more brats than we could eat, so we shared them with other campers, and we helped a guy pitch his tent. On Saturday, we took a road trip to the Air Force museum. We looked at the old planes and even got to go on the Air Force One that flew JFK’s body from Dallas. When we got back to the camp site, we cooked out T-bone steaks, hamburgers, hot dogs, and vegetables. After dinner, we went to a sock-hop dance. The best part of the weekend was staying up late laughing and making friends to add to Facebook. I cannot wait for our next camping trip!
Veteran Graves Project, Garth Norris Boy Scout Troop 22 worked in collaboration with ISU students and faculty mentor Edith Wittenmyer, and Amvets Post 91 in Monticello, to clean and identify veteran graves at Highland Cemetery. The headstones were photographed, and data from the stones will go in a mobile app. Professor Wittenmyer and Garth Norris received grants from ISU Center for Community Engagement for this project. The process included completing a certification and an application to work as an adult leader with the scouts. The team picked up trash and limbs and removed dirt and moss from the headstones. Flags that were worn and tattered were retired. No power washing was permitted. All cleaning was by hand with brushes that included tooth brushes.
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Respect: Trenton Massutti and Jacob Freed, 53rd Indiana Infantry, Civil War
This project has proven to be a quality experience for the members of Troop 22 by providing community service hours to assist in completion of scouting badges and ranks. The Boy Scouts worked well in a team environment while enduring the high temperatures and humidity. These young men should be proud of their service. Many lessons about the fallen soldiers from various wars, along with the meaning of patriotism and respect, are incorporated into this project. After working on the project the scout troop has a better understanding that “freedom is not free”.
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War and Peace: Tom Bruce, Garth Norris, Doug Bryan, Edith Wittenmyer, Lacrisha Clinton Damien Jacobs, Alex Hamilton, Will Hamilton, Joshua (Troop 38), Lakota Bays
Printed thanks to a Ryves Neighborhood Partnership Grant from the Indiana State University Center for Community Engagement.
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
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EDUCATION
Homework Hotline, Rose Hulman Institute of
Technology
(877) 275-7673 Toll Free
www.askrose.org
Free phone and internet tutoring in math and science.
Vigo County School Corporation
(812) 462-4011 Main Office
(812) 462-4070 Adult Education
Adult Education program offers preparation and
testing for adults who did not complete high school to
obtain a high school equivalency diploma.
Western Indiana Community Action Agency
(812) 232-3917
Provides a public preschool program (Head Start) for
children from low-income families.
FAMILY AND CHILDREN SERVICES
Chances and Services for Youth
(812) 232-3952
www.casyonline.org
Early childhood and youth programs. Offers
resources to children and families. Big Brothers Big
Sisters of Vigo County.
Children’s Bureau, Inc.
(812) 231-8607
www.childrensbureau.org
Provides prevention and intervention services to
children and families with a focus on at-risk
populations and those working with Department of
Child Services.
Lifeline Youth and Family Services
(800) 509-6884
www.lifelineyouth.org
Provides family casework, family therapy, parent
based services, and services for youth.
Ryves Youth Center at Etling Hall
(812) 235-1265
www.ccthin.org
Free programs and activities for children age 5-17.
