Sports FUNdamentals: Don't take our word for it!

This past fall, the Youth Enrichment program introduced a brand new class called Sports FUNdamentals. This class was an opportunity for children to learn new sports skills, while using a hands-on approach by getting parents involved in the action. As we had hoped, the class was a huge success and we are planning to incorporate Sports Fundamentals into our regular Youth Enrichment programming.

To get a better sense of the class, we decided to go straight to the source. We interviewed Matt and Max, father and son pair that attends Sports FUNdamentals every week. Take a look at what they had to say about the class:

How did you find out about Sports Fundamentals?

Jon told me that Danny [Tavares] was doing a sports class. I knew Danny really well through Camp [Yomawha], and we really liked what he did at camp with the kids so we wanted to get Max involved.

What are your favorite things about the class?

My favorite thing about sports FUNdamentals is that Danny gets the parents involved. It’s a really nice class to have where it’s the kids and the parents playing together. Max really liked playing baseball and hockey.

Danny is really good with interacting with the kids. Max loves Danny; he will go up to him in the middle of class and hold Danny’s hand.

Would you recommend this class to others?

I would recommend this class to anyone who is looking for a fun sports class to have with their kids. The parents being involved with the kids is one of the best parts of this class.

 

Overall, the inaugural session of Sports FUNdamentals was an outstanding success. Coach Danny had something to say as well:

"I want to thank all of the parents and their children for participating in Sports FUNdamentals. Your participation made the class a lot of fun for all of us. I hope that I helped the children enjoy sports and be open to new friends and activities. At the Y we try not just to teach the basics needed to play sport but also want every child to know how special and wonderful they regardless of ability. I hope that everyone involved learned from each other and had a great time at class. I wish everyone a Happy Holidays and a great New Year."

Enrollment is now open for the winter session of Sports Fundamentals. If you want to sign up for this class, any other class, or just want more information, be sure to visit our Youth Enrichment website.

A letter from an ASP student

Below is a hand-written unsolicited letter from one of our After School Program students, Jose. His passion and love for his guitar class is evident in his writing. We are so proud of our students when they are appreciative of the services we are able to provide them. Thank you Jose!

Due to grants like this one from the UJA Federation, we are able to provide our children with precious programs that help them develop skills for life.

Send your child to our After School Program and he or she can learn a love for a new skill just like Jose. Sign up for winter-session ASP today!

Workshop for Families of Children with Special Needs

This week we were privileged to have Gary Shulman, MS. Ed present a workshop for parents of children with special needs entitled "Needs, Wants, Wishes and Dreams: Programs and Services that Bring Support to Parents of Children with Special Needs and Disabilities"

The workshop was a great success! We had close to 20 families attend this very special event. They were grateful for his support , his generously shared wealth of information and asked for more.       

 

 

 

 The Y continues to support families of children with special needs in our community with programs such as this. We also host a variety of other programs for individuals with special needs such as: Sunday Funday, Sunday Recreation program for adults, Camp Yomawha Special Needs program, Drama for Adults with developmental disabilities, and more.

 

 



Thanksgivukah was a hit!

Thank you to all those who came and participated in our Thanksgivukah event. We had a larger-than-expected turnout from people all over the neighborhood. We event ran out of latkes! A big thank you to Inwood Jews for partnering with us for this event and making it a very special evening.

Check out some pictures below from some of the fun activities that took place. Happy Holidays!

Free Book Giveaway

This week, the Y hosted a free book giveaway to all of our Literacy Program participants and local families. Thanks to the generous donation from Sussman Sales (see post below), the Y will be giving away over 2,000 books and supplies this year. Want to get in on the action? Come be a part of our free Family Literacy program today!

Here are some pictures from the event.

A very special gift

Thanks to the generous gift from Sussman Sales, the Y is now the proud owner of thousands of books and literacy materials. In continuing with our efforts to help spread the love of reading, these items will be distributed by our Literacy Program to children all over the community.

For over 40 years, Sussman Sales has been an education partner to schools - providing the highest quality supplemental educational materials and expert guidance to teachers and administrators." You can learn more about Sussman Sales at http://www.sussmansales.com, or follow them on Twitter at @SussmanSales.

To learn more about this amazing project, contact our Literacy Program director Andrea at ASchnee@ywashhts.org.

Thank you!

Wien House ice-cream party

By: Francisco Concepcion

Wien House tenants celebrated the end of summer with an ice cream party, courtesy of our Tenant Services Coordinator. With staff ready to serve ice cream of all flavors, tenants lined up with ice cream cones in their hands eager to eat. While the tunes of Mariah Carey blasted through the speakers, tenants danced and rejoiced the end of the summer, while thinking back on how fast the summer came and went.

Speaking about the party, one tenant reminisced about her childhood and how much she was enjoying her ice cream, just as she did as a child.  Indeed, it was a euphoric environment for all involved and certainly makes us all look forward to next years end of summer bash at the Wien House.

The Y at the Fort Tryon Medieval Festival 2013!

Our awesome Booth!

Our Jewish Program Director Cyndi, dressed in full Medieval garb, chats with Y families

Sports specialist Julian poses with Y kids dressed as knights

Cyndi paints children's' faces

Our photographer Roj takes a moment in front of the cameral to pose with Cyndi

Members of our youth staff (LtoR): Julian Diaz, Stephanie Ladenhauf, Stephane Cespedes, and Jon Zeftel

Our Youth Director Alan spends a relaxing day with his family in the park

Reading at the Y

Due to the generous grant from the Brooke Jackman Foundation, the Y is the proud home of the After School Literacy Program, and the Family Literacy Program. Both of these programs strive to give neighborhood children a chance to spend more time reading books and working on their literacy skills outside the classroom.

The Brooke Jackman Foundation was founded by the Jackman family in honor of Brooke, who sadly died in the World Trade Center attack on September 11th 2001. Brooke loved to read and to share her love for reading with children, and the Jackman family could think of no better way to honor Brooke's memory than to establish this Foundation.

Thanks to their efforts, thousands of underprivileged children across the city are able to attend weekly readings and literacy events. These programs help to foster core educational values and habits that are important to a successful future. With the help of the Brooke Jackman Foundation, these children are able to develop the skills they need to improve their lives in a loving and nurturing environment.

The Y is humbled to be able to take part in these program. Thanks to funding from the Brooke Jackman Foundation, we are able to supply children and families an outlet for reading and literacy skill-building. We offer programming twice a week, free of charge, with a healthy dinner included. Come be a part of this special program with your children, and help keep Brooke's legacy alive.

You can learn more about the Brooke Jackman Foundation here:http://brookejackmanfoundation.org/

For more about the Y literacy program, click here: http://ywashhts.org/youth/children-k-6/family-literacy

The G-Next Program

The Y is proud to take part in the G-Next program. G-Next is an innovative literacy program designed to help teen girls start on the path towards financial independence, as well as physical and emotional well-being. 
 
Led by a professional serving as a mentor and a role model, groups of 15-20 girls meet with their peers weekly during the school year. These young women have the chance to discuss some of the difficulties of their adolescent and teenage years in a safe space.  G-Next members participate in a web-based game to complete missions through community- based activities and share experiences with their group.  

The Y recently participated in this year's G-Next award ceremony. The G-Next group from the Y joined other groups from around the city to meet each other, share stories, and celebrate with an award ceremony.

Read more about G-Next on there website at http://gnextgirls.org/ . For more information about how you can participate or get involved with G-Next at the Y, contact Abraham at APalma@ywashhts.org

Laugh a little!

Have you heard about our Laughter Yoga program? Hear more about it from our very own instructor and guest blogger Francine Shore!

Let’s Unearth our Mirth!

Have no fear… your Laughter Stylist is here.

As a devoted Laughter Yoga Coach and Geriatric Counselor for over 10 years, I have developed creative and compassionate avenues for gen xers, baby boomers and older adults in expressing themselves. Aside from my individual coaching and counseling, my laughter groups are designed to teach us to unleash our own joyful spirit and sense of play, giving us permission to laugh in the face of adversity, trust your instincts and to be downright silly. Life can become challenging as an older adult, and aside from the good news and the milestone celebrations, there are many losses and age related illnesses that older adults face.

Laughter Yoga was created in the mid 1990’s by Dr. Madan Kataria in Mumbai, India. He was looking for a way to stave his patients off of their medications. Remembering the old adage that “laughter is the best medicine”, he started a laughter club. The club grew, but he found humor was subjective, and therefore developed his therapy into non-humor dependent. Hence, laughter yoga was born.

Ten years ago, I ran a Care -giving Program for Caregivers at The Educational Alliance. It was there that I started the first weekly laughter yoga club for seniors in the USA and had an opportunity to present Laughter Yoga in Washington DC at the ASA Conference on Aging for the first time. Prior to becoming a Laughter Yoga Coach and Counselor, I worked for 8 years in the entertainment industry as a Talent Agent and in Casting. My experience working with many comedians and actors, as well as a geriatric counselor have both given me the perfect platform as a Laughter Yoga professional.

You can imagine how delighted I was when I received a call from Patti asking me to start a weekly Laughter Yoga Club at the YM&YWHA of Washington Heights & Inwood, an area so rich in culture and diversity.

 

Laughter Yoga is the latest cardiovascular fitness craze which anybody at any age can participate. It involves laughter exercises with movement or while seated, intermittent deep breathing and stretching, and playful clapping to stimulate our circulation. We close with a seated laughter meditation and healing circle, and we may pick a topic to discuss.

Laughter Yoga’s health perks: strengthens the immune system, releases endorphins, decreases depression and anxiety, lowers blood pressure, enhances creativity, natural pain analgesic, alleviates asthma and arthritis, burns calories, deep connectivity factor.

Group members have reported the following: sense of empowerment, less stressed, fewer aches and pains, less depressed and anxious, more hopeful, feeling connected, sense of joy, happiness, calming factor, living in the present, less angry, feeling centered. With testimonials as these, who needs enemies :)

 

Come down to the laughter club and experience Laughter Yoga yourself. You can’t miss us, we’ll be roaring with laughter!

 

-Francine Shore, Laughter Yoga instructor at the Y

Beacon Program

The Y strives to provide fun programing for people of all ages. When the summer rolls around, we re-open our nursery and day camps spanning the ages of 2 and 15. But what about summer programing for our senior members? Well, we figured if summer camp works for kids, why not for senior adults?!

The Beacon program at the Y is a full-service summer program for seniors. For 2 days each week during the summer, we transport groups of senior adults to our Henry Kaufman Campgrounds in beautiful Pearl River, New York for a day of outdoor activities. "Campers" take part in physically and mentally stimulating activities such as swimming in our Olympic sized pool, arts & crafts, exercise, bingo, nature walks, and music & dancing. We encourage all seniors to come and take part in these exciting planned activities, or to just enjoy our camp grounds for a dose of nostalgia.

Who says camp is for children? Here at the Y, our creative programing ensures that those of all ages are having as much fun as possible. Want to learn more about the Beacon program? We would love to see you!

Beat The Heat

As we are sure you all know, there has been a heat advisory issued for this week in New York City.

But we bet most of you don't know that the Y is a NYC registered cooling center. Anyone can stop on by and take advantage of our cool air-conditioned building, or grab a much needed cup of water. You can even take some time to take a look at some of our amazing programing!

The New York City Office of Emergency Management is dedicated to creating a healthy and safe environment for NYC citizens. To find out more information on cooling centers here: http://www.nyc.gov/html/oem/html/hazards/heat_cooling.shtml

Recognizing Years of Dedication

This month, we celebrated the accomplishments of two of our most beloved and long-standing staff members. Deborah Katznelson, our Chief Social Services Officer here at the Y, has been with us for 30 years. Pedro Hernandez, our Building Superintendent, has been at the Y for 40 years. Deborah and Pedro were both presented with citations on behalf of city council man Robert Jackson Below find words of praise and gratitude from our Executive Director Martin Englisher.


"Debbie: the person who has watched over the Social Services of the Y for many years. This is a much needed department that very few community centers are still committed to providing. Debbie was the person who has helped many people in desperate situations and needed personal attention.  She has been here for 30 years working with me on many projects and helped me to build the Wien House in 1980s. We thank her family, Ira, her husband who is here and Zack her son among her other 3 children all who allowed her the time to devote to the Y."

"Pedro has worked with me here for 40 years. Pedro is the 'keeper of the keys'. He is the one who opens up the Y and makes sure that the operation runs smoothly. It's a hard job and many different people are seeking him at the same time to operate their programs. We together have seen many people pass through the Y and in good times and bad. He raised 4 children here, all who attended the Y as children. We thank his wife Ana and his children have also shared his time for him to be working hard here."