Tu B'Shvat with the Park Rangers!

"Planting a tree is like raising children. When we plant a young tree , we nurture it to grow to be strong and healthy, just like our children" Pamela S. Nedav,  L'Mazeltov: Your Personal Guide to Jewish Childbirth Education (http://www.lmazeltov.org/).

The Y celebrated Tu B'Shvat yesterday with the PJ Library and Central Park Ranger Mara Pendergrass.

Tu B'Shvat is known as the Jewish Arbor Day. Literally the name means "the 15th day of (the Hebrew month of) Shvat". This date acts as a reassurance that the harsh winter months were finally coming to an end and that spring was around the corner.

In following with the ancient tradition to celebrate this day with planting, families planted kidney beans in coconut growing medium, studied tree bark, discussed the Park ecosystem,  and joined together as one unit to create parts and sounds of a live tree. There was fresh herb salad prepared with raisins and seasonings,  hummus with a variety of natural chips and an assortment of Tu B'Shvat dried and fresh fruits and vegetables. Children also examined pepper seeds and "planted" them in cups prepared with moist sponges. We ended the day with a book reading of Pearl Moscowitz's Last Stand, a truly meaningful and humorous PJ Library Tu B'Shvat book. A great time was had by all!

-Cyndi Rand, Jewish Program Coordinator and PJ Library Coordinator 

Broadway visits the Y

In December, the Y was paid a very special visit. Erin Jackman, Executive Director of the Brooke Jackman Foundation, brought Kimberly, a performing artist from the Screen Actor's Guild (SAG), to visit the children of our Literacy Program. Kimberly recently was on tour with the popular Broadway show Book of Mormon. Kimberly read and performed several favorite books of the children. At the end of the program, the Jackman Foundation donated brand new books to each Literacy Program family.

This event is the beginning of a partnership between the Y's Literacy Program and SAG's and bookPALS. BookPALS (Performing Artists for Literacy in Schools) is a national program to help children learn to love books by bringing the talents of performer volunteers into classrooms, hospitals, shelters, and other venues.

Would you like to meet an actor or actress? Performing artists will be joining our Literacy Program director Andrea at local schools for classroom readings through the bookPALS program. Make sure to join our free Literacy Program so you can take part in exciting events like these. The program is completely free with no registration required and free dinner available to all. Sign up today!

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.