Summer Program: Session Four Recap
As Teenz In The City’s 2016 summer program comes to a close, we wanted to take this time to reflect upon our fun-filled days together exploring some of New York City’s most well known museums, restaurants, and attractions! Over the past 4 weeks, our days were action packed with so much fun, food, friendship, laughter and memories that we know will last a lifetime. We have been very impressed by our group members, and how much they have learned from The Teenz In The City’s curriculum. We have seen sig nificant improvements in their self- confidence both when interacting with friends, or members in the community, traveling via public transportation, and their overall independence.
During week 4, the group focused on the important theme of time management. Each morning, our members discussed time management in terms of planning the time and structure of each outing. Our members were encouraged to keep in mind factors such as the travel time on different modes of transportation (subway vs. bus vs.walking), in addition to a plan for lunch (having a picnic lunch or dining out at a restaurant). We were impressed by our members' communication and flexibility in this area. Throughout the week we learned that no matter how perfectly we may have planned our timing for the day, there could always be an unexpected change or situation that may come up. For example, this week while on our Lower East Side food tour, the group members traveled to our final destination Snow Days thrilled to try their shaved ice cream. To our surprise, we had arrived 25 minutes earlier then Snow Days opened. Together as a group, we problem solved and discussed all of our options. 1) Wait 25 minutes for Snow Days to open 2) Go to a different ice cream shop nearby or 3) Come back to Snow Days at another time. The group discussed all of our options together and ultimately decided that because they were really looking forward to trying the shaved ice cream at Snow Days and we were already close by, they voted to wait 30 minutes for Snow Days to open. During our wait, we explored the area and local shops. Upon our return to Snow Days, and trying the shaved ice cream, our members verbalized that they had made the right decision and it was well worth the wait! Moving forward we will continue to focus on time management in all of our upcoming groups this fall and encourage you to focus on this concept at home with your families as well.
During week 4, our group members had a very exciting week! On Monday, our members had the opportunity to visit one of our members' favorites at Dave & Busters in Times Square. On Tuesday, the group went on a food tour on the Lower East Side. During this tour, our members got to learn about the history of the Lower East Side while enjoying delicious food from Kossar’s Bialy and Bagel, Economy Candy, Donut Planet, Snowdays and more. On Wednesday, the group traveled to The Hayden Planetarium at The Museum of Natural History where we learned about our universe, space and the black hole. We were impressed how much prior knowledge our members’ had and how well they did teaching each other. On Thursday, the group headed to the South Street Seaport and explored marina together. Today, for our final outing of the week, our members were given the opportunity for an additional members’ choice outing to conclude the session. Our members voted on going to Times Square to eat at Red Lobster and then explore Central Park. It was the perfect combination of action, fun, friendship and food!
We can not believe that our 5th annual summer program has come to a close, however, we are super excited for our upcoming fall semester which begins on Sunday, September 11th. For more information on our upcoming outings and fall programming, please contact us at info@teenzinthecity.com We look forward to seeing you soon!
