By: Jake Keyel, Youth Program Manager
The youth program at AAFSC had a summer full of fun with our students this year. Our summer camp consisted of a group of 25 youth ages 6 to 14 of various backgrounds and national origins. We had students from Jordan, Egypt, Yemen, Algeria, and the United States. The aim of our summer programming is always to provide students with a safe environment in which they can make new friends, experience new facets of New York City, and continue their academic progress in a fun way. We believe that we have been very successful in providing this environment in 2012.
Our students participated in fun and educational activities throughout the summer both on site at our Brooklyn location as well as throughout New York City. Program highlights include trips to the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Aquarium; interactive theater games and activities with the “Life Lines” Performing Arts Troupe; and an ongoing series of nutrition workshops in collaboration with Cornell Cooperative Extension. Students also took weekly Arabic classes, played math based games, created numerous art projects, and participated in creative writing sessions facilitated by Nancy Weber of the New York Writers coalition.
We could not have run such a successful program without the help of all of our volunteers, community partners, and participants in the Summer Youth Employment Program. These volunteers and SYEP members planned activities, chaperoned field trips, and built lasting relationships with our students. The summer camp ends on August 16th and our after school programs will resume on September 10th. The youth program staff will be busy in the next few weeks planning field trips and activities for the coming school year.
