Good-bye, Carly!

December at King Street Center is bittersweet -- as excited as everyone is for snow and vacation, December also means having to say good-bye to amazing volunteers and interns.  Last week, the Dolphins used the cameras to document some of the final moments with their volunteers and interns.

Kids' Cafe!

Behind the scenes at a recent Kids' Cafe.

Mind the Music

One of the newer activities to be added to the King Street Teen Drop-in program is Mind the Music, run by Teal Scott. Mind the Music helps teens to develop awareness through the medium of music. Teens meet 3-4 nights a week on a drop-in basis, eating dinner together while listening to music and practicing relaxation techniques. In the video, Mind the Music participants explain the purpose of the program and how it works.

Holiday Cheer (and Lasagna)!

On Monday, December 7^th, more than 160 children, parents, volunteers, and staff members attended the King Street Center’s Annual Holiday Dinner, sponsored by the Windjammer Restaurant.  For the past eighteen years, the Windjammer has brought their restaurant to King Street Center on the first Monday in December, volunteering their time and skills to bring delicious food to the children and families of downtown Burlington. 

Windjammer volunteers include managers from the restaurant and hotel and their families.  Dan Phelan, General Manager of the Windjammer restaurant, says the staff of the Windjammer “supports King Street Center because, as an independent, local, family-owned restaurant, it’s important to us to support the local community.  We’re happy to be a part of it.” 

Members of the Green Mountain Glades Junior Hockey Team also volunteered their time, helping with set-up, serving dinner, and cleaning up after the event.  As part of the celebration, King Street Center employees organized a mitten, book, and lip-balm give-away for the families of King Street.

A visit from the SD Ireland truck added to the festive atmosphere for children and parents alike.

Vicky Smith, executive director at King Street Center said, “This is such a gift to be able to give to our families.  From the family outreach, engaging preschool parent meeting, book swap, to the impeccable timing of the SD Ireland truck – all efforts fostered the true sense of community that defines King Street Center.”

Photo by Dan Cristelli

Holiday Dinner sponsored by the Windjammer

Photos by Dan Cristelli

Vermont Fundraisers Take Big Cuts?

Vermont fundraisers take big cuts? Some Vermont charities are outsourcing their development offices and paying hefty fees, says the Burlington Free Press.  Not at King Street Center.  We never use outside fundraisers to solicit on our behalf, so more of your gift goes to children and families in need. To donate online today, click here. 

Photoediting

It's our new thing.  Right now, the Afterschoolers are very interested in the sticker function.  Some of them have moved on to using effects, though.  My favorite is when they like using the stickers so much that they completely cover their faces.

Dolphin Day, Fall 2009

Technology Room Art

Ahmed's picture, created using art.com's artpad:

Nathan's picture, edited using picnik.com:

Josh's picture, created using art.com's artpad:

Becca's picture, created using art.com's artpad:

I Believe with Nancy Zahniser, Chaska Richardson, and Judy Barber

Every summer, the children from King Street Center benefit from the Nancy Zahniser Camp Scholarship Fund, and this year, the children have the opportunity to give back.

Working with Nancy, Chaska, and Judy, the children created "I Believe" cards (inspired by the popular NPR series, "This I Believe").  The cards will be sold throughout the year to benefit the Camp Scholarship Fund.

We'll have more information about where and when to buy the cards soon!

More Photoediting

Taylor used the facepaint option!

Photoediting in the Resource Room

Makayla used picnik.com to edit this photo of herself.

Reader's Theater

A word of warning: the video camera ran out of batteries right before we finished.  So, if you're wondering, "He found his supper waiting for him, and it was still hot."

Fall Community Dinner

The teens and afterschoolers took a bunch of pictures at our Fall Community Dinner.  This slide show is a conglomeration of all the photos.  Be sure to join us on December 7th for our Holiday Community Dinner, sponsored by the Windjammer!

Preschool in the Free Press!

For the past 14 years, the King Street Preschool has benefitted from weekly visits to Shelburne farms where children learn about animals, farming, and the world around them.  The Free Press ran an article about it today.  Here's the link:  Kids Say Goodbye to Animals at Shelburne Falls.

More Photos from the Afterschool

King Street September Technostats

Our technology coordinator (that's me!) LOVES numbers, and I've been keeping track of the ways that the afterschoolers use the technology for a while now.  This month, I decided to add the numbers up, so here they are:

• In September, 41 Afterschoolers chose to use technology over the course of 14 recorded days (the actual number of days of program was higher, but I started recording after a week of school).  This includes use of computers, digital cameras, and the wii.
  
• That's a total of 77% of the children in the Afterschool program using technology this month.
• 70% of the girls in the Afterschool Program used technology one or more times.
  
• 69% of boys in the Afterschool Program used technology one or more times.
  
• The person who used technology the largest number of times chose to be in the computer room 12 days out of 14.
  
• The total number of technology 'touches' (one child using technology on a given day) was 171.

And, one final statistic:

• 20% of the 41 children who used technology at King Street Center have access to computers at home.

September at King Street

So, we've been a little quiet on the blog-front for awhile, but the school year has started back up and the Afterschoolers have been taking a LOT of pictures during technology time.

Here are just a few of them:

King Street Survey for the Children

please only click on this if you are with a King Street Staff Member.

Support King Street and Win a Trip to the U.S. Open

Time's running out to purchase raffle tickets to win a trip to the U.S. Open!  Visit the King Street Center page to find out all the details on just what you could win.

Our Teens Learning to Play Volleyball!

Volleyball is another new activity we're adding to our repertoire here at the King Street Center.  Here's a great video of our teens and one of our staff members trying it out with a tennis net we rigged up to be close to volleyball height.  It's certainly new to us here and we're hoping to develop a partnership with some local volleyball coaches to be able to build a good foundation for mastering volleyball!  And we love it already...  Enjoy!  Let us know if you'd like to help.

 

Delicious Lemonade!

Some shots of the Lemonade Stand from today:

By the way, the King Street staffers ordered 4 citrus coolers, one without sugar.  Delicious.

T-shirts!

What's green, blue, and red all over the King Street neighborhood?

Why, US, of course!

If you see someone wearing a King Street Center t-shirt, let them know that you believe in King Street, too.

Vicky Wins Award from Police Foundation

Go Vicky, Leisa, and Mary Alice!

Here's the story from WCAX.

Kids's Lemonade Starts on June 23rd!

We're ramping up for the 2009 Kids' Lemonade season, and to celebrate, Teen Futures Coordinator Jim Young tried on the stand's lemon suit today.  Mmm . . . delicious citrus drink.

Lake Champlain Maritime Museum

Last fall, Rick Stoner generously donated a Shipwreck Tour trip to King Street.  So, this Wednesday, the Afterschoolers got to go to the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, travel out on a boat, and look at shipwrecks.

This trip was great because we were on a boat.  No, really.  That's what was so great. 

Seriously. 

For example, the adults didn't know until we got there how many of the children had never been on a boat before, and the children were FASCINATED.  On the way down to the boat, a lot of the kids asked, "Why do we have to wear these lifejackets," and when the adults said, "They keep you safe on the water," the kids said, "But what if we fall in the water?"  And, as soon as the boat started moving, all the children were amazed by the wake.  One girl asked, "Why does the water move like that."  There were a lot of opportunities for impromptu science lessons.

Also, we got to learn about the Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle (ROV), which is what the scientists at the Maritime Museum use to film the shipwrecks. While we were out there, we got to see live footage of a shipwreck on the New York side of the lake.

Thank you, again, to the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum and to Rick Stoner.  This was a wonderful opportunity for the children of King Street.

Vacation Camp 2009

One of my favorite things about vacation camp is taking the King Street Kids on a hike. Extended time in the woods isn't a common event in a lot of our kids' lives, and their comments reflect an astonishment at every flower, tree, animal, rock formation, and view that they see.  In honor of that, when we went to Shelburne Bay this year, we gave cameras and video recorders to the King Street Kids so they could document their favorite parts of the trip.

Some of the highlights included finding the skull of a rabbit, identifying flowers, eating trout lilies, skipping rocks in the water, and just staring at the beautiful view.

KeyBank Volunteers Make the News!

King Street Goes to Free Cone Day

During vacation camp today the afterschool kids braved the rain to go to Ben and Jerry's Free Cone day. The line was long, but we made it! And our ice cream was delicious.

More Animations

The Adventures of Super Snake

Becca adds another claymation piece to our vault with this one.  This is the story of Super Snake, who visits a melting island of clay.   (That's board member James Mix in the background!)

Animation

We started working on animations recently.  In the first video, we made a flip book and then photographed each page.  It's a sad story about the loss of a flower, but in the end, the hero uses telekinesis to bring the flower back up to her level.

In this movie, the superhero doesn't look where she's going, and she knocks the top off a house as she flies by.  We used the flipbook technique for this movie as well, but this time, we didn't staple the pages down, so you can't see anyone's fingers in the movie!

In this next movie, Makayla collaborated with me to make a plant eat a fly.  Then, Makayla took over and started working on the project on her own.  It's a little tough to see, but in the picture of the girl, the sun moves across the sky.

In Becca's claymation video, a ball hovers in the sky, a bit like an alien spaceship.  Becca planned this one all on her own, and she did all the photography as well.  She used a fork to make the ball hover.

 

Vicky on CCTV discussing the Social Equity Investment Project

On March 23rd, King Street's Executive Director, Vicky Smith, appeared on CCTV's Live at 5:25 with Wanda Hines and Daniello Balón to discuss the Social Equity Investment Project.

Upcoming Talent Extravaganza*

Youth, mentors, volunteers, and staff from the King Street Youth Center come together for an afternoon of fun and excitement at the Third Annual Talent Extravaganza at Contois Auditorium on Saturday, March 14 at 2 pm.

 The talent show was created by the Greenblott family of Burlington as a way of celebrating the many talents of our city’s young people. Youth and adult performers have been practicing their acts together for the past two months and are excited to perform for the community.  Scheduled Acts include an African drum circle led by Mashobane Moruthane and a hip-hop dance troupe featuring Liza Mercy of the Movement Center.

 The event is ideal for families of all ages and will include a silent auction, bake sale, and raffle. Tickets may be purchased in advance or at the door and cost $10 for adults and $5 for children. All proceeds benefit the King StreetYouth Center.  For tickets, contact Jordan Benkov at 802-862-6736, extension 102.

Skating with CVU Girls Hockey Team

On January 26th, the CVU Girls' Hockey Team took the King Street Afterschoolers skating.  It was a huge success, and the King Street Kids keep asking when we get to go again.  Soon . . . we hope!

Here's a video of everyone having fun on the ice:

Thank you to everyone from CVU who made the event happen.  Two weeks later, the kids are still telling each other stories about their day.

Talent Extravaganza Practice

We're lucky to work with Mashobane Moruthane again this year in preparation for the Talent Extravaganza on March 14th.  This Monday, a group of afterschoolers met for their first practice.  They learned how to hold the drums, make the bass and tone sounds, and how to begin and end in sync.

The kids are looking forward to next week's practice - there's been some talk of a reward for making so much progress so quickly!

Just for Boys 2009!

King Street launched our 2009 Just for Boys mentoring season last Tuesday, January 20^th.  At the kick-off party, boys met their new mentors, signed mentoring contracts, ate pizza, and played getting-to-know-you BINGO.  The pictures above are from the group's second meeting, where the boys played Medic in the gym and did some coloring.

Some of the activities that the mentor pairs have planned for the next few weeks are baking cookies, playing boardgames, and shooting hoops.

            Each week, the Just for Boys group, the first all-male mentoring group in Chittenden County, meets for one hour.  During that time, members take part in pre-planned activities under the guidance of Kristin Burdge, the coordinator of the Just for Boys program.   

We're always looking for new mentors, both for the Just for Boys program and for the community-based Junior/Senior Buddy program.  For more information on Just for Boys, contact Kristin Burdge at kristin@kingstreetyouth.org or (802)862-6736 x118. For more information on King Street's Junior/Senior Buddy program, contact Gabriella Tufo-Strouse at gabe@kingstreetyouth.org or (802)862-6736 x105.

Upcoming Event to Benefit King Street

The talented performers of Encore team up once again to raise money for King Street Youth Center.  This year's performance, Listen to Your Heart, will take place on February 15, 2009, featuring favorite Broadway love songs.  For tickets, contact the Flynn Center at 802-863-5966 or www.flynntix.org.