By Natasha Ashenhurst
“There are a lot of kids out there that are wandering and not finding their place or direction in life. School drop-out rates, teen pregnancy, and drug abuse are all issues that we want to combat, but the biggest issue is apathy, the increasing apathy of kids,” said Jake Grater, Executive Director of the downtown Olympia YMCA.
Getting kids engaged and involved, giving them a sense that they can impact the community in a positive way, teaching them the value of service is the goal of a new program at the downtown YMCA designed for Olympia’s middle school and high school aged kids.
“There is a real need that the Y can fill by modeling a better way to grow and a better way to transition into the world of adulthood,” said Grater.
YMCA’s history of youth programs is a study of change
For 160 year,s the YMCA has been committed to the healthy development of youth and meeting social needs through their focus on youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. Change is also part of the Y model. “Programs come and go based on what society is doing and what the community is doing, and this is the latest change,” said Tanya Bowers Anderson, Youth Development Director. Olympia residents may remember the Hi-Y and Gray-Y programs aimed at high school and college students as a way to recruit potential leaders from the community, or the YMCA Leaders Program. The YMCA has a history of changing their youth programs based on changing generations, society, and demographics.
Generation Z, the iGeneration, Tweens and Teens
“We want a program that will benefit all of the teens, even though each one of them will have a different opinion of what works for them,” said Travis Lensing, in Youth Development, and spearhead of this program.
“The idea is that we are listening and meeting the kids where they are, then creating a program for them. This is a much different approach. In the past a bunch of professionals created the program and promoted it. Then what usually happened was the highly engaged kids got involved, but no one else. This new approach is a shift: going to the kids and letting them create for us. They get to create a program that speaks to them,” said Lensing.
“The key is finding the hook, then using that to teach kids the values that will impact their lives in a way that they might not be aware of,” said Grater. The program is made up of three essential components Core Groups, Tracks, and Alumni.
Core Groups: Having Fun
Core Groups are organized around middle school age kids (tweens) and high school age kids (teens). The focus is on high energy activities. Travis Lensing has started going to different schools in the community during lunch time. This has allowed the Y to build relationships with the kids. “The Olympia School District has been very supportive,” said Lensing.
“The feedback from the parents of the Middle School Program is fabulous,” said Bowers-Anderson. “Travis has been going out to schools to build momentum and interest in the program. The schools allow the Y to have a presence and develop relationships with the teens through sitting down and eating with them, playing four square or Frisbee,” she said. “The hope is to bring them back into the Y and continue to build those relationships. The kids often ask what the Y has for them now that they have moved beyond Y Sports. We want the kids to know we are meeting them where they are, and that we are creating a program for them by learning about their interests,” said Lensing.
“We have a heart to serve, and this is one way to do it, but we also use it as an opportunity to get them involved in the program and share what we have for them at the Y,” said Grater.
Tracks: Finding out where kids can serve the community
“Once the kids are active and involved in their main group, then we’ll introduce further learning opportunities and will find where they can serve in the community,” said Lensing.
“Tracks is about finding a pocket of teens in the core group who are interested in a particular subject, and then we’ll reach out to the community to find an expert to mentor the group. An example of this is Thurston County Television, who has committed a staff member to come into this program and mentor students interested in digital media and production,” said Lensing. “This is just one option. We have had a vision of other tracks for the students to head down: aquatics, youth sports and recreation, music, mechanics, business and financial literacy. This is all based off the interest of the kids,” said Lensing.
Alumni: Transition into the world of adulthood
The third component of the program is Alumni. “From an interest in aquatics we can move them into a lifeguard position, for example,” said Lensing. “We want to help them figure out how to turn a passion into a vocation,” he said.
The Y is working with The Evergreen State College and Saint Martin’s University to recruit mentors. “We hope local businesses will want to get involved to provide mentoring opportunities for these kids as well, to provide caring adult role models and align kids with adults who share the same career interests,” said Grater.
“There are many opportunities to serve. Our goal is to have a list of contacts for each possible interest that the kids may have, so if they have an interest in mechanics, for example, we can we have a contact in that field,” said Lensing. Grater said, “The Y is great at networking and connecting individuals, we are reaching out to the community and aligning with people who are experts in these areas for the kids.”
If a parent is interested in getting their kids involved in this program, they can call Travis Lensing at (360) 357-6609 ext 2107 and he will get them connected. Tweens meet Tuesday nights from 6:30-8:00PM. Teens meet from 3-5:00PM on Mondays and Wednesdays.
