Collage Day

A Little More on the Youth Group

While visiting with the Walnut Way Youth Group we had the opportunity to hear some of their interests. Tracy is in the second grade and likes math, reading, and art. Her favorite colors are both pink and red. Mary is a third grader who loves both pink and blue. Her favorite subject in school is math. Sheila is a third grader that loves to work on Math. Her favorite color is pink.

All three of these girls are active members of the Walnut Way Youth Group. They are related, Sheila and Tracy are twins, and Mary is their cousin. They live together and walk to their school together. Their basketball team with the Boys and Girls Club 'the Bucks' is a highlight for them. They all love sports and along with basketball, play soccer and softball in the summer and enjoy cheering. Some of their favorite activities with the youth group are the field trips they take, like to the botanical gardens and the recycling plant. The girls also like to help work in the gardens, both at Walnut Way and at home. Of all the events I attended at Walnut Way, these three girls were always among the faces I saw and they were always eager to participate.

Rules Of the Youth Group

Before kids can participate in the youth group programs, a conversation is had with their parents to talk about what the rules are and what kinds of things they are going to be doing. There are four more rules of the youth group and they are 1.) the children have to respect everything and everyone and 2.) if they chose to come to a youth group event they have to stay for the entire thing. 3.) The children are at least nine years old 4.) The final rule of the youth group is that after every activity they sit around a table or in a circle and say what they have learned.

Where it All Began

The youth program at Walnut Way started long before 2004. Larry and Sharon Adams have been working in the vacant lots transforming them into vegetable and flowers gardens and the children have come along to help ever since they have gotten started. The children were engaged in all sorts of projects, whether it was planting or maintaing the gardens. They were also involved in the harvesting and selling of the produce at farm stands. Last summer programs were held twice a week and included regular activities for the children, such as taking walks around the neighborhood and talking about what they were seeing and the things that were going on. That summer was called “Agua de la communidad”. Topics that were talked about were neighborhood water and what it meant. The group took lots of field trips, to places like the botanical gardens and the state fair. The children are nine years and older and are able to grasp a lot of the educational concepts. The Walnut Way youth group is not strictly educational, though a large component is educational and they try to incorporate education in all their activities. Its much more learning by experience, hands on.

Neighborhood Lift Up

The youth of Walnut Way, along with some student volunteers, clean up the streets where they live in honor of Earth Day.

Interview with "Miss Nicole"

Nicole discusses the start of the youth progam, its structure, and why she loves it.