Thursday, July 05, 2007 Journal entry #3
Monday July 2 was the start of Open Road’s “Prove It” summer program. Seward Park has been established as the home base for the program of 15 ( planning director, youth coordinator, youth mentors, I am the GUNYC researcher and there are ten youth leaders). The first day had a teamwork theme and the youth coordinator and the youth mentors led a “Check-in” discussion of the desirable qualities necessary to teamwork and asked the youth leaders to cooperatively form ground rules.
After that main issue was covered, the planning directer led the first physical activity of the day. Stencils and spray paint were used to create t-shirts that not only identified the group but were also creative outlets for individual expression.
The second physical activity was lead by the youth coordinator. He asked the group what stewardship meant to them and held a discussion on the importance of environmental stewardship. This was followed by 30 minutes of picking up litter around Seward park.
Following that physical activity, the youth coordinator led another discussion on what a mission statement is and read the mission statements of Open Road and of Brotherhood/Sister Sol.
We then broke for food for 45 minutes.
After the break, we all came together to discuss what Prove It With Improvements means and what the goals that need to be met are for the summer. Talked mainly about getting the Essex road entrance gates open and why they should be open. The maintenance worker at the park said that he wanted to keep the gates on that side closed because that was the side that all the junkies stay on and he wount not want to let them in. Also, with only one entrance, he could monitor who came into and out of the park better. We then talked about why he would choose this line of argument, and how it was meant to make young parents who came to the park feel more protected when in fact a busier park would actually discourage junkies from coming in.
A youth leader offered that a “trial” opening of the gates day could be arranged to prove that move people benefited from having the gates open than closed.
The group noticed that the maintenance staff could have also been concerned about the increased need for maintenance if more people came to the park and thought about offering a youth cleaning events. There was also further discussion about how the “junkie” excuse was a cop-out and what other problems could arise from having those gates remain closed. This discussion then broadened to why is there a fear of homeless people? Why are there homeless people at all?
This discussion was used as a segway into describing the history of Open Road and how they made human to human relationships with the homeless man and the prostitute that had previously lived on the site.
More discussion led into the good qualities for a team. One youth leader suggested that it is best to always see both sides of the argument and to hear each-other out.
Monday July 2 was the start of Open Road’s “Prove It” summer program. Seward Park has been established as the home base for the program of 15 ( planning director, youth coordinator, youth mentors, I am the GUNYC researcher and there are ten youth leaders). The first day had a teamwork theme and the youth coordinator and the youth mentors led a “Check-in” discussion of the desirable qualities necessary to teamwork and asked the youth leaders to cooperatively form ground rules.
After that main issue was covered, the planning directer led the first physical activity of the day. Stencils and spray paint were used to create t-shirts that not only identified the group but were also creative outlets for individual expression.
The second physical activity was lead by the youth coordinator. He asked the group what stewardship meant to them and held a discussion on the importance of environmental stewardship. This was followed by 30 minutes of picking up litter around Seward park.
Following that physical activity, the youth coordinator led another discussion on what a mission statement is and read the mission statements of Open Road and of Brotherhood/Sister Sol.
We then broke for food for 45 minutes.
After the break, we all came together to discuss what Prove It With Improvements means and what the goals that need to be met are for the summer. Talked mainly about getting the Essex road entrance gates open and why they should be open. The maintenance worker at the park said that he wanted to keep the gates on that side closed because that was the side that all the junkies stay on and he wount not want to let them in. Also, with only one entrance, he could monitor who came into and out of the park better. We then talked about why he would choose this line of argument, and how it was meant to make young parents who came to the park feel more protected when in fact a busier park would actually discourage junkies from coming in.
A youth leader offered that a “trial” opening of the gates day could be arranged to prove that move people benefited from having the gates open than closed.
The group noticed that the maintenance staff could have also been concerned about the increased need for maintenance if more people came to the park and thought about offering a youth cleaning events. There was also further discussion about how the “junkie” excuse was a cop-out and what other problems could arise from having those gates remain closed. This discussion then broadened to why is there a fear of homeless people? Why are there homeless people at all?
This discussion was used as a segway into describing the history of Open Road and how they made human to human relationships with the homeless man and the prostitute that had previously lived on the site.
More discussion led into the good qualities for a team. One youth leader suggested that it is best to always see both sides of the argument and to hear each-other out.
The Open Road director then listed the expected outcomes for this summer: 1 long term park/garden priority acted upon (such as opening gates along Essex at Seward Park, opening bathrooms at Seward Park) 5 short term priorities acted upon (such as park cleanups, meeting with elected officials, etc) Park tours conducted to involve and inform residents about their parks follow up on NY4P research conducted by the youth coordinator, do new NY4P research on Seward and other parks 12 presentations on research findings and the program overall Guides created for Oasis, Google, NY4P data, to be published on Oasis Evidence that youth have developed leadership skills
The planning directer led an activity in which the group was split into two groups and were asked to make a “problem tree” and a “solution tree.” This activity identified a problem that youth were concerned about (such as gentrification and bad media) and then analyzed the “roots” of the problem and the “branches” or outcomes of the problem. It was meant to gain a deeper understanding of the power plays involved in theses issues.
The day was wrapped up with a “check out” discussion asking the youth leaders how the day went for them and asking if anything should change about how the day is planned.
Tuesday, July 3rd
The second day held the same flow as the first, the day is themed (such as “Team work” or “Community Activism”), the day starts with a check-in discussion, then two physical activities ( each about 45mins to an hour, one is almost always a stewardship activity), then a themed discussion, then food break, plan of action/research/analyzing, Research/plan and ended with a check out.
The theme for Tuesday was community activism. The check-in was a discussion of the theme followed by a physical activity mainly focused on ice breakers.
Then a youth mentor led the group in a half hour of stewardship (picking up litter in the park).
Another youth mentor then led the group in a skit-making activity in which the youth leaders created a skit about a problem discussed the day before (gentrification, prejudgment, mad media etc).
One group created a skit about how police and others do not see homeless people as humans. Another group’s skit was about an apartment building being bought out by a wealthy land owner that had the residents either pay double the rent they had before or move out, and another group displayed three different news broadcast scenarios to illustrate what the story would look like 1) how it would be presented tonight, 2) how youth broadcasters would present it and 3) how the story would most likely be over shadowed by a story on Paris Hilton.
Before we broke for lunch, the youth coordinator passed out a timeline of Malcolm X’s life that was prepared by Open Road's directer. The group broke up into groups to read it and then reformed to discuss Malcolm’s life, his method of activism, and how his teacher discouraged him from being a lawyer.
Following the break, the planning directer presented to the group an outline for how the program would run this summer. She described how they would need to discuss goals for the summer and how to accomplish them. A youth mentor presented on what they had done two years ago within this program.
The group brainstormed possible long and short term goals for the summer and the planning directer went through a strategy chart with us to make clear what we would need to do to accomplish our goals.
It was decided that the three main issues for this summer were opening the gates, park hygiene, and youth programming.
The group broke up into small groups to talk about what, specifically, they wanted to do in the coming weeks. Common themes included hosting a BBQ or festival (a possible time to open the gates), fewer small group discussions, more breaks, more fun and hands on activities.
We wrapped up the program with a check in, and the youth leaders said that Tuesday was much better than Monday because it had less tension and seemed more focused and productive.
