Town Shop Youth Center

Hi David, it’s Jen here, your old kayaking buddy! How’s your summer been? Full of music festivals and the outdoors, I’m sure.

I took part in a really cool multimedia project this past summer on youth and technology. Our site is set to launch any day now (it’s just blogs and temporary stuff right now) and we’re running a contest to help get youth-generated content for our site. We’re a bunch of college journalists… what do we know about being young anymore! I know that you have a lot of interaction with youth at the Town Shop, and wanted to extend encouragement to your more tech-minded students to enter our video contest.

Technology has changed young peoples’ experience of the world, and we want to get them to reflect on that creatively. Maybe you could even make an event out of it and do a video all together.

Here are the contest details: Students make a 2 to 3 minute soap-opera style video on how technology has affected their life. It can be silly or sad, reflective or raucus, and be done solo or in groups. Submit it to our YouTube group before December 31st, 2009, and you’re in! We’ve paired up with author and researcher Don Tapscott to offer up to $1,000 in prize money for the best work.

I hope you’ll consider encouraging your students to enter. It could serve as great motivation and exposure for their work. If you have any other ideas for how I could get the word out, I’d love to hear them.

Contest details: www.thewirelesscontest.com
YouTube Group: www.youtube.com/group/youngandthewireless

Please let me know if you have any questions or feedback. I look forward to hearing back from you.

Jennifer Ward
Syracuse University
www.thewirelesscontest.com

Also check out her amazingly delicious Food Blog

The Town Shop reopened on October 5 following a September staff vacation. An October/November program calendar is in the process of careful planning and will be posted on the website, and available as hard copy soon.

Here are some highlights:

• Seva (Samaritan Center) Wednesdays 3pm.
• Sunshine Horse Rescue 10/13 5pm, 10/24, 11/7, 11/21 9am
• Moroccan Visitors 10/8 2:30-4:30pm, Come help us welcome Ms. Fadwah RIH (Director, National Information and Documentation Center For Youth) and Mr. Hicham El Mdaghri (Chief of Service, Ministry of Economy and Finance) It’s their first visit to the US and they would like to meet American teens and learn about youth organizations.
• Zoo (Rosamond Gifford Zoo) 10/12 1pm The Town Shop has a group pass.
• Apple Picking 10/15 3pm Beak & Skiff (79¢ per pound)
• Chimney Bluffs (Chimney Bluffs Hiking) 10/25 12pm Spectacular autumn hiking.
• Sterling Nature Center 11/1 12pm Another Lake Ontario adventure.
• Dodgeball 10/29, 11/19, 12/17 6:30pm East Hill Elementary
• Rough Times Live (Teen Program (TV Show) 11/10 6pm Teen produced television show taping at the Town Shop followed by short theatrical performance.
• Eating Our Way Around The World 11/11 11am Ling Ling’s (China)
• Trip To The Big Apple (New York City) 11/13-11/15 Hosted by Mike and Kelly Dubois in Woodstock, NY.
• Classic Movie Night 11/25 7pm Hosted by Dan Nolan (film to be announced).

Coming in December/January

Live music showcases, Town Shop overnight, cross country ski trips, winter camping, Everson Art Museum exhibit (“From Turner to Cezanne”) and more. Stay tuned!

by John Mariani

More than an hour and a half before the forum was to begin, the line of spectators to see Vice President Joe Biden and his all-star education panel extended from the metal detector at the entrance of Goldstein Auditorium, through the lobby of Schine Student Center and out the door.

It included Grace Castaneda, a Syracuse University freshman from Corpus Christi, Texas. “My parents supported President Obama and Vice President Biden. It’s pretty cool to see something they were a part of,” Castaneda said.

It also would be cool if the panelists talked about how to help college students get their education, she said.

David Vermilya, co-director of the The Town Shop youth center in Camillus, was escorting several teenagers from the center. They got their tickets courtesy of Rep. Dan Maffei, whom Vermilya said wanted teens from his district to attend the forum. Dan Nolan, now a Maffei aide, is a Town Shop alumnus, Vermilya said.

Read More »

After a busy and successful summer schedule that filled the calendar right up to the doorstep of Labor Day weekend, the Town Shop will be mostly shut down from September 8 to October 5 (reopens 4pm) so that staff can vacate, recreate, and rejuvenate. There will be some activities in September… Seva every Wednesday (Samaritan Center) at 3pm, Chenango Colorscape Arts Fest September 12 and possibly 13, kayak down Onondaga Creek on Sunday, October 4 (an urban adventure). Contact Cheryl or David at 635-6495 if interested. A rich and robust autumn schedule will be posted soon and will include more seva opportunities (Samaritan Center and Sunshine Horse Rescue), dodgeball, Town Shop overnight, “Eating our way around the world” (Chinese), apple picking, autumn hiking along the Finger Lakes trail and Chimney Bluffs, more kayak trips, and a weekend trip to the Big Apple (NYC). Stay Tuned!

Meanwhile…

Former Town Shop participant and longtime friend Travis Sky Ingersoll has been busy. A few years ago he bought a home in Philadelphia, married Mindy Massaro (Director of International Studies at LaSalle University) this past July, has acquired two masters degrees and is close to earning his PHD from Widener University, and has created an online business that raises money for worthwhile youth development programs. Check it out, and start to peruse your own book collection. Later this year the Town Shop may organize a book drive as a fundraiser.

Well, it took us awhile to plan it all out but this is a longer summer than usual (school doesn’t restart until September 8th), plus it was important to carefully consider staff capacities in the midst of knee replacement surgery recovery. That’s a long process.

The building will be open Mondays and Tuesdays 4-10pm, unless otherwise posted. Summer building hours are greatly reduced to allow for a variety of quality outdoor experiences.

A Few Highlights

• Kayak (Nine Mile Creek) Mondays
• Kayak (South Sandy Creek) 7/16, 8/9, 8/29
• Kayak (Seneca River) 8/3
• Kayak (Tioughnioga River) 9/1
• Volleyball (Gillie Lake) Tuesdays 6:30pm
• Seva (Samaritan Center) Wednesdays 3pm
• Seva (Sunshine Horse Rescue) 7/18
• Green Lakes State Park 7/9, 7/21, 7/30, 8/25
• Taughannock Falls/Blue Sky Mission Club Concert (Blue Sky Mission Club) 8/1
• Ithaca Gorges 8/27
• Falcon Ridge Folk Festival 7/23-7/26
• Whale Watch 2009 8/15-8/20