After an intense April vacation during the Youth Summit, we thought it'd be nice to give our interns and YAG members a treat--dinner together, followed by taking in some theater. Although it was a little adventurous for some youth's taste buds, we chose to eat Thai food, at Bangkok Gardens on York Street. The ordering of food was spearheaded by Brandon and Miss Joanne, choosing a wide variety of dishes for everyone to pick and choose. The coconut soup wasn't very popular, but the chicken skewers and shrimp were.

After dinner, we walked across the street to the Yale Repertory Theater to see Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well. The youth decided that the second act, with the loud boom of the cannon and more interesting plot points, was better. Overall, it was a night of trying new things and late bedtimes.

New Team at Wintergreen! 04-24-06

April 24th was a happy day at Wintergreen Interdistrict Magnet School (WIMS)--Solar Youth has begun a new Steward Team program there! With the school's proximity to Lake Wintergreen, it's established gardens and ample greenspace, the new partnership between Solar Youth and WIMS is ideal. The school is excited to offer this new program for it's fourth and fifth graders and Solar Youth is excited to work with a new partner school. Kim, SCA intern, and Jody, a seasoned high school intern (this will be Jody's 4th new team in two semesters!) are facilitating the group. They have plans to work on the school gardens, build the group's sense of teamwork, play some fun games and teach the youth about their environment. The youth will be attending their first Solar Youth field trip on May 6th, to the Yale Garden, so they will also have a chance to meet all the other Stewards from all over New Haven. It's bound to be a great semester!

2006 Youth Summit

During April vacation from public school, Solar Youth held it's annual Youth Summit, focusing on The Wisdom of Native Americans. It was three days of fantastic weather, fun, games, learning and adventure!

Day One
On our Kids Explore Day, the youth, from Neighborhood Steward Teams based around the city, participated in an interactive tour of Edgewood Park in Westville, New Haven, CT. The youth were divided into four groups and were led by an intern-adult pair. During their hike, youth were given a scavenger hunt of specific species of trees and plants in the park, which they photographed. They cleaned up several bags of trash on their travels and stopped at four workshop stations along the trails.

There was a Nature Sit, where youth first heard poems about nature by famous poets, then other youth. Then they tried their hand at writing nature poetry, several to much success. At another station, youth learned about Native American foods and had a snack of cornbread and flatbread. Youth played a Native American game called Throwing Stick at another station. Papermaking was set up along the trail as well. At the end of the day, members of the Mohegan Tribe performed for our group at the sundial in the park.

Day Two
During the Kids Do Day, we separated into two groups, rotating between building Trudy the Trash Turtle from all the trash and recyclables collected and putting together an album of photographs from the previous day, information about each plant or tree, and copies of everyone's nature poems. The youth had a great time making art from trash to show others how much trash is littered in the park.



Day Three
For the Kids Teach Day, youth practiced speeches about different species of plants and trees they had photographed in the park, some rehearsed their poems, some memorized bits about Trudy the Trash Turtle. Then, around 3pm, the youth presented what they had learned during the summit at the gazebo in the park, then leading their audience of friends and families into the clearing where Trudy resides. Several of the youth acted out Hanifa's, the Director of Education, narration of a turtle myth and then explained the purpose of Trudy. After a little BBQ, we sent the Summit participants on their way, after a long and successful three days.


Jalana Kelley discusses the creation of Trudy the Trash Turtle


Photo in the New Haven Advocate of Trudy the Trash Turtle