Winter-Spring Highlight: Sports, Creativity, and Discovery
Youth Challenge enjoyed a wonderful Winter-Spring season, with exciting new activities and old favorites! Several highlights were the Basketball Showdown, Fencing, Project Runway, and Young Detectives.
YC held its 5th Annual Basketball Showdown this year, hosted once again at St. Peter School. Participants and volunteers enjoyed lots of fanfare, including a walk-through tunnel, music, cheerleaders, and fans in the stands. The last game was an exhibition game that included integrating both YC participants and St. Peter students. Some of the students from St. Pete’s had a chance to play in a sports wheelchair for the first time. Mary’s Giving Fund was a major new sponsor for the Basketball Showdown and donated T-shirts for all the participants and volunteers.
Our Fencing programs were all led by Reese, a freshman teen volunteer from Laurel School in Shaker Heights! The programs took place at Laurel School, and Reese demonstrated many techniques and skills to our participants and teen volunteers. Everyone got to try out real fencing foils! Reese took her knowledge and skills to Senders Pediatrics’ Family Kindness Festival in April and received a donation to support future Fencing programs and equipment for YC.
During Project Runway, participants and volunteers had three weeks to design an outfit to walk down the runway at the end of the last week of program. The YC crew prepped and planned their designs at Elyria Arts Council, one of our Lorain County partners. YC Arts Manager Megan introduced a few techniques and tools to add to their designs, such as a heat press, hat press, sublimation printer, iron-on patches, and fabric markers. The press and printer were donated by the Romich Foundation.
During Young Detectives, participants and volunteers engaged in a weekly hands-on activity that required them to use their analytical abilities and senses. During different games, they had to get information by touch, sound, or smell. During the last week, they had to solve a crime using all the skills they had learned!
Winter-Spring season was a blast at YC, and we are especially grateful for all of our community partners who made it possible. We look forward to an exciting summer ahead!
