Teensgiving 2013

Teenz in the City participated in the TEENSGIVING an annual one-day-only event in which over 700 high school teenagers participate in different community service projects all throughout New York City. Our group traveled together via subway and arrived at the 92nd street Y for a brief orientation. Upon arrival, we checked in at tables under our last names, which was good practice to figure out which table to sign in at according to what letter of the alphabet our last name started with. We were given our community service placement a food pantry on the upper west side of Manhattan. We followed the directions and arrived at the food pantry. We were given our task, which was to organize food donations into various boxes ie: canned vegetables, meat, pasta, rice etc. which we learned would be distributed tomorrow for over 100 people who were hungry. Our group worked really hard together as a team sorting cans and dried foods. Afterwards, we grabbed a quick celebratory lunch which was a nice treat after a long morning of hard work. While at lunch, we discussed with the group how most our sessions are generally geared toward having fun and outings that they prefer; however, it is important to remember how fortunate we are, and why it is so important to give back to the community. We used hopstop.com to determine the travel route back to our meeting point which included taking the 2/3 train crosstown to Times Square, then transferring to the S train to Grand Central, and then taking the 6 train downtown. It was excellent travel training practice for us to travel on so many different subway lines in one day! Overall, it was a very rewarding day ,and we look forward to making TEENSGIVING an annual event for Teenz in the City!

Cooking our Own Lunch!

November 17, 2013

This past weekend, Teenz in the City went to Gyu-Kaku where we were able to cook our own lunch using a grill right at our table. We utilized Safari to google the address and figured out that the 6 train downtown was the best choice to arrive at our destination by using hopstop. We worked on looking at street signs to determine our location when we got off a subway that we had never been before. While we were there, we grilled chicken, shrimp, vegetables, and tried edamame! For dessert, we grilled smores and discussed our favorite foods. One of the most important skills we focused on during this session was tipping. We used our phone calculators to determine a 20% tip and how to add this to the total amount of food ordered. We used the same process when we were in the taxi on the way back as well. This is a skill we have requested parents continue to work on in between sessions.  We are looking forward to trying new foods in the future with our group and becoming more savvy when going out to meals!

 

 

Shipwreck Discovery Education!

This past weekend, Teenz in the City went to see the Discovery Education Shipwreck Exhibit in Times Square. The members decided that we should work on underground transfers of the subway and took the 6 and the Shuttle to Times Square. Due to the chilly weather, we all agreed that being outside for less time was advantageous! While at the exhibit, the members were able to endure hurricane force winds at 78 mph in a closed space and learn about the many ships that have sunk in history. In addition, the members were able to practice steering a ship and learned about excavating items from under the sea. It was a wonderful exhibit that provoked great discussion among the members. We look forward to seeking out new Discovery Education exhibits in the spring!

October 31, 2013

To celebrate Halloween Teenz in the City style, we decided to explore the Upper West Side and all the spooky decorated brownstones. We practiced taking the uptown B train and found the subway using hopstop collectively. We reviewed the importance of staying close to the group, given the size of the crowds out for Halloween.  Everyone took in the sights and enjoyed some candy from the trick-or-treating experience. To end our time together, we stopped at Magnolia Cupcakes to try the Halloween themed cupcakes. All of the members enjoyed celebrating the holiday together and we look forward to this tradition in years to come!

Jekyll and Hyde: A Halloween Adventure!

October 26, 2013

This past weekend, we had our annual Halloween outing to Jeykl & Hyde in Times Square. We used hopstop.com to determine the travel route to and from the restaurant back to our home base. While traveling as a group, we always give one or two members the opportunity to be the group leader and navigate the group for the day. Today our member, led us to the downtown train, when the directions stated we were supposed to be taking the uptown train. We were able to use this as a teachable moment and reviewed with the group the importance of reading the signs before entering the subway to make sure that it the right direction. We also reviewed with our members how to use the machine to refill our metro card. While at the restaurant we were entertained by the talented staff at Jeykl & Hyde and on going shows around the restaurant. It was a really great day and fun was had by all of our members! Happy early Halloween to all!

Having a Blast Bowling!

October 22, 2013

This past weekend our group headed to Bowlmar lanes in Times square for some bowling and lunch. We used hopstop.com to determine the best travel route and used google maps on our iphones to help guide us upon walking. As Times Square can be a busy area, it is important to execute safety at all times including staying together as a group, having an awareness of our personal space and our environment and dealing appropriately with strangers. While at the lanes, we had a great time together and practiced our reciprocal conversation skills regarding our favorite foods and classes at school. It is really great to observe some new friendships developing amongst the group members and we are looking forward to fostering these new relationships in the weeks to come.

 

 

 

Girls' Group- A beautiful fall afternoon

This past session, we continued to focus on our travel training skills, in particular better understanding the NYC grid system (streets & avenues) as well as increasing their knowledge of directions (N,E,S,W). The girls were able to use hostop.com in order to navigate this site more independently. While traveling to our destination, we encouraged the girls to follow their hopstop directions as well as a visual map in order to continue to increase their understanding of the directions. This was very helpful for them in order to visualize our walking route.  

 
We also worked on our independence cards (this is a card that the girls will keep in their wallet at all times and includes addresses and phone numbers for many places and people that they often visit). This card will be used to help increase their familiarity with these locations as well as their independence as they can now refer to these cards as needed.