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!