WATERVILLE, Maine (WABI) – The Alfond Youth Center in partnership with JMG, is kicking off their second annual summer retreat program. This year, the kids were involved in selecting the activities they are interested in.
“We have fly fishing, Red Cross babysitting certifications, we’ve got a car restoration class,” Team Program Coordinator, Avery Ryan says.
The three weeks program was developed last year as a reconnection for the students after COVID.
“A lot of them had been in remote learning or in a hybrid schedule and the school district came to us and said all of these kids are antsy and needed something to do,” Ryan said.
That year, 76 students signed up for the program. Now, the program has doubled — with over 200 kids involved who choose what they want to do.
“They gave us survey data; we got about 900 responses to that survey which led us to develop these programs based on what it is they are interested in,” Ryan says.
The survey shows that students were interested in cooking activities such as the farm to table program provided.
“We are going out to the garden and connecting people to their food systems and today we happen to be pickling.” Alisha Targonski with University of Maine Cooperative Extension said.
A food preservation skill Debbie Barnett says is important.
“A lot of us don’t have that extra money to go to the grocery store to buy tons of food each week,” Barnett, EFNEP specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension says.
She says learning these skills at a young age goes a long way.
“You get to be my age and think back and say thank Goodness, I learned how to do this because I can take care of my family when times are tough,” Barnett said.
Those skills and more is why Aurora Valencia – Carter signed up for the program. She says she hope to teach about agriculture one day.
“I hope to gain a lot and learn some of the skills I didn’t know how to do…and just have fun,” Valencia-Carter said.
Copyright 2022 WABI. All rights reserved.
Credit: Source link
