OUR VOICE YMCA COMMUNITY FAMILY CENTER 4223 S. Atherton Dr., Taylorsville, UT 84123 www.ymcacfc.org | 801-839-3388 COMMUNITY FAMILY CENTER January 2012 SPECIAL REMINDERS January 13,16—No School Holiday Day Camps January 7,14—Money Matters January 12—GED/High School Completion Workshop January 10— My Best Life January 20—Tai Chi Introductory Class HAPPENINGS Welcome to the New Year! We are looking forward to three Holiday Day Camps on January 2nd, 13th, and 16th. On January 16th we will be having a Day of Service, where we will be working on crafts for a local hospital. All of our Day Camps include a wide variety of enriching and fun activities. We will have some great changes in our afterschool program with the new session of clubs. Due to the large number of youth the program will be structure more like the Day Camps with the groups assigned to one staff. The next eight weeks will be filled with Project Learning, Financial Literacy, Fitness, Character Education and Arts & Crafts. We are sad to say goodbye to Wilynes as she will be leaving for California but we are happy to welcome Sarah to our afterschool staff. The before school program completed some beautiful holiday string art which will be on display at the local senior center. String Art is a mathematic based art project where the kids follow a number pattern to create an object. They have also continued learning about the solar system with science news through the internet and conversations based on what they learn. There has been a focus on scientific illusion and how you can trick your brain into believing something that is not real. If you are interested in learning more about any of our programs please contact us or stop in for a visit. Kate B Sigurdson, Youth Program Manager HAPPY NEW YEAR! HOLIDAY DAY CAMPS Winter 2011 Dates -January 2 -January13 -January 16 -February 17 -February 20 Every day there will be: -Themed Activities -Field Trips -Fun -And More The youth and staff at the YMCA Community Family Center (CFC) in Taylorsville and all of the SLC After School Programs set themselves a goal to accomplish 1,000 kind acts by the last day of 2011… and we got 950 of them! Through their own actions towards others, and their willingness to inspire their families and friends to be kind, our youth plan to complete our goal by the end of the first week in January. The YMCA’s Four Core Values of Honesty, Caring, Respect and Responsibility are regular accompaniments of our daily life here at the Y. Our programs offer a variety of positive reinforcements for youth that allow them to grow and become healthier in mind, body and spirit each and every day. This goal allows them to build awareness on Kindness and will hopefully inspire their families to do the same. We’re really proud of all the Kind Acts that the kids have completed! January 2012 Calendar January Health and Wellness Challenge Every month we are going to issue a healthy challenge to encourage the community to be more aware of their health and the opportunities around them to improve or continue make healthy choices. This month’s challenge is to WALK 30 MINUTES EVERYDAY. Walking, like other exercise, can help you achieve a number of important health benefits. Walking can help you: • • • • • • • Lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol) Raise high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol) Lower your blood pressure Reduce your risk of or manage type 2 diabetes Manage your weight Improve your mood And help you spend quality time with your family Thank you to our Supporters George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation $30,000 for operations with our Salt Lake County After School Programs and the Community Family Center Programs. Goldman Sachs $10,000 to our Salt Lake County After School Programs and the Community Family Center Programs To expand our capacity to provide direct financial assistance to low income children and families so that they are not turned away from our programs due to their inability to pay. These funds will allow us to continue to provide programs and services that promote academic achievement and expand the amount and depth of financial literacy programming for children, adults and families living in poverty. All of our FAMILIES. Thank you for all that you do. Utah Family Foundation $10,000 Capital for Community Family Center For the capital improvement project at the Community Family Center which will allow the Y to add a community garden, provide senior health and wellness programs, provide adult entrepreneurship and job training/ seeking classes, provide community family programs. Capital improvements include: providing equipment to create a more effective classroom experience for children and adults and improve our ability to communicate to our families. KINDERGARTEN ACADEMY IT WAS THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME… December was a very special month for our children at the Y Kindergarten Academy. We had great celebrations and important visitors that brought to our program unforgettable experiences. At the beginning of the month our children lit up the Family Night with songs that brought reflection about the value of all our families. As part of the Character Education and Prevention program children earned a celebration after completing group goals. Using the democratic system, kindergarteners chose to have a Pajama Party! We read books, we did math by sorting patterns of pajamas and stuffed animals, we practiced science by cooking breakfast and had a lot of fun in our PJs! Josten, Ledraya, Andres, Lily and Snehit pretended to sleep during the PJs party The volunteers that came to our program also made December very special time of the year. Nallely Bojorquez came to our morning program and shared with the kids a great story, a craft and her iPad! For some of the children, this was their first experience playing music and creative games on an iPad. We also were lucky to have 12 enthusiastic volunteers from Deseret Mutual/ International Division in our afternoon program. They read a great book that was donated to our program. They brought crafts that our children enjoyed a lot. But most of all, children enjoyed the interaction with these fun grown-ups that told them stories, laughed with them, and helped complete projects that children took home. Nallely and the kids experiencing her iPad What is coming… In January we will focus our studies on our community. Children will learn about community helpers, important buildings in our community. We would love to hear from you. We want you to share how you are a community helper with our children. Josten, Ledraya, Andres, Lily and Snehit pretended to sleep during the PJs party Community Programs Please visit our website at www.ymcacfc.org for more information and to register for our programs. $ Money Matters January 7th and 14th from 8:30 am – 12:30 pm. Join the YMCA Community Family Center and Fair Credit/UADIN for MONEY MATTERS and learn to prepare simple family budgets, tips on using credit wisely, straightforward information on managing your money and information about starting a healthy savings account! Childcare is available during class times for youth ages 2-14, at no charge. GED/High School Completion Workshop Thursday January 12, 2012 from 6:00pm – 8:00 pm Pam Denicke from eSingleParent.org will be partnering with the YMCA Community Family Center to offer a FREE GED/HIGH SCHOOL COMPLETION WORKSHOP. During this 2 hour workshop you will learn how to: complete a GED or HSCD, prepare for the test, locate the local testing center, arrange to take the test and how to successfully balance school, home, and work. In addition, Pam Denicke will also discuss the process of starting college to complete a degree or technical training program and the available campus and community programs, services and resources that will aid future students in navigating that process. My Best Life Tuesday January 10, 2012 from 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm. (Runs every Tuesday evening for five weeks) Feeling stressed? Would you like to lose weight? Join the YMCA Community Family Center for MY BEST LIFE, a 5 week series on mastering your emotions and addressing emotional issues that trigger unhealthy life choices. My Best Life creates a support system with weekly groups, personal coaching, sponsorship and daily journaling. Become the master of your emotions and fulfill your New Years resolutions with this FREE workshop series! Feel free to get more information online at www.ymcacfc.org or mybestlifeforever.com. Tai Chi Friday January 20, 2012 10 am-11 am The YMCA will be offering a FREE introductory Tai Chi class. Join the Community Family Center as we connect our mind, body and spirit through the most ancient form of martial arts, Tai Chi. English as a Second Language (ESL) Thursday February 2, 2012 7:00 pm – 7:30 pm Saturday February 4, 2012 9:00 am – 9:30 am (twice weekly every Thursday and Saturday for 12 weeks.) The YMCA is partnering with the Daily Dose English Program to offer 12 weeks of English as a Second Language classes. These classes are designed for our adult community members who want to gain basic, conversational English skills. Attendance is not time intensive; classes will be offered twice a week for half an hour each session and will be taught entirely in English. Class sizes will be kept small with no more than 10 participants to a class. Please join us, at the YMCA Community Family Center as we learn and grow together! Seating is limited, please register online. Resume Writing Workshop Thursday February 9th and 16th from 6:30 pm- 7:30pm Need a job? The YMCA and the SLCC Community Writing Center will be hosting a Resume writing workshop for FREE! Join us for this two part series where the intricacies of writing a cover letter and organizing your resume will be made simple. Let us help you make the first step of your job search an easy one.