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Three
years ago, Youth Continuum’s MacMullen Center
opened on Grand Avenue
in New Haven.
This new center is a critical adjunct to our comprehensive service mix for
at-risk youth. It was created as a hub for activities related to
educational and job skill training, youth leadership development, and
personal and artistic enrichment. The team at the MacMullen Center includes six professional
Youth Continuum staff members and a number of professional teachers and
consultants.
Youth from
our residences have been instrumental in defining the types of programs
offered at the Center. From art classes to computer literacy to youth
advocacy, the range of programs has been developed in response to our kids'
interests. This year, we launched the
Youth Enterprise Project, which includes a snack vending business called Three Brothers Vending, community-based internships, and structured work
experiences. Through this program youth will develop skills which better
equip them for life and the world of work including critical and creative
thinking skills; problem-solving and communication skills; and personal
empowerment and effectiveness.
Here are
highlights from our first year of the MacMullen Center:
:Our
kids are bridging the digital divide at CyberSpace,
the Center's computer lab, using both Mac and PC equipment for homework,
resumes, graphic design and more.
õYouth participated in a "Healing
Hearts" humane education
workshop presented by
our colleagues at Soul Friends where the kids interacted with
former shelter dogs.
#Through
artistic technique instruction and an exploration of various types of art, youth created the Super Babies mural - an example
of graffiti art and airbrushing.
HHai Your Learning presented 10 weeks of a Japanese language
and
culture class,
culminating in a visit to a Japanese restaurant.
¨A hip hop literacy workshop led by
a local teaching artist helped boys develop their literacy skills as they
learned about poetry as a means of expression. The boys kept journals of
their poems and even recorded them onto a CD. The second leg of this
workshop is led by renowned poet and original member of The Last Poets, Abiodun Oyewole.
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