L.E.S. Teens: October 2006

Six Flag Great Adventure

Thank you to all the folks who made this trip happen!! We had a great time!! MORE PHOTOS HERE ON FLICKR More Halloween event photos coming soon!

Some Announcements!

* Congratulations to Keiry for her Honors Award at Thursday's Open House!!

* Friday: No program. Staff Meeting Day.

* Saturday trip moved to Sunday: Great Adventure Halloween Trip! Be at Marta Valle at 7:30am sharp! Dress warm and bring umbrellas! Moved to Sunday due to the rain.

* Halloween: Tuesday October 31st: Dress up and come to the Beacon Party at 4pm!

* Every Thursday: Lisa's introductions to SLAM writing and poetry. Today & next Thursday we're watching the film SLAM with Saul Williams. Below is a photo of Lisa with Saul Williams at a party in Texas where he revealed the meaning of life to her. Come see the film! Other Thursdays: we'll listen to teen poets, watch some Def Jam Poets, get ready to write and work on performance with Alan!!

Freestyle For Free

Lyrics By Donald Pleasant, LES Teen

This is New York City, The NYC,
The 5 borroughs of Death, They call me Don P.
Trying to earn my rep, New faces to see,
I walk from block to block, New Places to be.

With my fresh new bapes and custom white tee,
A new born Prince, more freshest can be.
I forget about the past but homie
tha future us forever, Back then I was whack,
but now I'm getting better.

In tha rap game, this is what i call
a new era, my life was messed up, trying
get myself together. There's only one thing
you should understand, you're not talking
2 a chump, you talkin to a man.

Be like scooby doo and solve the mystery
while you can, cause I'm young Don,
straight from the Grand.

The Pool Hall

Friday we all headed to SoHo Billiards to play some pool. The first games were a little rough but then we all made some improvements.

Alan's Mask Project in Self Expression Class

Momo shows me her mask that she made with Alan in self expression. They are still in the process of completing them but you can see where they're headed!

A Few Good Men

Some More LES Photo Tags

PSAT practice

Good News!: It Takes a Village

Well, we did it! Through the incredible generosity of others, we raised $2000 to send 50 youths an hour and a half outside the city to Six Flags for their Halloween Themed events on October 28th. Many of these donations came from people who once had someone help them out when they were a teenager, or from those who were involved in a program just like ours. Some folks could only afford to donate a small amount, but it's every little effort that matters and makes something work as a whole.

One of the donors explained that he grew up with little money, but took some great trips through the after school program he was involved in. Today, he is financially well off and attributes it to the sense of community and the help he received while taking full advantage of a program like ours. Another donor use to volunteer at Marta Valle. She was pleased to discover that this was where her money was going.

We owe our thanks to all the donors for making this trip happen for our family! And someday, it will be called upon you to help a youth out in return...

“Every good act is charity. A person's true wealth hereafter is the good that he does in this world to his fellows.”
"The two qualities most needed in the world are generosity and tolerance."

Roll Call Shout Out for Donors: Newton, Mike, John, Evans, Richard, Carey, Sonya, Dan & Adrienne, Laura, Dave, Liane, Chris, Adam, Star, Eric, Jack, Jason, Maysie, Jennifer, Laurel, Laura, Steve, Eliot, John, Rachel, Vince, Min Jung, and Brian!

~Lisa

Wanting It!

Recently I watched a show where Oprah discussed how she only wants to help kids who "Want it." In Africa, she explained that children there are fully aware that EDUCATION is the only way out. There are rare exceptions of course, but the real ticket is your contuniued education in any field of interest. While interviewing young girls around Africa for entry into her private school, the children pleaded with her for an education. Otherwise, they would be subject to a life of poverty.

In America, we forget the value of certain privileges because we are spoiled as a country. We forget the value of our VOTE even though people gave their lives for it. We forget the value of a free education even though we have a history where only the wealthy were able to attend school at one time. We often expect things to come without the hard work, but they won't. Every successful person will tell you one thing, they worked hard for their success. But this society is trying to trick you...trick you with tv, with music videos, with magazines, with video games. They want to distract you from your goal and save the good stuff for a chosen few. You have to put up a fight. Don't let them bury your true talents.

Education is not about achieving wealth. It is about giving you choices that free you from entrapment. Opening parts of yourself that you don't even know yet.

Education is freedom of the mind. You don't see it now, but your investment in your mind will bring you rewards in the future (not just monetarily). If the average life span is around 75 years, and schooling plus college is around 18 years, that means your time now will influence the next 55 years of your life approximately. That is a pretty good return on your investment and everyone knows that you have more fun in your twenties and thirties than in high school. It's our secret.

BUT...You have to want it. We are ALL here to help you do it. Put us to work for you. The SAT is around the corner...Good Luck! And I know college isn't for everyone...but that doesn't mean your education stops there. Education can be found everywhere, in everything. Learning is our responsibility, bettering ourselves is always our challenge.

Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true education. --Martin Luther King, Jr.
A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops. --Henry Adams

~Lisa

Staff & Parent Luncheon

Saturday afternoon, and we can smell Shaheeda's & Lizzi's amazing cooking throughout the school. Staff and some parents got together to enjoy some food. Taslima, Daniel & Charlotte popped in too. We watched a video of the Ramapo Camp Getaway from 2004. I believe we saw Marcos, Dequan and some others dancing to Madonna!! We are keeping this tape in exchange for money when they get older. We also watched some canoeing and some balancing acts in the trees. Great to see how everyone has grown over the years since this video.

Can you find our Noa in these pictures?

Some of you may be surprised to learn that Noa, who is the coordinator for Family Life/Sex Ed, competes in roller derby tournaments for The Gotham City Roller Girls. Her team: The Queens of Pain. Ask her about it!

Empire Skate Trip

Empire Skate in Booklyn was kind to donate some time for our youth to come in and skate and dance...all VIP! There were several major crashes. Ciera & Samantha were great at dancing while skating, and Parvis was great at speed without falling. It was a little dark in there, so we couldn't capture all the skaters and some came out a little blurry, but you get the idea.