So I'm in summer mode. I know exams don't start for another week, and that this weather is barely hitting the 20s, but June just kind of does that to me. I've already been to Canada's Wonderland, our golf tournament is this week, and then next week we go for a few days of holidays in Algonquin Park, so summer is here. This summer we've really made a point to be intentional with our schedule. Often many youth programs shut down for the summer, or at least pare back a little, but we take the opposite approach. The youth are out of school, and there are some who work and some who don't, so why not take advantage of the time that they have free? We talked about how that would look for us; last summer we were so ridiculously busy with camps, family weddings, and a mission trip that we barely had room to come up for air, and we didn't want to drop the ball on this year.
We are excited to be able to be open five days a week from Tuesday-Saturday. Our drop-in will remain open most weekends (with the exception of holidays and Elvis fest), and we will offer programs on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. We've had lots of youth asking about DJ classes and jam sessions, so on Tuesdays from 12-3 we're opening "The Drop", which is a music and art program, it'll give the youth a chance to hone their craft, have some free healthy snacks, and our staff will be able to interact with them in a really meaningful way through it. Wednesdays we start early with The Breakfast Club, which is a free breakfast and a Bible study, and then we go somewhere to do something (ranging from the beach to the Science Centre to the bowling alley). Those days are super fun, and often we join in with our other youth centres on them. Thursdays are Sports at Sunset Point, where we go to play pickup sports and enjoy the weather (I'm stoked for endless hours of beach volleyball!). Then drop-in on Friday and Saturday rounds out the week.
Summer is a sweet time for relationship building with the youth. Our times with the youth aren't so much programs in the sense that we have endlessly planned our time to the second, but more open environments where we have something to do, but where the focus is really on building relationships and memories with the youth. In August, we have Campfire, where we take the youth to Goderich. This is a highlight of everyone's summer, and we do crazy things together, and have amazing conversations about God and life.
And at the end of the day, that's why I like summer so much. I am able to hang out with youth all the time, to live our lives together, to grow, to laugh, to hurt alongside one another. We do crazy things together, but it makes all of our lives interesting, and it definitely keeps us off the streets in the summer. So I know, I'm a week ahead of the "official" start of summer, but it my mind it's wll underway.
