Starting in Spring 2023, I worked with the Teen Program a part of Mary’s Center. The Teen Program is an afterschool enrichment program that provides college and career prep, builds women empowerment and life skills, and gives youth a place to be themselves. Participating teens are from a few different high schools, and some travel long distances to get to the Center in Petworth.
Throughout the week, there are online sessions for specific groups of teens (junior, seniors, girls, and boys) and an in-person session on Wednesday for all teens. I attend as many as I can and go into the Center on Wednesdays. I was really lucky that the Teen Program is located at the Center in Petworth as I live close by. My role is to help prepare and facilitate sessions and organize events. Specifically, I prepared and facilitated a presentation on personal space and a presentation on healthy eating and smart grocery shopping. I had asked to be involved in these sessions towards the beginning of my fellowship as I am interested in topics. I also helped to organize a week of Spring Break activities. Interested teens went on college tours at Catholic University, Howard University, and The George Washington University. The week ended with a successful scavenger hunt on the National Mall, which I created with Jadyn Dunning, the other fantastic Mary’s Center fellow.
The Spring Break week of activities was definitely a highlight because I could see my work in action and the teens enjoyed the outings. Every Wednesday session in person is also always great as I can connect with my supervisors, Katya and Kimberly, work alongside Jadyn, and chat with the teens.
Before starting any work, Jadyn and I were able to connect with Anisa Amiji who was the fellow at Mary’s Center before us. Anisa was able to give us insight to the program operations and how to communicate with our supervisors, which was extremely helpful. I would recommend other fellows chat with previous fellows so you are walking in with some background knowledge. Also, my experience has been so successful because I advocated for what I wanted to work on early in the fellowship. I recommend other fellows respectfully tell their supervisor what they are interested in so everyone can best contribute to the program.
As I have enjoyed my experience this much and need to continue accruing hours for my practicum (lol), I will continue to work with the Teen program into this summer. I am excited for the change of activities as we will be doing more prep work than facilitating sessions. I am grateful that the Center of Excellence created this opportunity and I could work with Katya, Kimberly, Jadyn, and all the participating teens!