A new year means reflection time and today I want to reflect on my time as Co-Chair of the Youth Outreach Committee in APEX. Our committee consisted of only three people but were able to accomplish a lot in one year. Apple as our fabulous Director and Danric as Co-Chair #2, I’m #1. We loving called it “YouOut” since YO was already taken by the Youth Olympics Committee.
Apple, Danric and I met each other for the first time at the beginning of the year and we instantly bonded! It felt like we’ve been friends our whole lives so we easily worked together and played together 🙂
YouOut playing together: eating, drinking, dancing and even Knott’s Berry Farm!
Program 1: Kids Reading to Succeed
We started a new partnership with Kids Reading to Succeed. KRS is different from the Reading to Kids program because the kids read to you! Each volunteer is paired with a kid to discuss their reading material verbally and in writing. This helps the kids develop their reading comprehension and analytical skills.
After the reading hour, KRS brings in special guest speakers to demonstrate how reading plays an essential role in your everyday life and profession. One month they brought in people from the entertainment industry to share about how reading is a vital part in making a movie. Then, they passed out scripts of a scene from the The Lion King and had the kids act it out in groups. It was so cute watching the kids applying their reading skills to a fun activity!
I believe this program helps inspire a love of reading.
Program 2: Career Seminars at KYCC and LTSC
Last year’s monthly career seminars at Koreatown Youth & Community Center were a success so we expanded it to also serve the Little Tokyo Service Center. Each month we brought in speakers to highlight a different industry which included Dance, Medical, Fashion, etc. And we did our best to pick a theme based on the kids interests. My favorite seminar was the one on Dance because it showed the kids that they can pursue their passion in the arts and still make a living. We brought in a professional salsa dancer, a dance instructor and a choreographer who each shared about their journey in their careers.
Dance Speakers
Veterinarian Speakers
Program 3: Youth Mentorship Program
We created a new program this year to pair young professionals as a positive role model for at-risk youth. We did a three month pilot program with a few mentors and mentees and it went so well that all the participants want to continue meeting in the new year! I’m so proud of Danric and Apple! They put in a lot of work developing this new program and it was a great success. I can’t wait to see how it grows next year under a new Director.
The last AYM (APEX Youth Mentors) meeting
*tear* I’m going to miss my precious YouOut committee. We had a GREAT year and I’m so grateful for the work we did and most of all our friendship. *tear*
suljagirl 
Danric Jaime
/ January 2, 2012Aww… great blog post Jenn. I didn’t even you know had a blog #2!!!
Angela @BabyChin
/ January 2, 2012What a great year, Jenn! One thing Sam and I were just talking about today was how we think the future generations are going to lose that love for books because there’s so much entertainment, technology, etc. these days. I know I read less after everything went wireless!! I remember we still had ethernet cords up til our 3rd year of college… wow!