Part of the joy of being a teenager is that one’s sense of growing curiosity starts to align with one’s ability to be more independent. At the Club, we recognize that as young people move toward adulthood, they benefit from new experiences that help them develop skills, confidence, and autonomy.
One program that focuses on broadening the horizons for youth is our “City Club.” In past years, our Teen Director Stephanie Urio has led trips to New York City once a month to allow teens to see and experience museums, theater, historical sites, and cultural events, many for the first time. Each adventure is designed to offer teens a glimpse of the bigger world and all it has to offer them. Ultimately, the trips inspire them to dream of a career or develop a new passion or creative interest.
With the onset of COVID 19, we had to rethink our program. Knowing that this has been a difficult time for our teens, with many of the rites of passage for this group altered or completely cancelled, our staff did not want to give up on our wonderful City Club program. Instead, Stephanie took the initiative to adjust and to adapt to the challenges of 2020. So instead of City Club trips, this fall, the members will be participating in our “Out of City” Club trips on a monthly basis – focusing on all Long Island has to offer.
The first “Out of City” Club outing was a fishing trip out of Captree State Park. Fighting their preference for sleeping late on a Saturday, eight teens rose with the sun on September 8th to board a boat on the south shore and go fishing! For many of our members, this was their first experience fishing. Our staff and the crew showed the kids how to bait their hooks and how to cast… and encourage the kids to have patience. It was a beautiful day out on the water and the kids started a friendly competition to see who could catch the most fish. Senior Joe Valli’s patience paid off with the winning tally of five.
While it doesn’t look like any of the members will become fishermen, they were thankful for the opportunity to try something new and experience a Long Island tradition!