Cultivating Youth Innovators

Summer Youth Programming & Internships
July 18th - August 10th, 2023

Tuesdays - Thursdays

 

This Duwamish Valley community engagement program supports young people ages 14-18 in building their capacity within a collective to invest in their local community.

There will be six components to participate in, if desired:

  • Sustainable Sewing and Fashion

  • Mural Painting Project

  • Fitness

  • Singing/Poetry/Song Writing Expressing Your True Voice with the Power of Word

  • Bandit Theater

  • Y-We Grow! Farming at Marra Farm

This program runs July 18 through August 10, with an evening showcase to share with friends and families on Friday August 11th. 

Classes will be held on Tuesdays 1:30pm-7:30pm, Wednesdays 9:30am-3:30pm, and Thursdays 9:30am-3:30pm.

Young people between the ages of 14-18 are most encouraged to attend the whole program, but stipends are determined by the number of class sections attended, so if you are interested in only part of it, you may only come to those sections.

There will be additional paid work hours available in August, to work the El Mercadito Farmers Markets August 15, 22, 29, and at the South Park Neighborhood Summer Party “SOPASUPA” on August 19th.”

We are accepting applications through July 7th, 2023.

Components:

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Y-We Grow!

You will grow fresh culturally-relevant produce sustainably to share with the community, while participating in local Food Justice movements and learning from Black, Indigenous, and other leaders of Color across the region. Along the way, you will deepen your connection and responsibility to your environment while cultivating belonging, joy, healing, and embodiment in community.  Skills will include farming, harvesting, food distribution, ecosystem restoration, fruit tree care, soil science research, and agroforestry.

Singing/Poetry/Song Writing: Expressing Your True Voice with the Power of Word

This variety course will include fun, intuitive exercises that allow students to develop their relationship to writing. Explore writing and vocal practices which uplifts your authentic voice! We will also study examples of inspirational poets and artists, discuss meaningful topics, and share personal work in a supportive, creative circle.

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Mural Painting Project

Participate in a collaborative process of painting on a larger scale, creating an expression of beauty and soul that you will be able to see displayed up outside in South Park! Public art grounds us and connects us to our neighborhood and to each other. We will go through processes of preparing the surface, refining aspects of the design, color and paint, and the importance of the proper sealant for the outside. The theme this summer will be: Restoring polluted and compromised natural spaces.

Sustainable Sewing and Fashion

Learn the basics of sewing on a machine- how to thread and use it, solve common problems, and the basic stitches you’ll need to create! The fast fashion industry creates and then throws away huge amounts of “disposable” clothing that is often made in exploitative labor processes and ends up in landfills, clogging beaches, and polluting oceans. You can learn how to repair and alter some basic things about your clothes in this class! By the end each student will create at least one piece of their own unique fashion- re-using altered clothes and/or built from fabric- to show at the end of program sharing!

Bandit Theater

Bandit Theater teaches a longform improv curriculum, terminology, and philosophy centered upon game of the scene and shared by the major improv houses from New York, Los Angeles, DC, New Orleans, and elsewhere! With this in mind, Improv 1: You Are Enough is perfect for beginners and a refreshing new perspective for improvisers who have previously taken classes in short form or other styles of longform improv.

Fitness

Create Greater access to healthy exercise options and build community by creating shared use of spaces in the South Park Neighborhood. We will train in exploring, cleansing, and optimizing our energy through breathwork and qi gong movements. Gentle exercises will tone the body, improve flexibility, and strengthen connection between body, mind, and spirit. Additionally, we will practice basketball fundamentals and increase strength, endurance, and cardio through playing the game! Includes strength training, stretching, and scrimmaging.

Applications are open to youth ages 14 to 18 who live in South Park and adjacent areas of the Duwamish Valley.
Participants will earn a stipend of up to $500* at the end of the program.

*Actual paid amount based on participant age and attendance.

Accepting applications through July 7th, 2023.