New Start Project Highlights in 2004

• Sustainable Communities Summer Program
• Bench Building Project
• Gift Basket Project
• Inter-School Literacy Project
• East African Countryside Murals Installed at Food Bank
• National Youth Service Day Project

Sustainable Communities Summer Program

New Start’s 2004 summer program focused on the theme of “sustainable communities.” Youth participated in team-building activities consisting of portable ropes and low-ropes challenge activities. They also took part in a 3-day camping trip to the North Cascades National Forest to learn about native species, environmental stewardship, outdoor skills, and teamwork. After returning from the camping trip, the youth participated in maintaining the grounds at Lakewood Park in White Center. They also received classroom instruction in nutrition, food sources, cooking, organic gardening, native plant and animal species, environmental habitats, community sustainability, violence-prevention, the history of Polynesian societies, and the history of human civilizations.

Participants gained an awareness of the ecological world around them and the growth of human civilization. They developed skills to pursue actions and practices that promote “sustainability” in terms of the natural environment, human society, the local community and personal well-being.

Bench Building - A Community Service Project

The young men’s group at New Start (consisting of high school students) partnered with 5th and 6th grade students from nearby Salmon Creek Elementary School in White Center to build a garden bench for the elementary school. Two case managers from New Start and two teachers from Salmon Creek supervised the program. In addition, the youth took part in videotaping the entire process of bench construction, and in editing the video. The New Start youth proposed designs for the bench. The elementary students selected the winning design. Both elementary and high school youth collaborated on building the bench using wood-working skills. Construction of the bench took place at New Start with New Start youth purchasing the supplies. Once the bench was complete, it was transported to Salmon Creek Elementary’s student garden.

Participants learned practical wood-working skills and video skills and provided a community service to the elementary school. They learned to work as a group to complete the project. Lastly, the high school youth learned how to mentor and engage the younger participants during the course of the project.

Holiday Gift Basket Project

In the fall of 2004 members of New Start’s Young Women’s Group expressed an interest in giving back to the community and using their weekly meetings to work on a charitable project that would benefit the community. Ultimately, the Young Women’s Group decided to put together cookie-filled gift baskets for children in time for the Thanksgiving Holiday. The Group selected Childhaven and the Young Children’s Home at Ruth Dykeman Children’s Center as recipients for the gift baskets.

The Young Women’s Group enlisted the assistance of Sharon Lerman of WSU-Food$ense to identify healthy cookie recipes and supervise the baking process. Sharon has expertise in health-conscious cooking, and nutrition-focused gardening. After testing several recipes, the group chose three cookie recipes for their gift basket project. Funding for the all the supplies and ingredients came from the United Way of King County by way of their Service Learning Youth grant. After baking the cookies and assebling 40+ gift baskets, the group delivered the baskets on November 19, 2004 for distribution to grateful clients at the Young Children’s Home and at Ruth Dykeman Children’s Center.

Members of New Start’s Young Men’s group were inspired by this project, and similarly desired to give something back to the community. The group agreed to make gift baskets too, and give them to customers of the White Center Food Bank in time for the winter holiday. The young men also received assistance from Sharon Lerman with finding cooking recipes and baking the cookies. United Way of King County grant monies also funded this project. Ultimately, the young men put together 35 gift baskets containing cookies and cookie recipes. They delivered the baskets to the White Center Food Bank on December 22, 2004 and handed them out to customers waiting in the food line.

Inter-School Literacy Project

For two days in December high school students in New Start’s Alternative Education Program went to Salmon Creek Elementary in White center to read to students in Ms. Gwen Pinkham’s kindergarten class. Before the first visit each high school student made a small book about themselves that was filled with pictures and simply-worded sentences geared toward kindergarten readers. In turn, the kindergartners prepared short autobiographical essays about themselves to read to the New Start students.

The experience was mutually beneficial for both age groups. The teens and their elementary-aged reading buddies enjoyed reading to each other and learning about each other. The kindergarteners came away with a greater appreciation of reading by seeing teenagers, who they looked up to, reading to them. The teens saw the importance of reading as a tool for learning about others and relaying information. Additionally, the older students saw the value of reading to young children as a way to nurture literacy. This reading project was so successful that New Start and Salmon Creek Elementary plan to organize future inter-school reading visits.

East African Countryside Murals Installed at White Center Food Bank

On June 30, 2004, community leaders gathered at the White Center Food Bank in Park Lake Homes to witness the dedication of two large murals decorating the food bank’s outdoor storage container. The plywood murals depict scenes from the East African countryside. One painting features a hut in the middle of a lush green landscape, with hills seen in the background. The companion piece shows off a green valley surrounded by hills. The murals were painted by 18-year-old White Center resident Veasna, pictured at left. Veasna, who is Khmer by ethnicity, has been actively involved with New Start Youth Center, located on 16th Avenue Southwest.

New Start offered Veasna the opportunity to produce the two paintings for the food bank, and the artist was provided with paints, brushes and studio space at New Start to complete the murals.

New Start youth participated in "National Youth Service Days" in April by helping out at the local community center at White Center Teen Park, better known as “Log Cabin.” Faculty and students from New Start pulled weeds from the flower beds in the morning. In the afternoon youth from Log Cabin finished the job by planting flowers. The main purpose of this day was for youth to give something to the community and see some results. Hopefully, projects like this help the community to see that youth can make a positive difference, and take their schools and communities seriously.

Find out more about New Start here.

Updated: July 20, 2007