Youth Leadership Council

Diana Shirley, YLC Manager

On October 20th The YLC put on their first concert.  The band, New Faces (formerly Captain Incognito), from Port Townsend, played at Bayview Hall.  Plans are underway for another drug, alcohol and violence free concert in early December so check for flyers and in the South Whidbey Record as the date draws near.

The group is also actively seeking contributions of art, poetry, photography and other items of interest from South Whidbey high school age youth for The Edge, the teen magazine produced by the leadership council.  Submissions may be made to any acting member or may be mailed to SWYC, The Edge, c/o Diana Shirley, P.O. Box 331, Langley, WA 98260.

The HUB

Frankie Petitclerc, Hub Program Manager

With fall and the holiday season we have some fun and exciting activities and projects going on at the Hub.  We recently received a generous donation from Frontier Lumber to buy a Nintendo Wii for interactive games.  Wii (“We”) gets the kids moving and interacting with each other as they play. We’ll be making it available on Mondays for the middle school youth and Wednesdays for the high school teens.  On Tuesdays, artisan Louise Halloway Stanley leads art workshops with projects from creative painting of furniture and pumpkin carving to making ornaments for the Goosefoot Giving Tree (which we hope you’ll purchase at Bayview Corner).  Upcoming projects will be painting a mural in the Hub, decorating the holiday trees and businesses in Langley and making cookies for the residents at Brookhaven.  Louise is a sweet and gentle soul who loves kids and we’re happy to have her here.  In January, artist Jean Shaw, recently retired and loved teacher from Bayview High School, will be filling in for Louise while she is out of town.  On Wednesdays, besides Wii games, we also provide our music equipment from 4:30 to 5:30 for jam sessions.  Thursdays, musician and guitar and drum instructor Levi Burkle from Joe’s Music, comes in from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. to introduce middle school tweens to guitar and drums.  He not only gets kids who have played before to another level but gets kids who have never even put their hands on an instrument before to learn some basic chords and beats and actually play something together.  It’s really special, the kids love it, it’s a great opportunity for them and some even get inspired enough to start learning and playing more seriously. Thanks Levi.  Fridays is our movie day, where we show the latest video releases, sometimes even served with popcorn.  We also offer pool, foosball, air hockey, ping pong and board games and serve a free daily hot snack. The Hub is a great place for kids to come after school, relax with friends, make new friends and learn some creative skills, all within a safe, supervised and caring environment. On Dec. 18 we’ll be having our Holiday Party with gifts for all.

 I want to thank all of you who continue to support this important program for the youth in our community and hope that those of you who haven’t given in the past will find it in your hearts to start giving now.  Special thanks to The Clyde Theatre, DeMartini’s Bakery, Freeland Video, Island Angel Chocolates, Island Coffee, Joe’s Music, Payless and Screamin Banshee Breads for your donations! 

Page Three