Huamns of SSYP (Week 7)

Welcome to week seven of the Humans of SSYP blog posts! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend. Please enjoy these interviews with some outstanding individuals from St Stephen’s Youth Programs! 

Mauryn

Tell me your story with SSYP.

I've been with the organization for thirteen years. I started with SSYP back in 2008. I started with the organization working for B-SAFE, which is their summer program. My first job was as a health and wellness specialist. I came in four days a week and ran a health and wellness rotation. Every week we had a theme week, so we did soccer week and I taught them the basics. At the end, we would have a big game. That was my first job. From there, I did different specialties. I did math and reading rotations for one year. I became a site assistant during the summer working at our former Chelsea site. I was a site assistant for two or three years, and then became the site manager there. I was in Chelsea for about seven years. I went from being a site manager in Chelsea to deciding to move into a summer position in the Boston area. I've been a site manager at every single site that has existed in the organization except A&M where Latasha is now. I was a site manager up until this year when I became a full-time employee. 

Can you summarize SSYP in one word or phrase?

If I could summarize SSYP in one word or phrase, it would be creative freedom. 

How do you feel about SSYP now compared to when you started?

I would say SSYP is constantly evolving, especially with being a full-time employee. I thought I had a grasp of what the organization was about. I have realized that it evolves every year and every season with the new energy that comes in. 

What has been your biggest challenge at SSYP?

I would say my biggest challenge would be adapting to the different learning needs that the kids are coming in with. I'm modifying my lessons to adapt to the social and emotional needs of the kids. I'm a seasoned teacher. I've been teaching forever. I've never had to deal with kids that have endured such a broad spectrum of challenges. Most of them are dealing with something. Everybody's needs are different. Looking at that and adapting to that is a challenge. 

What are you most proud of during your time at SSYP?

In terms of the program, I would say my wealth of knowledge and my involvement in the summer only program. In terms of something that I'm the most proud of personally, I would say that when I was a site assistant in Chelsea, I was an adult. The site assistants are adults, but I was a professional adult. I think looking at that role, they gave me a lot more responsibilities because of my level of experience. Over the years, the organization has really adapted the site assistant role into almost a co-manager role where they carry more responsibility and weight. This is instead of the role being secretarial like in the past. I think a lot of that came because of what SSYP were able to see what I was able to accomplish in that role. I think because of me having that job and how I tailored it to the needs of Chelsea, it allowed the organization to work on empowering the role for more site-specific action. 

What do you wish we did more of or differently at SSYP?

I wish that we could bridge the three different bodies of the organization that currently exist; where we do youth work, teamwork and parent work as a symbiotic relationship where they all benefit from each other. This would be instead of three separate entities that co-exist like they do now. 

What has been your favorite memory at SSYP? 

I would say my favorite memories are the field trips. There was this really awesome field trip that we did. It was a partner church that brought the kids to this farm. Seeing the multi-generational interaction that was happening on that field trip was my highlight. Not only that, but there were kids there from different backgrounds. There were kids that come from affluent neighborhoods working and playing with kids from our organization and our neighborhoods. I think that gave me hope. 

What do you think the next ten years holds for SSYP?

I hope that in the next ten years, there's a more holistic approach to the development of young people at SSYP. I think that would look like what we're doing now. We're looking at the social, emotional, academic and other components of their lives. I think, not just looking at the young people, but the people surrounding them, such as parents or teachers, and bridging those gaps. I want to build bridges among those different entities to work together to empower young people. 

Is there anything else you want to say about SSYP? 

I think it's just been a really crazy experience. I'm glad to be having this conversation. I have been working in the organization for so long, and I have never paused to think about some of these questions. 

Alexis

What is your story with SSYP? 

I'm a grad student studying social work and theology at Boston University. I am in the process of going into my foundation year for social work. You have to apply for different internships to get far- field placements. As I was applying and talking to my field advisor about what area I wanted to work in, I realized that youth work is definitely a place where I wanted to be. I wanted to work and get experience doing clinical work. She sent me to different places and I interviewed with a couple of them. St Stephen's Youth Programs was one that really stuck out in the sense of being very socially minded and that being a big part of the work being done here. I interviewed, and felt really good about the pairing. So did the rest of the team, and we made it a thing on the spot.

Can you summarize SSYP in one word or phrase?

Ambitious in a good way. 

Is there a person or a group here that you find yourself connected with? 

There's two students that I connect with because I get to work with them and understand their social and emotional needs. I figure out ‘okay, how do I support them in the best way possible with all the things going on there?’ I also connect with Ana who's another SES intern. We are experiencing a lot of the same things at the same time. It's helpful to have someone to walk through this journey with.

How do you feel about SSYP now compared to when you started?

I feel like now I have more of a grounding as an intern. It's a lot to come into. There's a bunch of different programs. I’m trying to figure out where my work fits into the greater scheme of things. It's kind of what the beginning was like, but now I am figuring out what that looks like in practice. 

What has been your biggest challenge so far at SSYP?

My biggest challenge has been trying to meet the social and emotional needs of the students while also supporting other aspects of the program. Knowing how fundamental it is if a student isn't well social-emotionally, then they can't really show up in other spaces. I’m really trying to figure out how to do that in the best way possible. Obviously, that changes every day because we're all humans and we have different emotions. We all feel different things on different days. That includes our students. It can be a challenge being able to be flexible with them, but also have a curriculum that supports them really well. 

What is something that you are proud of during your time at SSYP so far? 

It's the little moments with the students. Sometimes, when a student doesn't want to engage in an activity, my goal isn't to get them to engage in the way that the rest of the group is. Sometimes, they just need to have a one-on-one conversation about the topic as opposed to sitting in a group of fifteen people discussing it. I'm really proud of being able to sit down with those students, and understand what they need in the moment to have them feel connected, even if they're struggling with their day or whatever it may be. Being able to let them know that they're still included, and we still care about them. We still want them to have a good time, even if that was different than the lesson plan. 

What do you wish we did more of or differently at SSYP?

I think collaboration time with the staff. It's really hard to collaborate given the structure of the programs. There are a lot of interns and other staff members who have different schedules. I think we could have a lot more impact and power if there was more time for everyone to collaborate and see where goals are met and not met. 

What do you think the future holds for SSYP in ten years? Where do you see this program in this nonprofit? 

I think really honing in on that experience from LEARN to YLC to Teens to JCIT. The students know what that pathway looks like, and the kind of support in taking the experiences of these students into consideration. They have gone through every aspect of this program, and can create a chapter where they can be super successful in whatever way that they want to be. We can support them in depth, and see the support and engagement grow on a massive scale between all those levels. 

What has been your favorite memory so far either as an SES or at SSYP? 

There was a younger student who was visiting for the day with the middle schoolers. We had made sensory bottles, and she was enamored by them. By the end of the activity, there were glitter and beads and all these things inside of the bottles. We had plenty leftover, and I offered her one. She was ecstatic that she could take them home. She ended up taking two home. I heard while she was at home, she was playing with the bottle and was super excited. She said ‘Ms. Alexis gave this to me. I have a sensory bottle, you can't tell me anything.’ It's a really good memory.

Is there anything else you want to say in regards to your experience here?

Latasha's great. 

Carmen

Tell me your story with the parent mentor program.

I know about the program because they sent a letter in my children’s backpack. I applied for the program and got interviewed. I passed the interview, and got in the program. Now, I’m in my children’s school helping the third grade teacher. This is my first year in the program. I'm very happy with the program. 

Can you summarize the parent mentor program in one word or phrase?

I think it’s a very good program to involve the parents in the school.

How do you feel about it now compared to when you started?

When I started, I was thinking the program was about working for the public schools. Now, I know everything about the program. I know more about being involved in the community and about other parents in the schools. I think it’s very good. 

What's been your biggest challenge so far at the parent mentor program or something you've had to overcome? 

My challenge is that I want to be better prepared for the teachers because there are too many students for only one teacher. I feel like I can only do so much because that can affect the child. 

What is something you're most proud of at the peer mentor program?

I am proud of the people in the parent mentor program. I am proud of what they have accomplished already, and I want to be like them. 

What kind of skills have you built up since you've been at the program?

I think I have started to build some math skills because I help the teachers in the math classes. I need to build more math skills. 

What do you wish you did more of or differently at the parent mentor program? 

I don’t think I would change anything right now. My hope is that one day, the program will be in more schools because we'll be helping more teachers.

What's been your favorite memory at the parent mentor program?

I have too many memories. We have staff training meetings on Fridays. Those are very nice memories. 

What do you think the next ten years hold for the parent mentor program?

I want to see the parent mentor program in more schools with more parents involved. We can only be around during the school days in these specific neighborhoods. I want to be in all of Boston. 

Is there anything else you want to say about your experience here at the parent mentor program?

My experience is pretty good. Since you are in the classroom, we can see how challenging it is for the teachers. They teach twenty students at different times at different levels, and have to monitor everything. I think the teachers need more help in these classrooms because there are too many students for only one teacher. They need more assistants helping.