Do you have an activity interest not covered
by your school's sports or after-school programs? Maybe
you'd like to learn how to do circus act stunts. Maybe you'd
like to earn a free computer.
Attendees were fascinated by the World Aquarium display |
The Happenings4Youth organization is expanding
its inventory of such St. Louis activities. And it is revamping
its printed resource brochure and on-line listing.
Also, there will be a kickoff rally on Thursday,
Oct. 12, to introduce these changes to kids in the St. Louis
metro area.
David Yates, the new project director for
St. Louis4Kids, said the whole idea is to provide information
on "safe and healthy" after-school activities. This year's
list is twice as large as the one last year. The 2005 brochure
included 118 organizations.
Yates said the new brochure "will list about
250 organizations" that offer activities for kids ranging
in age from 5 to 17. The brochure is being printed in conjunction
with the Suburban Journals.
A summer intern, Amber Watson, worked on
expanding the list of groups. "She did an excellent job
of finding new groups that offer after-school activities
for local kids," Yates said. (Amber came to St. Louis4Kids
from the St. Louis Internship Program. To learn more about
that organization, visit www.stlouisinternship.org.)
Hot Squad - Winners of the 2005 Hap Rap Contest |
The printed brochures will be ready for the
October 12 rally. In addition, members of the Youth Development
Provider Network (YDPN) will have copies for distribution.
You can call or e-mail Yates at St. Louis4Kids
to get single copies. The telephone number is (314) 241-0011
and his e-mail address is dave@stlouis4kids.org.
The new expanded and more-user-friendly on-line
listing also will be ready before the October 12 rally.
That address is www.happenings4youth.org.
Also, if you know of an organization or group
with an after-school program for kids that isn't listed,
contact Yates at St. Louis4Kids.
The 2006-2007 kickoff rally will be held from
3-6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 12, at the St. Louis Science Center.
(Young Saint Louis.com will include a rally notice
in its October Places to Go/Things to Do feature.)
The rally program will include a kids public
service announcement (PSA) competition. A number of the
after-school programs will put on demonstrations during
a resource fair. Also, there will be food for the kids.
The Big Bad Wolf from Piwacket Theatre signs some
autographs |
In addition, after the rally, kids who attend
will get a chance to tour the SportsWorks exhibit which
is at the Science Center's Exploradome. The exhibit features
interactive activities such as a climbing wall and a giant
zero-gravity machine.
Kids also get to try their hand at pitching
a baseball or running on a sprint track.
For further details on the Happenings4Youth
rally, visit the St. Louis4Kids website at www.stlouis4kids.org
or the Science Center's website at www.slsc.org.
One improvement for kids in finding after-school
activities will be the revamped website.
For one thing, the listing of organizations
is much larger. But, of equal importance will be improvements
in ease of finding the group you want.
To help make the database easy to use, St.
Louis4Kids is collaborating with the Indiana Youth Institute
(IYI). That Indianapolis-based group is developing a web-based
program for a similar listing of groups serving Indiana
youngsters. (Its website is www.iyi.org.)
The St. Louis metro area website listings
will be separate from the Indiana listings, Yates said.
"However, we will use their searchability features," Yates
said.
Organizations will be searchable by city and
ZIP code. Also, the groups will be sorted by the age of
the kids who would be most interested, Yates said.
In addition, the Happenings4Youth website
will feature a special events calendar. This will be a regularly
updated listing of special festivals or events that organizations
sponsor at different times of the year.
For instance, the main listing for the Wolf
Sanctuary will include different activities available during
the year for kids. But, in the special calendar, a listing
for the sanctuary's annual October open house would be listed
in the October events.
Young Saint Louis.com is cooperating
with St. Louis4Kids to promote the Happenings4Youth resource
directory. In addition to this article, YSL.com will
do periodic feature stories about kids in various after-school
programs.
In addition, in the YSL.com Resources
section (at the top of the Home Page), kids will be able
to link directly to the Happenings4Youth website.
Now's the time to find a group that will help
you learn more about your special interests.
