First, I found it very unique that the Bureau has a computer lab for the kids to use. There are 8 computers, headphones, a scanner, copy machine, and printer. Time Warner Cable donated the computer lab to the Bureau a few years ago and all of the kids really enjoy them and use them efficiently. There is a rule for the lab that facebook and any other kind of social networking is not allowed. The kids are also not allowed to play any music with swear words or play violent computer games.
There are many activities for the kids to partake in. There are two pool tables, two TVs, a wii, play station, xbox, and dvd player. There are many board games, card games, coloring books and markers. Outside there are four different basketball courts and a patch of lawn to play catch or other games.
During my practicum there was also a program on Saturdays from 1-4 which the preteens and teens could attend at the Batavia Middle School. It was an open gym where kids could come and play basketball and use any of the equipment in the gym, like scooters or jump ropes.
I was extremely excited to start my internship because I have previously worked as a summer recreation counselor through the Youth Bureau for two summers. I worked as a recreation leader for the summer park program after my freshman and sophomore years in college. I was excited to see if any of my kids from the park program would go to the youth bureau while I was there.
My schedule during my practicum was very flexible because my course load at Canisius was very light this semester. I only took three other classes besides my internship. It was nice because this way I could go to the Youth Bureau on Fridays, Saturdays, and also any other time during the week if I had a free night. My hometown is Batavia, so it was easy to go home for the weekend and spend hours at the youth center.
My supervisor’s name is Toni Funke. She runs all of the activities and budget aspects of the Bureau. There is an activities coordinator named Lydia. She used to be a counselor with me at the park program so I was happy to work with her again. There are also two workers through AmeriCorps who worked at nights. Toni and Lydia usually work from 8-5. The two AmeriCorps girls, Candace and Katelyn usually work from 2:30-8. Sometimes Lydia would go into the Bureau at 1 and work until 8. It was nice because I had an opportunity to work with everyone. I worked at the Bureau at different times on different days, usually I went in at 1 which gave me an opportunity to get things done before all of the kids started to arrive at 2:30. Since I did a number of weeks with random times, I am going to blog about my experience on a week to week basis. I started my internship on March 7th and ended on April 29th.
Week 1 (March 7-March 13) Hours Completed: 11
The first week I went into the Youth Bureau on Monday and spent an hour talking to Tony about what I would be doing during my practicum. She told me all about the schedule of the bureau, the hours it operated, and gave me a tour. She also explained to me about who I would be working with and we discussed some of the rules the kids had to follow while they were there. I learn that the kids are served a snack everyday; usually around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. There is a small kitchen and the snacks are prepared there. Toni also told me how the kids work with the Nursing home from time to time to volunteer there. We set up a schedule for me to come in and talked about what my duties would be. She told me I would be supervising the kids, helping with homework, developing a Youth Needs Survey, and also analyzing evaluations from an upcoming conference which was going to be held at Genesee Community College with all of the elementary and middle schools in the area. On Friday I was introduced to all of the kids, and I was really excited to spend the upcoming weeks with them. I knew a good amount of the adolescents from when I worked in the Park Program and was excited see them again. While I was there, we asked all of the kids present to write a letter to the New York State Legislators because they were considering cutting funds for the Youth Bureau next year. It was really eye opening for me to see how all of the kids wanted to write a letter defending their reasons for keeping the Youth Bureau open. On Saturday I went to the open gym at the Batavia Middle School. There were not many kids there, only about ten. About half of those who attended were on the high school basketball team and wanted to use the time as an opportunity to practice. The rest of the kids were there to hang out, and I played games with them in the gym. My first week was really fun and made me excited to build relationships and help all of the kids.
Week 2 (March 14-March 20) Hours Completed: 7 My second week I only went to the Youth Bureau on Friday from 1-8. Everyone was very excited because the youth center was being renovated. I helped clean out the center because it was going to be painted the next day. All of the kids were really looking forward to the renovation because the center was given a grant to get new paint, games, and even flat screen TVs. There was not a Saturday Youth Connection this week.
Week 3 (March 21-March 27) Hours Completed: 33I was able to go to the bureau a lot during this week because Canisius had spring break. I went to the bureau everyday at 1pm until 6. All of the kids had school until 2:30/3:00, but I was able to help Toni with some paper work during the time the students were not there. There was a youth conference at GCC which was hosted by the Youth Bureau. The conference focused on bullying, including cyber bullying, as well as overall healthy lifestyle choices. There was one main speaker at the conference and many different speakers throughout the rest of the day. There was a total of 7 schools surrounding Batavia that attended the conference, approximately 400 people overall. At the end of the day, all of the students, speakers, and teachers were asked to fill out evaluation forms. It was my job to tally all of the forms and see which activities were preferred over the others. I also needed to compile all of the comments, both good and bad, about the overall experience of the conference. This tasks took me almost all week to finish. I analyzed all of the information and made separate spread sheets for the results for students, teachers, and speakers. I was then asked to share the trends and results I found at the staff meeting at the end of the week. It was really informative and I found that a lot of the students enjoyed learning about preventing bullying and healthy lifestyles. I also attended the open gym on Saturday from 1-3 and played basketball with the kids and helped supervise.
Week 4 (March 28-April 1) Hours Completed: 12 During my fourth week, I went to the Bureau on Thursday from 2:30-6:30, Friday from 1:00-6:00, and Saturday from 1:00-4:00. By now, I was very comfortable with all of the kids, knew all of their names, and was able to really talk and relate to them. I began forming relationships with a lot of them, and knew their everyday lives. Saturday was the last day of the Youth Connection program open gym. A lot of the kids were upset that it was going to be ending, but it will start up again in the fall. Since it was the last week, a lot of kids attended and we played a large group game of kickball.
Week 5 (April 4-April 10) Hours Completed: 20I spent 3 days at the youth center this week. On Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, I went to the bureau from 2:30-7:30 each day. I continued to supervise the kids and help them with homework whenever they needed it. On Saturday, I went to Genesee Community College with the other worker, Lydia, and we set up a Youth Bureau booth at the "Eco Day" which was being held. We had a table to promote the youth bureau and all of the activities we have through it, and we also had a "button" making station where kids could come and color a picture which promoted recycling and eco-friendly choices and we then made it into a button for them to wear for the day. The convention was very cool and had a lot of interactive things for kids of all ages to do. I think it's very important to promote things like recycling to our youth. One of the older girls who attends the youth center regularly even came and helped us at the convention because she knew we were going to be there. Eco Day went from 9:30-2:30.
Week 6 (April 11-April 17) Hours Completed: 14This week I completed a total of 14 hours. I went for 4 hours on Monday, and 5 hours on both Thursday and Friday. On Monday, I was excited because the Youth Bureau was going to play bingo at the nursing home. It was a lot of fun to spend time at the nursing home and I called all of the numbers while they were playing. We also passed out prizes. On Thursday I supervised the kids, I helped with homework, and watched the computer room while the students were on the internet. Friday I did not get to the Bureau until 3:00 because I had to present a poster at Ignatian Scholarship Day. I stayed until 8:00 pm.
Week 7 (April 18-April 24) Hours Completed: 15I spent a lot of days at the youth center this week because we had Easter Break at Canisius, and I also came home Monday and Tuesday to work because all of the kids had Easter Break for school, so the Youth Bureau was open from 1-8. On Monday and Tuesday I went in from 2:00-7:00 each day. I was happy to sit in on a presentation given by the Genesee County Career Center. A woman came in and talked to the kids about how to apply for a job, obtain their working papers, and what to expect in a job interview. All of the kids were very respectful and many of them asked a lot of questions because they were looking forward to getting a part time job. On Thursday, I went to the Bureau from 1-6. We all had a lot of fun because we had an Easter egg hunt for Easter. There was not many students who came this day because a lot of them went away for vacation. There was about 10 kids and we had over 300 eggs. Every kid received at least 30 eggs and it was fun to see all of them look everywhere. We hid the eggs both inside and outside of the Bureau, and even put five dollars in one of them. We also watched the movie "Shrek 3" and had a pizza party. The Bureau was closed on Friday for Easter Break.
Week 8 (April 25-May 1) Hours Completed: 12This was my last official week at the youth center. I went to the Bureau on Monday from 1:30-6:30. The youth center was not very busy this day because a lot of the students are involved in sports, which were in full force. Many of the kids had track meets, baseball, and softball practice. I supervised the kids who did come and we played a game of knockout with the basketball for a while outside. Friday was my last day and I worked from 1-8. It was very bittersweet because I feel like I was able to become so close with all of the kids, and I had such a great time working with the other girls. One of the workers, Katelyn, and I began to organize a survey to extend to students in all of the schools in the area as well as their parents. We have all of the questions made but need to find a way to make it accessible for students and parents. I plan to go back to the Youth Bureau and finish our needs assessment even after my practicum is completed.
Total Hours Completed: 124Overall, I was extremely happy with my experience at the Batavia Youth Bureau. It made me excited to continue my education and work towards my master’s in social work so I could work with children as a career. I really want to become involved in social work that works with adolescents and hopefully provide therapy under a psychologist. I feel like I made a true connection with all of the kids at the Youth Bureau and I plan to volunteer there over the summer.
