Building A Better Youth (B.A.B.Y.)

Anyone for Eggplant Parm?

Teens 4 Good participants harvested eggplants they grew in their garden in Gorgas Park to take to the Mayor’s Farmer’s Market at City Hall. Shown with their basket of bounty are: Terea Tennant, Charli Brown, teen coordinator at North Light, Aisha Croom-Scott and Jared Bauer.

North Light partnered with Gorgas Park and the Greater Philadelphia Federation of Settlements to bring the Teens 4 Good (T4G) to Manayunk and Roxborough. T4G provides students with a year-round curriculum of character, leadership, teamwork and life skills development, one-on-one mentoring, career exploration, cultural opportunities, and hands-on entrepreneurial activities through a teen-run gardening, nutrition and health business.

Through hands-on educational activities, the youth are learning practical skills about how to create, build and sustain a socially responsible business. They have learned how to: 1) plant, nurture, harvest, package and distribute vegetables, herbs and fruit; 2) sell produce and garden related products to local communities, restaurants and stores; 3) design and conduct nutrition programs; 4) design marketing materials, 5) manage finances; 6) communicate effectively; 7) apply character strengths to solve problems; and 8) build healthy relationships through teamwork, networking, sales presentations and customer service.

North Light Teen Jared Bauer Wins City-Wide Writing Contest

Accepting their awards at the “Concert for Peace” in LOVE Park are Creative Writing contest winners Tyree Melton, Jared Bauer and Terea Tennant.

Three of North Light’s teenagers were contest winners in the city-wide Peaceful Writing Competition geared toward remembering September 11, 2001. This was presented to young people as a creative writing contest in which the writing could be any style. All of North Light’s entrants chose to write a poem. First place went to 14-year-old Jared Bauer; second place went to16-year-old Terea Tennant and third place went to 14-year-old Tyree Melton. Each winner shared their poem with the audience at the “Concert for Peace” in LOVE Park on September 11, 2008. Jared Bauer’s “PEACE PRAYER” is reprinted below.

PEACE PRAYER

LET there be peace in the world

Let us all see peace and not war

Let us all have peace in the world 

Let there be light in this beautiful world 

LET all of our brothers unite and become

One with each other

Let our fears pass through in the wind

Let us open our mind with joy, love and peace

Thank our Heavenly Father for this prayer.

AMEN

Kayaking down the river...