TeenBloc

It’s our last day for the TeenBloc Youth Organizing Academy, but the work doesn’t stop here! We’re looking forward to continuing to support the students and their ideas throughout the school year alongside our partners as we take action for change together. 💥Thank you again to all of our amazing facilitators and to Bistro to Go for feeding us on our in-person days. 🧡 And big thank you to Jewish Healthcare Foundation for the financial support that made this all possible. 🗣

🎙 Facilitator Spotlight! 🎙 Our TeenBloc program's Youth Organizing Academy begins on AUGUST 9th, and we are so excited to have Crystal Jennings as a workshop host!

🏠 Crystal is a powerful speaker and organizer who is committed to the outreach, engagement and mobilization of people who are impacted by our City’s affordable housing crisis.

She is a Lead Core organizer with Penn Plaza Support and Action, where she works tirelessly to mobilize displaced residents.

She is the Stewardship & Community Engagement Manager at City of Bridges Community Land Trust (CLT) where she works one-on-one with applicants throughout their home buying process. CLT creates affordable housing for low-to-moderate income residents, allowing them to build equity as homeowners.

She also engages tenants in campaigns for affordable housing and works with Rent Help PGH + Eviction Rapid Response as both a Resource Navigator and Board President.

Crystal is also a Community Mediator for Just Mediation Pittsburgh. JMP is a free, confidential, voluntary process in which a neutral mediator helps people find solutions to their housing dispute.

And last but absolutely not least, she is a member of the Center for Shared Prosperity, also known as C3, an initiative to promote economic empowerment and address inequities in the Pittsburgh region. At the heart of the Center for Shared Prosperity is an enhanced model of collaboration that leverages the strengths and knowledge of both the community and Carnegie Mellon University.

🔥 She’s kind of a big deal. 🔥

Don’t delay – sign up your teen TODAY so they can participate in a workshop led by Crystal!

SPOTS ARE LIMITED AND GOING FAST! If your incoming 8th through 12th grade student is interested in attending, have them email Christa at [email protected] today!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
✨ YOA Fast Facts ✨
1. Week-long workshop held from Aug. 9-14
2. Daily sessions include interactive, hands-on activities with hosts from local and national teachers, activists, and artists.
3. Workshop topics include exploration of identity and power dynamics, mental health, becoming an ally, and how to culminate identity and experiences to make a difference.

🎠 Facilitator Spotlight! 🎠 Our TeenBloc program's Youth Organizing Academy begins on AUGUST 9th, and we are so excited to have Jenna Baron, Executive Director of ARYSE (Alliance for Refugee Youth Support and Education) as a workshop host!

🌳 ARYSE came to be because Jenna saw a need in the community. Students who came to the U.S. as refugees often have a lot of needs, not the least of which is to develop their English skills. Jenna created ARYSE and its flagship program PRYSE Academy, a summer camp specifically for refugee kids, to address those needs.

“It is ARYSE’s goal to help today’s refugee and immigrant children become ‘engaged, confident, and celebrated members of our community.’”

Read more about Jenna’s work here: https://www.pittmag.pitt.edu/news/welcome-home

Sign your teen up today so they can participate in a workshop led by Jenna!

💥 SPOTS ARE LIMITED AND GOING FAST! If your incoming 8th through 12th grade student is interested in attending, have them email Christa at [email protected] today!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
✨ YOA Fast Facts ✨
1. Week-long workshop held from Aug. 9-14
2. Daily sessions include interactive, hands-on activities with hosts from local and national teachers, activists, and artists.
3. Workshop topics include exploration of identity and power dynamics, mental health, becoming an ally, and how to culminate identity and experiences to make a difference.

🧨 Facilitator Spotlight! 🧨 Our TeenBloc program's Youth Organizing Academy begins on AUGUST 9th, and we are so excited to have Benjamin Gutschow, Community Organizer for Social and Civic Engagement at as a workshop host!

📢 Ben is a recent high school grad (class of '21), a youth activist, and the Community Organizer at Casa San José--a latino immigrant resource center here in Pittsburgh. Throughout high school he’s been involved with community work, at the local level in school clubs, at citywide strikes and protests, all the way to the international level on global panel conversations and lobbying for human rights to the UN.

Ben’s work focuses on environmental, social, and/or racial and ethnic issues, and he has founded a program around leadership called "The Future of Latino Youth in Pittsburgh" or "FLY", where the aim is to help other young people get involved with activism, leadership, and community work.

Read more about Ben’s work here:
https://nextpittsburgh.com/kidsburgh-pittsburgh/meet-ben-gutschow-a-youth-activist-working-for-social-justice/

And sign your teen up today so they can participate in a workshop led by Ben!

💥 SPOTS ARE LIMITED AND GOING FAST! If your incoming 8th through 12th grade student is interested in attending, have them email Christa at [email protected] today!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

✨ YOA Fast Facts ✨
1. Week-long workshop held from Aug. 9-14
2. Daily sessions include interactive, hands-on activities with hosts from local and national teachers, activists, and artists.
3. Workshop topics include exploration of identity and power dynamics, mental health, becoming an ally, and how to culminate identity and experiences to make a difference.

⚡️ Today's the last day to register! ⚡️Our TeenBloc Youth Organizing Academy is back, and starting on August 9th students will be connected to peers and community partners for a week of collaboration on neighborhood and school initiatives, heavily infused with the arts and media.

Register today - spots are limited!! Email Christa at [email protected] to sign up.

Our Learn & Earn students are getting started recording parts of their Vlog 🎥📝

🎤 Mic Check! 🎤
We are AMPED to announce our collaboration with YMCA Lighthouse Project for our podcast project “Past + Future Tense”.
✨
This 3 month, 3 episode project will explore the aspects of Futurism through creative media output.
✨
We will be offering this project online, as well as providing the option for students to join us once a month, at the Light House Project studio to learn the ins and outs of producing a podcast.
✨
All we need is YOU. Registration is from now until 11/24/2020. This is a FREE program for PPS students grades 8-12. Email the Christa - [email protected] to register.

**SPACES ARE LIMITED, don’t sleep on this!** 👽✨💚

Have you taken a walk past our display at BOOM Concepts yet?

The feared "F" word no High Schooler enjoys...BUTTTTT let the United Way help you make sense of cents (see what we did there).

Check it out on October 26th! See flyer for specifics.

Happy (Almost) Fall, Fam! TeenBloc is now recruiting for our Fall Session (October 5 thru November 5th).
✨
We are looking for passionate, brave, empathetic, creative, dedicated students (grades 8-12) who are ready to make a lasting impression in our communities.
✨
Students must be ready and willing to learn, and to participate in a project that will not only educate students, but enable them to educate and inspire others by narrating their experiences and observations of how today’s societal heaviness impacts them as individuals and as students.
✨
“Recuerdos” is Spanish for “Memory” and is a type of memorial used during the tradition of El Dia de Los Mu***os. So, how does that tie into advocacy?
✨
During this course students will focus on learning about installation art and local politics.The work the students create will be installed in the city for others to observe and experience. Students will be trained in visual communication, sculpting and applying critical thinking to visual expression.
✨
We will be closely following proper COVID-19 guidelines, masks are mandatory, and temperatures will be taken the few times (if/when) we meet in person. In person meetings will be rotated between Zoom and at A+ Headquarters depending on the comfort of students and their families, in person meetings will rotate in groups of no larger than 4 per person, properly spaced with sanitizing materials provided.

TeenBloc’s Fall Session begins Monday, October 5th from 5PM-6:30 (registered students will get the Zoom link). The following sessions will be held on Saturdays (time is TBA, as we like to work the best we can with our student’s schedules).

Email Christa: [email protected] to register.

Looking forward to it!