Youth
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Side by Side

Laura Birdsall, Director

Side by Side, a program of Triskeles Inc., brings together younger students with young adults (also students) in a dynamic process of learning and connecting together.

Side by Side serves at-risk local children, ages 5-8, by offering enlivened literacy and meaningful seasonal activities in the context of a one-on-one mentorship with teenagers from local independent and public high schools. These teens receive on-going training which focuses on service and leadership.

Side by Side is comprised of two programs:

• Camp Jump Start for two weeks in the summer at the Phoenixville Kindergarten Center.
• Four - weekend seasonal workshops during the school year at the Kimberton Waldorf School's Garden Building. Seasonal activities included cider pressing, cooking and baking, sewing, seasonal crafts, garden activities and regular visits to the animals at the adjacent biodynamic farm and dairy. Enlivened literacy activities included storytelling, drama, book-making, singing and poetry.
• We have a loyal and growing cadre of local teens who have given nearly 6,000 volunteer hours over the last three years. At this point, many of our teens have chosen to participate in Side by Side throughout their entire high school career. In an exciting development in the last year, a group of Phoenixville Area High School students have turned their Side by Side participation into senior projects. They have taken leadership roles in recruiting new high school mentors; they are planning fund raising events for the coming year, and one dedicated student is even researching and writing grants to local foundations.
• In our fifth year, we are planning four seasonal workshops for first and second graders and two weeks of Camp Jump Start. There is also a strong impetus to expand our work to include workshop events for older children and their teen mentors on healthy food, gardening and cooking topics.