2026-10-07 - Youth Committee

09:11Yes.

10:23is ready.

10:32>> Okay, we will now call this meeting to

10:35order. City of New Haven meeting agenda.

10:38Youth services

10:40meeting can be viewed on board of alers

10:42YouTube.

10:44Board of Walders New Haven notice. The

10:46youth services committee will meet in

10:48person on Wednesday, October 7th, 2026

10:51at 6 PM located at 165 Church Street,

10:55second floor. Board of Alders Chamber,

10:58New Haven, Connecticut to hear from the

11:00city's youth and recreation department

11:02and local based entities about their

11:04fall winter youth and family

11:07programming. Per order, Honorable

11:10Kimberly Edwards, chair attest Honorable

11:13Michael Smart, city clerk. If you need

11:15accessibility related accommodation,

11:17please contact 203-9467651

11:22voice or 203 9468582

11:27TTY in accordance with the New Haven

11:30COVID 19 policies. Masks are now

11:33optional.

11:35Public may comment public testimony at

11:37new havenct.gov.

11:40Thank you for being here tonight. We are

11:42going to get started.

11:44Um, I'm gonna have committee members

11:46introduce themselves starting

11:51>> Theodore

11:54Edwards 19. Um, so we're now going to

11:57start forming people up. Just a few

11:59housekeeping rules. Please make sure

12:01your mobile device is on silent, please,

12:06and or power down.

12:09>> That way you can just keep it rolling.

12:12And we're going to now start calling our

12:14youth services community.

12:17So we are going to call the agencies up

12:20one by one. And we're going to start

12:21with our yard, our youth and recreation

12:24department.

12:37Really, really long. [laughter]

12:41No.

12:44>> And I am going to just remind

12:47um our people here tonight and our

12:48members of our committee.

12:51This is a workshop, but we do not call

12:54people by their first names. Um we don't

12:57need a bunch of chatter and small talk.

12:59If you need to talk to each other, you

13:00can do it later. Thank you. And I

13:02appreciate all of you. All right. So I

13:05just need you all to introduce

13:07yourselves or state your name and

13:09address

13:14Williams director

13:16by Christian.

13:23[laughter]

13:29Thank you.

13:32>> Huggin.

13:37[clears throat]

13:39>> Good evening to

13:42the committee.

13:44Always a pleasure coming to you.

13:46And so as you see I have my primary

13:49managerial staff

13:52for

13:53to report out the different sectors

13:57going on

13:59department. I just wanted to highlight

14:02just a few things that are going along

14:04which they will get into detail about.

14:07The first is our youth at work program

14:10for the fall. We will be hearing about

14:13our swimming program that will

14:18you will hear about the swimming program

14:20collaboration

14:24be talking about we just received from

14:28the state of Connecticut

14:31asking

14:33questions as well.

14:36Um, and then

14:38initiative

14:40payment after school initiative which I

14:42will just debrief very quickly. I'm sure

14:44that you are more than familiar

14:48that are happening right now. currently

14:51the New Haven after school initiative

14:53have 429

14:56people and 28 schools throughout the

14:58city of New Haven with our primary

15:02vendors

15:03for contracting our side as boys and

15:07girls club but this is a partnership

15:09with public schools

15:12and so through their 21st century

15:14funding they also are matching the

15:16efforts that we have with partners to

15:19make sure that there's after school

15:20programming 5 days a week

15:24total of 10 hours

15:29of

15:30um in addition

15:32ting

15:35to fruition in November of 2026 and that

15:40program will be sponsoring community

15:43partners to to provide ting for young

15:47people to ours

15:52I would like to hand it off to

15:55business.

16:03So now transitioning into our year

16:06program beginning November 2026. We will

16:10launch a small scale of youth students

16:12that will be working from November to

16:14June 27th. Approximately about

16:17between the youth network and

16:23city

16:25services

16:27athletic development um $17 an hour 10

16:31hours a week it's approximately I want

16:33to say to

16:39highlight that we are coming off

16:40successful summer33

16:43students over 75 work sites that program

16:48ran July 1st to July 31st.

16:53>> Thank you. We will now hear from the

16:56deputy Felicia who will speak to our

17:00recreation program.

17:03>> Good evening everyone. Um I want to just

17:06kind of highlight some of our summer

17:08program. I'm sorry.

17:12Um just because we never get to

17:16I'll go into our and I

17:20summer camps. Uh we had five different

17:23locations throughout the city serving

17:25kids from 5 to 13 year old 13 years old.

17:28More than 650 registered for summer

17:30camps. programs including recreational

17:33activities, sports, arts, wellness,

17:35trips and other enrichment programs

17:37having multiple

17:40reaches in all the different

17:42neighborhoods.

17:44The aquatics programs were open for six

17:47weeks. Open swim was offered Monday

17:50through Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. um and

17:53Saturdays from 11 to 3amilies

17:57join us for the open swim program.

18:01beach before the storm went through

18:03there. We had approximately 800 swimmers

18:07um for since

18:10Memorial Day through the storm. Um

18:14continues to be a major priority for VR

18:16not only as a recreational opportunity

18:18but as also safety. So we are now

18:22partnering with the board of education

18:24to produce a program

18:28learn how to swim. and that will be um

18:35so each

18:37third grader in the city will have the

18:39opportunity to have 12 swimming lessons

18:42and or at least basic water safety

18:44instruction. Um and then we'll cycle

18:48through all the third grade that are

18:52um currently we also during the summer

18:55I'm sorry back and forth we had um a

18:59girls high school basketball program 21

19:01high school and college teams

19:03participated 250 participants

19:07we did four middle school basketball

19:13from middle school participating We also

19:16did a volleyball girls volleyball school

19:20program

19:21and we had uh four weeks of that each

19:25school and had over 200 kids

19:28participating in that. Summer tennis we

19:31serviced uh kids ages of five to 13 and

19:35we had more than 50 kids participating

19:38in that program. We also did a summer

19:41development program in conjunction with

19:44the Hill House track team and track

19:46coaches and had over 250

19:50kids participating that

19:53league

19:55high school. another very successful

20:00part in that. Um we're doing a

20:02tournament this weekend

20:05violence

20:07to

20:09help support the foundation

20:13is um foundation that deals with um

20:17people that have domestic violence um

20:20needs assistance for domestic violence.

20:23summer yoga, more than 50 participants.

20:26We did uh classes twice a week, Tuesdays

20:29and Saturdays. Um and also we did it

20:33with our kids.

20:37So that kind of brings us into um what

20:41we're doing now. Um we high school

20:44basketball league started last weekend.

20:46Um we've got 11 teams in that. our yards

20:50community events, our trouble retreat

20:53information for everybody here is

20:55Saturday

20:57um Halloween

20:5911 to 2 p.m. over at the United State

21:02University big lot. Again, we're

21:05currently working with our partners,

21:07schools, businesses, city departments,

21:09and others to make this year obviously

21:11bigger than it's been um last year and

21:13last year.

21:15Then we have operation

21:19giveaway as well as community service

21:23which will be Wednesday, November 18th

21:25for agencies Thursday,

21:28November 19th um for community folks and

21:33then anything that is left over we will

21:35circle back around and um service some

21:38more agencies on Friday. Friends of

21:41Google which we are partnering with

21:44Southern we are on Sunday December 6

21:47from 9 to 3 on the campus of Southern

21:50State University starting in the Adanti

21:53student center and um everything else I

21:57kind of

21:59folks um

22:02that are coming up

22:07really

22:09but Um and if you have any questions

22:12obviously. Um

22:15thank you.

22:21>> Yes.

22:26Huggin who will speak to your work that

22:29is going on.

22:32>> Good evening everyone. So the um we

22:40were receiving uh from the state and

22:43that was that was the burn

22:46students and families engaged. Um our

22:49department

22:51our department as well as the police

22:53department and

22:56uh review data that shows

23:01the highest incar

23:04state the age 13 to 15 and that became

23:08front line and they said we have to do

23:10something. How do we get students to not

23:14get arrested but also how do we support

23:16families? We work with uh the police

23:19department as well as the main public

23:21schools and operations which is a

23:25extension

23:26of our youth program.

23:29targeted at supporting graders

23:33in the endurance program

23:42amongst two navigators and two

23:46kinds with activities

23:50to

23:51a commitment to the school resource

23:55officers which was the city amongst the

23:57two PB

23:59to support people and also give

24:02presentations on things such as bullying

24:09and also just uh [clears throat]

24:11students receive

24:16officers and our team. In addition to

24:19that, young people can be referred to

24:21other programs such as outside of

24:24operation shape, there will be programs

24:27opportunities for enrollment

24:36organizations.

24:37So this is

24:41asking you supporting be patient as we

24:45wrinkles but we are extremely excited to

24:47be able to support and undergo

24:55>> and so I will close out with Trobridge.

24:59We are very excited and we thank Alder

25:03Karma Rodri

25:05delegation for all

25:09in our

25:20because we are excited that

25:24is open.

25:26We are still in the beginning phases of

25:31fully run. We do have elderly services

25:34and they elderly services has now has

25:37their resour

25:48there have been many persons who have

25:49come in

25:52services in the center which we are

25:55excited and everyone is under the full

25:57understanding that it is not financial

26:01agreement. We are going to provide a

26:03space for them

26:06to be able to provide

26:08with minimum requirements. One just

26:11being sustainable

26:15say you're going to be there on Monday.

26:17Be there on Monday. We continue to work

26:19with the engineering department because

26:21there are still some items just like

26:23when you have a new house or a new car.

26:25There might be just a few things that

26:27still have to be fixed. The emphasis

26:32But there are some small things and we

26:34keep pushing the button because we need

26:37some

26:39messaging outside for everyone to see

26:43and that this is the recreation center.

26:47Now we do have two permanent people

26:50there that are every day from 9 to 4 at

26:54this time. We are [clears throat]

26:55continuing to search to find another

26:58part-time person with staff to keep the

27:00building open until 7:30. It is our

27:03ultimate goal to be open six days a

27:06week, Monday, Saturday until the hour of

27:097:30. So, we just ask that you be

27:11patient with us as we are building our

27:16program and resources right now. it will

27:19take it on to but we are very excited

27:23and I think the board for trusting guard

27:26and us

27:31so that is right now I know it is so

27:35much to

27:38answer questions that you may have for

27:40us

27:41>> thank you

27:46ask that you ask one question please let

27:48it not be about something on this as far

27:51as a date or something that we do have

27:52for us because we do have other guests.

27:55I just want to make sure they're comment

27:58and I would ask

28:02any questions please.

28:08>> Thank you all so much for your amazing

28:10work. Just a quick question. Can you

28:12clarify to me the relationship between

28:14the tutoring initiative and the after

28:16school program? It sounds like the after

28:18school program

28:25students.

28:28What is the relationship between those

28:29serving populations?

28:31>> Yes, we are serving the same population

28:33and I would be neglectful if I did not

28:36say that the after school initiative was

28:40not from the tit.

28:43So the difference between the two

28:45initiative is

28:48community. So if you have a mom of pop

28:50grassroot organization of course has

28:52followed all the requirements they are

28:55able to do a program at their church at

28:58their interactive business for example

29:00we does their programming right at their

29:04facility

29:06after school initiative. We took that

29:08and just expanded to be able to get more

29:11hours. Also taking [clears throat]

29:13consideration of parents who are working

29:15and what would be good for them.

29:18I was there. I wish I had this program

29:20where I'm able to if I know people there

29:23until 5 or 530

29:26snack or suffer to get off work or come

29:30up. And then we wanted to expand not

29:32just the education side but we also

29:35introduce inclusion with their sporting

29:37activities and some fun. So outside is

29:40not just tutoring for 10 hours we are

29:43still allowing kids to be kids. They

29:45need to go off scene and have some fun.

29:48So that's how we link with one another.

29:52So for the two initiative that is that

29:55is all that they are doing and in some

29:57cases a blue cap in that is part of it

30:00that is being held the helm running the

30:03helis is united who has been our main

30:07contractor fiduciary because there are

30:09also training department

30:15so there are many things but the main

30:17focus is they have curriculum which they

30:22um they have curriculum they're using in

30:26order to enhance people's reading in

30:30math

30:32looking at reading math for them.

30:37>> Yeah.

30:38>> Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you.

30:40>> Any other questions from committee

30:41members?

30:44>> Other questions? Any brief comments from

30:46committee members? Brief comments?

30:49None.

30:50Thank you for

30:53[laughter]

30:54[clears throat]

30:58being here.

31:00>> All right. So, next we are going to call

31:23Good evening. Thank you for being here

31:24with us this evening. We appreciate you

31:27coming up.

31:28>> Thank you for inviting us.

31:29>> Thank you.

31:49Thank you.

31:59>> And we would just like you to state your

32:02name and address for the record, please.

32:05>> My name is Lisa Kim. I'm the artistic

32:07director of Ballet. You're located

32:16director.

32:25>> Thank you.

32:26>> Where you want to start?

32:28>> Okay. So, New Ballet is a classical

32:30ballet school. We our primary location

32:33is in. We provide

32:36professional training not only to the

32:38county.

32:42We're here today to talk about program.

32:45This is a program where we this year

32:50public schools and the Q house. Last

32:52year we provided free weekly dance to

32:55over 100 students and also performing

32:58opportunities. We wanted to

33:02talk to you about ways that we might be

33:05able to expand this program because we'd

33:08like to reach as many students who are

33:10interested in high quality arts

33:12education as possible within

33:17to let you know a little bit more about

33:19the students and

33:23results. You can see on the cover there

33:25is one of our dancer students. She was a

33:28dancer winner six years ago. She's been

33:30studying with us for six years. She is

33:32now a member of the Ballet Company. She

33:35will be performing a school in our

33:38upcoming background and theater.

33:42We have a children's performance. Last

33:44year we had nearly 1,500

33:48students and teachers who attended that

33:50children's cafe at the Sher Theater in

33:52December. And this year, not only will

33:55this dancer be performing, but the other

33:57dancers that you see in that handle that

34:00I handed to you who are also scholarship

34:04where we provide all of their costumes,

34:07their everything they need for

34:08performing their costumes.

34:11We'll let Timothy talk a little bit more

34:13about what we do. So when

34:25the first year back in the second year

34:28was five. So now this year we have

34:30seven. So we go to personally go to each

34:35school to introduce myself to them. I

34:38know who I am and offer this program.

34:41came throughout this program. became um

34:45that a lot of us that came through this

34:47program got scholarship not just one of

34:51these individual also

34:54from school who actually

35:03her

35:04family um this program actually shows

35:07how the fies got involved her everyone

35:11every her

35:13her um her mother

35:18and also to every

35:20so of time

35:25rehearsal because she has to make sure

35:27because her mom doesn't speak English.

35:29So I always make sure that

35:34they

35:38helps um

35:41get involved when they see the children

35:42on stage. It's one of those things where

35:44they are overwhelming because something

35:47that they

35:49can see and things like that. We have um

35:54each school usually I usually get up to

35:57at least um 12 students depending on how

36:00they're doing something during the day.

36:09Some schools also offer after school,

36:11but when I go to school, so I fit all to

36:14make sure that I'm there and some

36:16schools are even 30 minutes but usually

36:18it's 45 minutes 45 minutes um I realiz

36:22time that

36:28was also from first to second grade so

36:31first seven

36:34right so when we want to

36:38want to kids come to our school with

36:40kids

36:42so they feel comfortable to grow with

36:45the kids that they're

36:50with.

36:53Uh our goal is to make sure that the

36:56students that we work with achieve the

37:00same high levels of academic achievement

37:03and higher

37:07levels or

37:09engagement.

37:12the arts has established. So we want to

37:15make sure that we're able to offer this

37:17kind of program to as many students who

37:20have an interest in pursuing it. So we

37:23want to thank you so much for inviting

37:24us this evening questions

37:32children. You have our information

37:42performance performance.

37:47But this year, this past was able to

37:50have that school because we grew so much

37:55more. I said, "We need more space." So

37:58we were able to um get a hold of people

38:02downtown

38:07very [laughter]

38:16comfortably.

38:20>> All right. Are there any questions from

38:23committee members?

38:26Any comments from committee members at

38:28this time?

38:30>> Thank you also.

38:31>> We will be. Thank you very much.

38:40[laughter]

38:42>> Thank you. And I'd like to

38:48committee member is in

38:53war three.

38:56All right.

38:58Next, we're gonna have

39:11>> Thank you for being with us.

39:13>> Thank you for making do what we do best.

39:16And we're just going to have you state

39:17your name and address for the

39:18>> I have more flyers if you need them. If

39:20you need to share them with anybody. Uh

39:22Kelly was our leader

39:25clinic.

39:29So this is the sheet that

39:34this is a sheet that I got to teachers

39:36when they come back um to school with

39:39most of our programs on it. So on the

39:41back kid and clicker those are free

39:44title one schools. They are already full

39:46as of today. Every kid that comes also

39:49gets a free book and we do a pre-show

39:51workshop at the school with them. The

39:53Grinch is actually on our Broadway

39:54series, but we have a 1030 student

39:56performance this year with discounted

39:57prices. Um, I'll be honest, schools are

40:00having trouble prices

40:03more sponsorship

40:05now.

40:07We have a Girl Scout program. On the

40:10other side, you'll see that uh we offer

40:12$10 tickets to most of our Broadway and

40:14dance performances for high school

40:15students. Any teacher or administrator

40:18in the school and for $10 tickets for

40:20their kids

40:22uh free fun, you share this with your

40:25constituents. That is a big free

40:27trick-or- treat event that we have every

40:28year. Um the Grinch will be making an

40:31appearance this year. So, you will have

40:33a meet and greet. Um the kids love it.

40:35Everybody comes. It kicks off with the

40:37toy drive. Um, we also have a trunk of

40:40the city.

40:43Um, library programs. I just came from

40:46Mitchell today. We taught an Elmo

40:48workshop that had over 40 kids. It was

40:51crazy.

40:52Mitchell in a very good way. So, we

40:54partner with the new libraries

40:58and Mitchell. We also grow gives us

41:01books. So every child that comes gets a

41:03gift bag and they each get

41:07they take home and keep backstage tours

41:11for schools. Um the only things that

41:13aren't here that we also do is we have a

41:15new program with ASML and Southern

41:17Connecticut State University. Uh, I had

41:19a funer who said, "If you had the funds,

41:22how would you serve more kids?" And I

41:24said, "I can't get as many kids as I can

41:26to the shooter."

41:29Right? There's always a barrier getting

41:30them to college or whatever. If I can

41:33take a show to the school where the kids

41:35are, they're all so piloted that spring

41:39with three schools. We're looking in two

41:42weeks. I think we start another six

41:44schools that we're going to with a tour

41:46from K2. uh we do for those

41:52and then the goal is that you know when

41:54they get a little older they will come

41:55visit us but this gets them involved in

41:58a lot more

42:00the audience

42:02um

42:05ticketing program so nonforprofits

42:07around New Haven can apply to get free

42:10tickets to serve their constituents. I

42:12just want to give a shout out to the

42:14fact that um

42:20maximize our dollars.

42:24I need to follow up with ballet about

42:26getting some of their kids that's

42:28coming. Um youth work, we have been

42:31youth work partner for many years. We

42:33have a summer camp that we do for grades

42:36three through eight. So whenever they

42:38come to you for more funding

42:41we [laughter] really not only does it

42:45the rest of us that are working with

42:47those kids and I can say that we've been

42:50a huge success for the kid this summer

42:55she made as a child you know herself and

42:58how she shown us worth every penny you

43:02know that she got paid for. So very

43:05important that we all work together.

43:10So we will see

43:20any questions from committee.

43:26Um

43:27this is all awesome and I like so much

43:30happening that I had no idea about. Um,

43:33I was just wondering like how many

43:37high school teachers and students and

43:40classes are taking up that

43:43is do

43:45>> spread the word.

43:46>> I would say thank you for asking that. I

43:48would say we had over a thousand kids

43:50last year take advantage but I do need

43:53more contacts

43:55and cost the the hardest part of my job

43:58honestly is finding a school that is the

44:01one that's going to follow up and it has

44:02the interest and it's not always the

44:04same person at every school right so the

44:06schools that come come every year um but

44:09I could do a lot more house um now comes

44:14I don't have a lot um definitely serving

44:17co-op definitely concerns, you know,

44:19they have strong programs and stuff. So,

44:20please, please, please share this with

44:23any teacher that you know and any school

44:25that you know to reach out to me. Um, I

44:27also tell them like there's not

44:29something on this venue and you have an

44:31idea, please reach out to me. There

44:33might be something else we can do. A is

44:35coming American theater studio and we're

44:37doing a master class with their dance

44:40students. So, sometimes there's other

44:42people reach out and say, "Hey, can this

44:44show offer?" You know, all I can say is,

44:46right? So I'm happy to ask and see what

44:49I would love.

44:51>> I graduated

44:53four years. I should

44:58know they have programs and after school

45:00programs

45:02that would love to have an inside

45:06track.

45:09Thank you so

45:12many members.

45:17Thank you so much. Thank you so much for

45:18what you do. Absolutely. I think that my

45:21seniors in my community and my work has

45:24taken um

45:27[clears throat] liking to coming out and

45:29utilizing the tickets. I bring them

45:31sometimes spend the time there. Um but

45:35thank you. Thank you so much for all you

45:36do.

45:38>> And I would love to do more cross

45:40generational stuff.

45:44ideas because honestly the seniors love

45:46coming and seeing the kids watching. You

45:48know, there's nothing better than

45:49watching.

45:53>> Any other questions or comments?

46:00>> I will. Trust me, I know them all.

46:02>> I made notes. I'm gonna follow up.

46:07>> Thank you.

46:08All right.

46:12Next we're going to have

46:28and you do have a flyer ready for that.

46:30I believe

46:32our

46:38and thank you for being with us.

46:41Thank you for inviting us. Yes.

46:51>> All right. And as usual, will you please

46:54just state your name and address for the

46:57record?

47:06>> Thank you. All right. You may begin.

47:12I'll get started. I'll just use the uh

47:14I'll start with this fly. Um so yeah, so

47:18I'll start with the flyer here. These

47:19are our family programs that we offer

47:21regularly

47:23um throughout the throughout the year

47:26and this is particularly this fall. Um

47:31we've got a story time that's the first

47:36Saturday of each month where we have

47:37someone reading in the gallery. to read

47:39aloud in our galleries. Um, this is also

47:43usually bilingual,

47:46Spanish, English story time.

47:51We got make time, which is a drop in art

47:54making program.

47:56This is every the fourth Saturday of

47:58each month. So, families can just drop

48:00in between two and four material there.

48:05type of a project that's very open-ended

48:08and really love to come with their kids

48:12and see their kids be creative. Um, we

48:15have an average of about 32 33 people

48:19total come through each each session and

48:23kids and their caregivers.

48:28It's a good opportunity for them to get

48:30introduced to the museum as well because

48:32a lot of people don't realize that they

48:33can come and actually walk into the

48:36galleries. It's free. Entrance is always

48:39free for our museum.

48:45Familiar with the museum

48:48fall community days on Sunday, November

48:5215th from 11:00 a.m. to 4 pm. That

48:54includes a number of activities

48:57including

48:58um poetry

49:02again making activities

49:05of our um exhibitions

49:09and

49:11oh we've got we're actually

49:12collaborating with the New Haven

49:15Department of Transportation Traffic and

49:18Parking if you can believe it as well as

49:21architecture graduate students.

49:24create a drop in

49:27a sprawling

49:29build your own city.

49:33So that and regarding the department of

49:37track transportation that's the

49:41school.

49:44>> Yeah.

49:46>> Sure.

49:50using the a handout. Um there's a

49:54program that we have called exploring

49:56artist

49:58and we have Saturday mornings for an

50:01hour and a half from ages five to

50:07it's a program

50:09that is for

50:11children with autism uh who are on the

50:14autism spectrum [clears throat]

50:16or any other sensory processing.

50:19They come with families. All family

50:23members are invited to come. All

50:25siblings are invited to come.

50:30May come as well. Um because we find

50:33that their participation and when they

50:37watch what we are doing with the

50:39children, it's a great learning

50:40experience for them. They also learn

50:42that there's a lot of other people

50:45situation

50:47ideas and backgrounds.

50:50really happy.

50:52we um create um a safe environment, one

50:58that um we feel um will welcome families

51:04back and as we said all of our programs

51:12that I have

51:15for many many years is very personal to

51:18me and um it's It's a program that we

51:23can use as much I'm sorry as much as we

51:27can get because the number of families

51:31that participate in it from

51:37that

51:40other part of Connecticut but uh just

51:44haven't been able to crack the nut um

51:47and have tried different kinds of things

51:50different approaches

51:52The information is website if that's

51:54available for

51:57able to use the website and we get

52:02information. We ask for information from

52:04families before they come so we can know

52:08exactly what to expect and if there's

52:10anything in particular we can move

52:12forward. We have a session that have

52:16special space in the museum that is

52:19called the quiet room. Um sometimes

52:22these youngsters get over stimulated

52:26for them noise. Some things are

52:30unpredictable

52:31but it is filled with special

52:33[clears throat] kind of toys blankets

52:36tents things that help to make them safe

52:39and secure. So anything any suggestions

52:43you can do

52:46know in the board in your neighborhoods

52:49um like to hear about it. Okay.

52:53Um we also have a wonderful partnership

52:56that we had last year with commission.

53:00Um also um the New Haven Arts, Culture

53:04and Commission that is where we have

53:11on a Saturday

53:15any student child from Raven was

53:17welcome. it was so [laughter]

53:19successful. Um, we're adding adults now

53:22to this art making project. It's a drop

53:25in kind of thing. We have a tremendous

53:29amount of materials to use and um we

53:34work with um these commissioners who

53:37have been extremely helpful

53:41and we save the art that has been made.

53:44We select as many as we can and we had

53:49last year

53:50exhibition at city hall that included

53:54um everybody was everybody object was in

54:00the exhibition with their family

54:04and it was just a great opportunity. The

54:07museum also gave out certificates for

54:11every child certificate participation

54:14and then lottery. We gave gift

54:20to

54:21use a place in England that sells food

54:25and a restaurant

54:29to take that okay healthy food. Um next

54:34year we are doing

54:37adding adults to it. They will have

54:39their own set exhibition. Um and we are

54:42including parks and recreation. We are

54:44going to have

54:46two art in the park

54:50afternoons at two different parks.

54:54There'll be one in the fall in the

54:57spring. We will display.

55:00We will bring all the art squads with

55:02users of our education department who

55:06are makers specific

55:10if they don't want

55:14and we have new postcards paintings or

55:17sculptures that give away

55:22everybody wonderful to work with and

55:24just

55:26make this new

55:29collaboration

55:30work. Um every summer we teach institute

55:34for teachers

55:37to attend last this past summer um the

55:42British art

55:44exhibition on America 250 which deals

55:48with the revolutionary war and it's out

55:51its impact on

55:55uh the British Empire because they are

55:59the revolutionary war. Um anyhow, we had

56:02a great time with the teachers. Um they

56:04help to spread the word with other

56:06things and organizations that they have

56:09been involved with. Um we also

56:17>> so um

56:20recent so for a long time we've had with

56:22a with

56:24gallery third grade classes would come

56:27to both museums more recently like since

56:30after co and since we have the

56:34new um coordinator Holly Max the new

56:38public schools she has sort of

56:40reoriented things so that all the third

56:43graders go to the art gallery and all

56:45the fourth grades come to the center

56:48which I think is a really nice fit

56:50because once they have

56:56language

56:57in third grade they come to our museum

57:00in fourth grade we tend to focus more on

57:03integrating social studies standards and

57:06all the competencies that go with that

57:09including LA

57:11um competencies and also visual art

57:15competencies. So um that's a really

57:18great opportunity for us to connect with

57:20every student in the public schools at a

57:24at a early age and um we often see them

57:29again like LEAP leap for example and

57:32other summer camps. So [clears throat]

57:35very happy.

57:38So we invite any questions or comments

57:41from the

57:42>> any

57:44members

57:47comments or questions from committee

57:48members.

57:51>> Just thank you guys so much. Um yeah, I

57:54think it's it's pretty [clears throat]

57:57striking that we have so many in the

57:59city that are just completely free and

58:01open to the public. like such a

58:04but

58:07know that I've definitely like

58:14this might be the first time someone

58:16accesses the museum but then it's

58:19returning to and from so yeah this is

58:22great I think um [clears throat] I don't

58:25know the superintendent structure well

58:27enough but I wonder if there is

58:31focus on special education.

58:37I I have made calls to

58:41>> as many different folks as

58:44>> we can figure.

58:48>> Thank you.

58:57>> If any from the New Haven

59:01attend the exploring artist because I

59:04know that's very important.

59:05>> Yes.

59:07Yes. [clears throat] And and the number

59:09of

59:11the more we know about autism, the more

59:15we discover that many many people

59:18families

59:20that they didn't know about

59:23them being a bad kid, not in control,

59:28etc. Um they are learning um that they

59:33can't control some of those things. Um

59:36and um I will say over the years and

59:40I've been running now since um the early

59:46210 2010

59:52different families. Okay. um that you

59:56could come back as many times as you

59:58want and uh I you know because it's

1:00:03called art the [clears throat] word in

1:00:06front of it doesn't help us with some

1:00:10people in the community um British art

1:00:15why I want to go

1:00:18talk about art and making things we

1:00:22don't talk about artist names we don't

1:00:25That's important to us. It's not

1:00:27important yet to the kids.

1:00:30So many of them have capacity

1:00:34and as I said the parents get involved

1:00:38big time. Um we once had um with triples

1:00:44three kids

1:00:47and um somebody in my group we get a lot

1:00:51of help from Yale students other college

1:00:55students that come wanting to volunteer

1:00:57and they have to be vetted to make sure

1:00:58they have some knowledge that invarably

1:01:02it's people that have friend or relative

1:01:07um that has autism

1:01:09about it to help. Um, and the they

1:01:15wanted me to know that they fell asleep

1:01:17after they wake her up. I said, "Don't

1:01:19you dare." I said, "Anyone that's got

1:01:22triplets to begin with." Um,

1:01:26she was sleep.

1:01:29So, we just let her take a nap and we

1:01:32took care of the kids and it's okay with

1:01:35us, of course. So again, if you have any

1:01:39suggestions in terms of um

1:01:43getting through the schools, I can

1:01:45deliver things about the artis

1:01:51office, asking them to distribute

1:01:53amongst, you know, they end up getting

1:01:57home,

1:02:00we try to advertise and publicize as

1:02:03best we can.

1:02:06We do also sometimes though

1:02:10um what do you call event

1:02:14I think there's maybe a disconnect for

1:02:16communicating to them that this is a

1:02:19good opportunity for them and I think

1:02:21hearing it from the schools would help

1:02:30convince the schools to convince the

1:02:31parents to come.

1:02:35Thank you. Any other questions?

1:02:38Oh, we have another

1:02:41brief comment.

1:02:45>> Thank you so much

1:02:51through your voices here that I

1:02:54appreciate. [clears throat]

1:02:56Appreciate you making so

1:03:00following up. Thank you so much.

1:03:02Appreciate you. Thank you, Madam Chair.

1:03:04>> You're most welcome.

1:03:06>> Do you have any relationship with Beers?

1:03:09>> No.

1:03:10>> Right. So, there's a We could talk

1:03:13a lot.

1:03:16She does a lot with

1:03:18resources. So, I can get you her

1:03:20information.

1:03:21>> Thank you very much. Appreciate

1:03:22>> Thank you.

1:03:23>> You're most welcome. Any other questions

1:03:25or comments from committee members? Su,

1:03:28thank you for being here and thank you

1:03:29for all the great programming you have.

1:03:31Thank you for the invitation. I'm most

1:03:32certainly going to spread the word.

1:03:45>> Thank you. All right. So, now we are

1:03:49going to call up to our representative

1:03:52from the PI New Z.

1:03:56>> Last but certainly not least,

1:03:59>> we welcome you. for having me.

1:04:01>> You are most

1:04:05address.

1:04:31Oh, sorry.

1:04:36>> Thank you.

1:04:41>> So,

1:04:43thank you. Do you mind moving to the

1:04:44next slide?

1:04:46>> Um, I'd like to start off um with my

1:04:49connection to the Peabody. I'm a

1:04:50lifelong New Haven resident. Um, my

1:04:52introduction to the Y Peab body was

1:04:55actually evolution after school program.

1:04:57It's an after school program that's been

1:04:59on um for 20 plus years. Um and each

1:05:02year we serve 100 students um from New

1:05:04Haven and West Haven. Anyone who goes to

1:05:07any of the New Haven public schools,

1:05:08high schools that is or West Haven High

1:05:10School can join our after school

1:05:12program. Um we separate the 100 students

1:05:15into four different class days after

1:05:17school and we take them on lab tours. Um

1:05:20we introduce them for people around the

1:05:21museum to give them museum career

1:05:23exposure, college mentorship. [snorts]

1:05:26Um but honestly we just want to create a

1:05:28fun place. So we design our

1:05:32um we every fall. Um I regret not

1:05:35meeting you all sooner before

1:05:38the year. Um but anyone in ninth and

1:05:4010th grade us each September. Um and we

1:05:43just

1:05:48I'm sorry.

1:05:51Um and um we uh take the students on

1:05:55college visits. Most recently we took

1:05:57them um to WPI and Boston University up

1:06:00in Massachusetts. Um but even as a

1:06:02program alone, it was my first

1:06:05Washington DC, Massachusetts,

1:06:06Philadelphia on these college trips that

1:06:08students on and we enjoy giving them

1:06:10exposure. Um we uh also give them

1:06:14internships. This past summer, we placed

1:06:1612 high school students in two of our um

1:06:18EVO college alums in lab internships

1:06:21around campus. So, some of them are labs

1:06:24that we have in the museum. But it we're

1:06:26not limited to that. We even students in

1:06:28a robotics lab.

1:06:39Um but I would say key notes to joining

1:06:41the program as well um is that students

1:06:44in these after school classes also an

1:06:46exhibit that goes on display at the

1:06:48museum. Um I I appreciate the commitment

1:06:51earlier

1:06:55resources museum offers. The PE was not

1:06:58always free but since we opened

1:07:01the museum has all of the programs and

1:07:04access that I share in this presentation

1:07:06are free for all as well.

1:07:11All the students that um join the after

1:07:13school program have the opportunity to

1:07:15work as educator at the museum. That's

1:07:17primarily what I oversee at the museum.

1:07:20Um although there are 100 students in

1:07:22EVO, we museum

1:07:25and they work in the galleries each

1:07:26weekend whenever school isn't in

1:07:28session. Um and we provide hands-on

1:07:30experience to visit

1:07:32resource. Um, as we know, gallery

1:07:35labels, they're labels, but visitors um,

1:07:38you know, can get more hands-on

1:07:40experience by going up to our youth

1:07:41educators who we train and offer, um,

1:07:44workforce development. You know, by the

1:07:46time they get to college in the world

1:07:47beyond, they've already had a work

1:07:49experience and have an idea of what it's

1:07:51like um, to be held accountable in that.

1:07:55The photos that we have here on the

1:07:56screen are from some of the professional

1:07:58development trips that we've had the

1:07:59pleasure of taking students on this

1:08:01year. take them to other museums so that

1:08:03they can see their programs and we can

1:08:05think about how we want to take

1:08:07activities at the museum.

1:08:11Um, another thing that I oversee at the

1:08:14museum are the family engagement um

1:08:17programs that we have. That is one of

1:08:18the flyers that I handed out to you. One

1:08:20of the um programs is story time which

1:08:23is actually facilitated by educators. Um

1:08:25they do story time at one

1:08:29of

1:08:33the bilingual

1:08:38depending on that. Another program that

1:08:39I oversee time. We do it the first

1:08:42Saturday of every month from 11 am to 12

1:08:45pm. We set up a bunch of sensory

1:08:47activities for um and I like to think

1:08:49that the parents can just

1:08:52blast all their entire room in a STEM

1:08:56relief. Um another program that I would

1:09:01be a scientist program and that's for

1:09:03all ages everyone in the family um to

1:09:05come learn directly from people who work

1:09:07behind the collections. The museum um

1:09:10has over 1.2 million objects. Less than

1:09:141% are on display. Everything is housed

1:09:16in one of 10 collections that we have

1:09:19scenes. So it's a real privilege to have

1:09:21these folks with all that knowledge out

1:09:23to visitors or even sometimes specimen

1:09:26to give visitors about.

1:09:29Um during the summer we have lots of

1:09:31young kids who come and attend and meet

1:09:32a scientist and see that scientists are

1:09:35uh plainly dressed folks like us um who

1:09:37are just parents too. So anybody can be

1:09:40a scientist but during the uh academic

1:09:44school um we wish that you know maybe

1:09:46perhaps other

1:09:50program as well. The last one that I to

1:09:53share about is exploration. It's a

1:09:56student family program that we do on the

1:09:59last Sunday of every month. Um so it

1:10:01starts off with a um a student a lesson

1:10:06then we do a craft activity based on the

1:10:08lesson and then we go out in the

1:10:10galleries and we do a scavenger and that

1:10:14is our way to make things more

1:10:15accessible over time as we develop new

1:10:18content. um the the galleries

1:10:21make uh the labels bilingual but not

1:10:24very much is in Spanish. So we think

1:10:26that you know this once a month program

1:10:30more accessible to speaking families

1:10:34and last

1:10:37is to talk about um how to book a field

1:10:39trip. We have a K through 12 department

1:10:42um that manages all school group visits.

1:10:44Um it'll talk about numbers that we're

1:10:47able to reach

1:10:49here. Um but um New Haven public schools

1:10:54works that are correlated to the science

1:10:57in the district. our K through 12 um

1:10:59team, they really work hard um

1:11:03teachers, but also work with them to

1:11:04make sure the things that we're teaching

1:11:06at P are aligned um with our and we also

1:11:11let them know that we have hands-on

1:11:13collection that is available for them to

1:11:16that helps enhance their lesson. Um we

1:11:19have six that they can choose from um

1:11:21that are available and also more info on

1:11:24our website and we just want people to

1:11:25know that you know of course it is a

1:11:27free resource um just take advantage of

1:11:29it by going online and seeing what's

1:11:31available um because a lot of folks miss

1:11:33out

1:11:43so um this slide just goes over um you

1:11:45know how many students we were able to

1:11:47reach Um I think the number is actually

1:11:49a little bit higher. I know that you

1:11:51know we did four over 400 workshops that

1:11:53reached about 10,000 students last year

1:11:57but school overall

1:12:03over the last year. Um but mostly you

1:12:06know we want um teachers from

1:12:09get contact um because we hope to make

1:12:12it um a continuous relationship. you

1:12:14know, you come in and you meet us in the

1:12:16visit, but afterwards we can give you

1:12:18more resources after tell you about our

1:12:21family programs and if there's an

1:12:22outreach event that you'd like to come

1:12:24to our youth educators there

1:12:28like to get them through the door, let

1:12:30them know it's free for them.

1:12:34Thank you for your time today.

1:12:37Thank you for your programming and

1:12:38enthusiasm. Um, any questions or

1:12:41comments from community members?

1:12:45Thank you. Um I have a question. What

1:12:49aes

1:12:54we normally recommend like ages, you

1:12:56know, 3 to 10. It's a wide age range,

1:12:59but um you know, if a 2-year-old or 11

1:13:02year old is there, you know, they're

1:13:03welcome to um we like to think that's

1:13:05one of the things.

1:13:07It's not

1:13:09attended. So oftent times the kids there

1:13:13we do have our class station on the

1:13:15second floor

1:13:17>> and then the toddler time.

1:13:19>> Yes. Um that is targeted for ages to

1:13:23show up.

1:13:27>> Thank you.

1:13:29>> Any other questions or comments?

1:13:34>> Thank you madam chair. Thank you so much

1:13:36for coming. It's all your, you know,

1:13:38energy that you want to make sure

1:13:43museum as well as their family. Thank

1:13:45you. That's a

1:13:51complicated.

1:13:52>> Just want to say thank you as well.

1:13:53Thanks for sticking it out going last.

1:13:55You said you were an alum of evolutions.

1:13:57>> That's incredible. I love when people

1:14:00come back and keep serving and Yeah. So,

1:14:02thank

1:14:04>> I was going to say the theater. Um, any

1:14:07other questions?

1:14:11See, again, thank you. Thank you for

1:14:14your enthusiasm. It It shows that you

1:14:17got something out of the

1:14:20work. I'm gonna spread the word. I'm

1:14:22asking

1:14:24the word.

1:14:29We do appreciate you taking time out of

1:14:31your schedule to come here today.

1:14:35We will have you and we will be in touch

1:14:39for another round.

1:14:41>> Thank you.

1:14:47We have no members of although we don't

1:14:50have to follow up for workshop. I was

1:14:51going to but seeing that we have members

1:14:54of the public wishing to speak tonight.

1:14:57A motion is

1:15:02>> made and seconded. All in favor?

1:15:05>> None. We are done. Thank you. Thank you

1:15:09committee members for being here tonight

1:15:10and asking great questions.

1:15:13[laughter] Thank you.

1:15:14>> Sorry.

1:15:15>> No.

1:15:16>> Okay.

1:15:16>> It's no sorry.

1:15:17>> I pull this up a little bit sometimes.

1:15:19No, I

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