Kids & Teens

ARISE! 2022

WHDC held the 2022 ARISE! summer youth academic and career development program in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Harlem (BGCH). The program was held in-person with seventy-five teens at BGCH’s flagship location on 521 W 145th St from July 11-August 12, 2022.The 2022 ARISE! covered financial literacy, SAT prep, and career exploration. The participants did several field trips, including: the Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure Exhibit, Jackie Robinson Museum, (recently opened) and Barnard College. Community Partners included: Sound Business, Inc. (SBI)– Theater Technical Workshops, Local Civics, Payton Parr– Computer Programming and Robotics, The Horticultural Society of New York (The Hort). At the completion of the summer program, participants received a stipend.

Quotes from 2022 ARISE! participants:

• “I would like to work with kids and shelters, to help people who are struggling or kids who need help learning.” – Angelina J, 9th Grader (Age 14)

• “My favorite lesson was when we got to learn the importance of assets in a community and why it is important to have those assets. In the future I want to lead my school and my community into a better place to be at, like a safe environment to be around as well as a place where they feel comfortable and confident to speak up or talk to others.” – Ange K, 10th Grader (Age 15)

• “I want to join the debate team to then talk about things affecting our community/ school and use that to advocate for certain issues.” – Luke G, 11th Grader (Age 16)

• “My favorite workshop from this year was walking around the community because I was able to look at my community from a different perspective. I could lead in the future in my school by helping the staff in my school to create new activities for the children.” – Sydnie M, 12th Grader (Age 17)

Photo credits: 2022 ARISE! participants at Boys and Girls Club of Harlem, with Local Civics Founder Beverly Leon and Councilmember Shaun Abreu, and at the Greenhouse/The Hort