School Year Teens 09-10 - Session 2

Hi, Parents:

Tonight went surprisingly smoothly. We had a total of thirteen teenagers. Two were absent, and we currently have one opening. The combination of alumni members dominating the group, with fewer new members actually seems to be working quite nicely because it facilitates conversations among all group members. The alumni members are acting “true to form,” where they are asking questions and being inviting to the other members.

The group came in, and one of the group members, (“E”) expressly stated that she did not want to go to Numero Uno, which, unfortunately and coincidentally is where we had already made reservations. This was difficult for her to manage, but, after a short period of time talking with one of the counselors, she was able to come back in and demonstrate some positive coping strategies for being able to manage that, and earn hero tickets along the way. (For any parent who doesn’t know what a hero ticket is: that is when you do something that is low probability or difficult for you.) Other group members tried to help the single member who was not wanting to go to Numero Uno. They offered suggestions, some helpful and some less helpful, but the positive intent was there.

The group then moved on to reviewing their nicknames, and one group member who had been coming up with more violent or negative nicknames (“C”) felt that he was perhaps being singled out or that it was unfair that other people were getting to choose names that were similar to the one that wasn’t considered acceptable for him. It was positive that he was able to then choose a name that the group felt wouldn’t be excessively violent or socially offensive. After reviewing their names, some members of the group added additional behaviors which will be shown at the parent meeting in the first week of December, and then they narrated each of their own profiles and what they planned to work on.

We left at about 5:35 to go to dinner, and did eat at Numero Uno. Everyone seemed to have a pretty relaxed time. Some group members worked a little bit more on manners, some worked on conversations, and some worked on not being excessively silly or provocative. Overall, however, it was a pretty tame and uneventful meeting, and they seemed to have a good time. Two group members who had previously been a little more shy in the beginning of the group showed dramatic improvement with how conversational they became. (“D” and “J”)

In any case, it was a good night, and we look forward to seeing you for the December meetings with a parent meeting for dinner in the first week in December. -- Bruce

School Year Teens 09-10 - Session 1

Hi, Parents:

Tonight we had twelve adolescents of the fourteen who have signed up show up. We will be hunting down the other two; plus we are planning to fill the two remaining spaces from our waiting list. You would simply never know that tonight was a first night. The teens were organized, and they conversed with one another. Probably the worst thing that happened was a bit of excessive talking, and if that is the worse thing that happens with a group of teenagers, things are going pretty well.

The evening went as follows: We started off at Gelson’s, and we did a snack. They were able to bring snack into the group, and eat just a little light thing. We got a bag of chips; they had a small amount of chocolate milk, and some of them had apples. The purpose of it was simply to kind of make it a little more casual. Once they began in the office, I had some of the alumni members explain how the raffles worked, with the red and blue tickets. The teens learned everyone else’s name very quickly. The majority of the group tonight were alumni members, so that made it very easy for them. We only had one new member tonight, and he assimilated into the group quite easily and was conversing with the other teenagers as well. After they completed some of the initial checking in, they looked at a couple of animations off of youtube, made suggestions for other things we might watch. They then did a Powerpoint where, as per usual, they selected their nicknames, something that they wanted to earn and something they were interested in working on. Again, the level of organization for a first time meeting was simply superior.

After they finished that, it was approximately 5:40, and we headed off to Chipotle for dinner. They had a little trouble with their “pleases” and “thank you’s,” they took a little too long ordering, and there were “gaps in the line,” which means that somebody is taking too long to make their decisions, but these are all things that we’ll be working on over the coming sessions. They sat together and immediately began conversing with one another. Kids who typically sat next to each other sat with other kids, and it was very pleasant to watch. Very little intervention occurred during this time. Overall, they finished up about seven minutes before it was time to head back, and walked over, paying attention to pedestrian safety, and waited quietly. The majority of families picked up their kids right on time, and we are hopeful that by next time everyone will pick up their kids on time. All in all, it was a calm, pleasant evening, and they got along well.

Looking forward to next time, which will be a week from this Tuesday on November 17^th. Also, there is a parent teleconference scheduled for next Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. A link will be sent to you by the end of the day Friday to sign up for that. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact us at lunchgroups@gmail.com. -- Bruce