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 17th. 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
