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| Mid-September 2012 | 
Have you noticed that change is in the air? Over the past few weeks, we have had crisper, cooler air, stronger breezes and bits of color popping out among the trees. The season is changing. We have welcome changes at the YWCA as well.
We are very pleased to welcome new members to our Board, an exciting new girls' program and our first-ever Swim Club: the Tiger Sharks! We also welcome back art classes for children and the Museum of Science Boston program: Engineering is Elementary.
Many thanks to volunteers from the United Way Day of Caring, staff from Mechanics Savings Bank (pictured above), for painting bookshelves in the afterschool room at the YWCA. It brightened the room and the smiles on our kids' faces!
Read on for more information on all of our welcome additions. We are always looking for feedback and ideas. Please feel free to contact me directly at kleighton@ywcamaine.org with your thoughts . I look forward to seeing you here at the YWCA of Central Maine soon.
Sincerely,
Kathy Durgin-Leighton
Executive Director
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| New Board Members |  Welcome to Our Newest Board Members Joining Board President, Lee Young; Vice President, Mary Ann Norcross; Treasurer, Lucille McIntyre and Toni Ramsey are eight new board members. You can read a bit about each new member below. Karen Bate-Pelletier is a resident of Lewiston. She has been employed at Common Ties Mental Health Services for over 14 years and specializes in working with mentally ill individuals to secure and retain housing. She has a combined total of 22 years experience in the rental housing field. Karen is the mother of a daughter, Jillian and a step-son, Aaron. She enjoys traveling and camping with her husband, children and extended family. Jenn Buschmann is a life-long resident of the Lewiston/Auburn area who has been a part of her family's packaging business, E. A. Buschmann Inc., for nearly 3 decades. Her free time is often devoted to her pets and enjoying Maine and the variety of all it has to offer. Rosaria Chantrill resides in Auburn with her husband and has been a teacher in the Auburn school district for 19 years teaching Career and Vocational Education. She has taught swimming and was an assistant swim coach for Edward Little High School swim team. She has two adult children, Jennifer and Nathan, and enjoys and participates in various outdoor activities. Maggie Chisholm is the recreation director of the City of Lewiston and an Auburn resident. Laurie Cyr-Martel is a resident of Auburn. Having over 30 years of experience in and with emergency service systems, she is currently employed with Tri County Mental Health Services as their Manager of Crisis Programs. She is also part time faculty with USM/LAC. She enjoys music and sports, spending time with her daughter, Liz, and son-in-law, Will.
Anita G. Murphy is a resident of Lewiston, born and raised. She recently retired after 37 years as an ed tech but is substituting in the Lewiston School System. She has been the girls varsity tennis coach entering her 35th year at Lewiston. She has 7 grandsons and 1 granddaughter.
Reine Mynahan is employed by the City of Auburn as Community Development Director. She has a BS in Management and Organizational Studies from USM. Reine lives in Lewiston with her husband, Dick, a retired teacher whom still coaches football for Lisbon High School.
Reine has two adult children: Rich owns a company that provides consulting services for the health care industry and Rebecca is a nurse at Central Maine Medical Center. Reine also has five grandchildren.
Donna Spugnardi is the head librarian for the Lewiston elementary schools and is a Lewiston resident.
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| Art Classes for Kids | 
Fall Session Begins Tuesday, September 25 and Runs 6 Weeks
The YWCA is pleased to offer a quality visual arts program for kids with art instructor, Lynda Leonas. Ms. Leonas brings our new arts program serious instruction based upon her experience as a K-6 visual arts teacher in Lewiston and Auburn and as the former owner/operator of studioELL Fine Arts Center in Lewiston. She looks forward to encouraging each student to utilize his/her own individual creativity and expression.
Students ages 5-12 years old will produce individual works of art in 2-dimensional illustration with pencil, charcoal, soft and oil pastels; painting in watercolors and acrylics; as well as works of art in 3-dimensional sculpture with clay. The visual arts promote a sense of responsibility and self-discipline by establishing interpersonal skills, such as understanding, tolerance, an appreciation for diversity, and an ability to communicate effectively.
6 Week Session begins Tuesday, September 25
Ages 5-7 years- 4:30-5:30 pm
Ages 8-12 years- 5:30-6:30 pm
The cost of the session is $50.
In order to offer each individual personal quality instruction, space in each fine arts class is limited. Call 795-4050 for further details or to register.
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| Engineering is Elementary Program | 
Go Green: Engineering Recycled Racers
Once again, the YWCA of Central Maine has been chosen by the Museum of Science in Boston to be part of its Engineering Adventures curriculum development pilot program.
Children in our Afterschool Program will join the Museum's globe-trotting brother and sister duo, Jacob and India, as they encounter engineering problems during their travels. For this adventure, Jacob and India find themselves with the challenge of designing and building a race car out of recycled materials. And, of course the adventure concludes with a Recycled Racer Rally!
This is sure to be lots of fun for our after-school students while engaging in critical thinking. At the YWCA we believe that all children are learners and born engineers - they are fascinated with building, taking things apart, and figuring out how things work. We are honored to take part in the Museum's curriculum development!
For details on our after-school program or information on Engineering is Elementary, call 207-795-4050. |
| Girls' Initiative |  Aspiring Girls, A Girls Point of View Book Club, and Girls Empowering Group: All part of the YWCA's new Girls' Initiative.
While we haven't yet settled on an official name, we are about to begin a whole new initiative here at the YWCA - just for girls! This initiative, with the help of Bates College students will begin this fall and will become a permanent offering. The exact meeting date and times have yet to be determined, but the programs will soon be ready to launch so stay tuned for more information.
A Girls Point of View Book Club is based on a curriculum developed by Mainely Girls, an organization out of Rockport. The Club will meet weekly and will offer an opportunity for girls to read the best contemporary fiction about social issues that many girls face today. There will be no fee to participate; however our first club will be open to
a very limited number of girls through a selection process.
Aspiring Girls is based on Hardy Girls Healthy Women Adventure Girls. This is a unique, interactive program for girls in grades 2-5. The program gives girls the opportunity to meet once a month with women who are defying gender stereotypes and challenging ideas of what a girl or woman "should" do or be. Aspiring Girls brings girls together with role models to learn how women paramedics, architects, firefighters, photographers and other daring women chose to do what they do, where they find support and how they've found the courage to follow their dreams.
Girls' Empowering Group is an after-school program for girls in grades 5 and 6 to participate in self-esteem building activities. The goal of the group is to empower girls to gain a sense of inner confidence, courage and strength and to successfully triumph over life's hurdles by providing the girls with a strong female adult mentor and an opportunity to talk and share in a safe, private group. This group will meet for eight weeks (once a week for two hours). There will be no fee to participate; however our first group will be open to a very limited number of girls through a selection process.
For further information on any of the Girls' Initiative groups, call 795-4050. |
| Tiger Sharks Swim Club |  Register Now! The Tiger Sharks Swim Club is for youth swimmers interested in a more competitive environment. They will learn the basic fundamentals of competitive strokes and being part of a team in a positive and encouraging environment.
The Swim Club runs October 1 - December 12th
Mondays and Wednesdays, 6:00-7:00pm (10/1-11/14)
Mondays and Wednesdays, 6:30-7:30pm (11/19-12/12)
The program is designed for ages 7-14.
$75.00 fee (includes a team logo swim cap)
Tiger Sharks will compete in two meets which gives the swimmers a great opportunity to learn about competing as a team.
Practices will focus on:
*Stroke development and technique
*Breathing techniques,
*Flip turns
*Starts
*Endurance
Call 795-4050 for more information or to register. |
| A Camel Kiss! | 
Seen Here: Summer Camp Counselor Kelsey Piche getting a kiss from "Eddie the Camel" during a field trip to DEW Animal Kingdom!
Campers also visited Popham Beach, a Sea Dogs baseball game, Range Pond, Maine Stste Museum and Portland Head Light.
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