Think there isn’t a lot to do in the garden in the fall? Think again! We’ve been gardening at 5th Street Farm every week, planting cover crops to protect the soil, weeding, transplanting, and harvesting eggplants, tomatoes, black eyed peas, collard greens, rainbow chard, kale, sweet potatoes, and lots of herbs! 

We were able to use the sweet potatoes for not one but two cooking workshops! First, we made a delicious stir fry, using sweet potato leaves from the garden and vegetables from Sixth Street's CSA. Then, we made some tasty sweet potato fries!

Check out these photos from our gardening and cooking adventures! 

This year has gotten off to a great start!! Now that we have kids ages 6 to age 13, we are delving into new territory as we do all of our enrichment activities. We are so pleased to see our older after-schoolers taking initiative and acting as role models for those who are younger. Whether its at the garden when we split into groups or at Sixth Street during creative writing, we are continually impressed by them! 

Poem by Tatiana (age 13)

Blue, 
the soothing touch of the ocean
water gently tinted with light 
blue, 
The color of my mother's eyes,
stormy blue, 
The color of the Sky
my father flew across to get 
here, 
Blue,
the color of me jeans that 
everyone compliments, 
The color of being
sad and bad moods, 
But yet a color
that will forever bring 
me comfort. 
Blue, 
The color I dyed my hair
twice, 
The color of those Macaroons 
you’ve been meaning to try, 
The color representing 
blistering boys who cannot like 
pink due to society, 
Blue, 
The color that my lips turned after
a baby bottle pop, 

The color of blueberries you’ll get while
shopping but will probably not 
finish until the end of fall, 

The color of my blanket which
keeps me warm when I can’t stop
shaking, 

The name of that one colored pencil 
which turns out to be purple, 

Blue, 
​
The color which families have 
lost lives to from gunshots and 
feuds on the streets

Blue, 

A color that represents more than 
you can ever think 
of. 

Poem by Seijan (age 9) 

red is like death and 
like hot sun melting 
you down 

blue is love
peace and happiness

purple is like sadness. 
so sad and so bored you 
will die

green is like everything 
you hoped for 

gold is like richness

Group Poem (ages 6-24) 

by Asha, Skyla, Mila, Jemma, Sofia, Myranda, and Laura 

Red is anger,
Red is love.
Pink is like a heart,
Brown is a cake.
Mint is my headband,
Orange tastes like fresh juice and fruity tic tac.
Blue is a wave that comes crashing down all around.
Red is a rose. I like the smell and it looks so pretty. 
Yellow is a lemon,
Pink is a pig. 
Green is a leaf.

Sixth Street Youth Program is partnering with The Cornell University Cooperative Extension to receive Health and  Nutrition workshops from nutritionist Jannie Wolff. During last week's workshop, students measured out the amount of sugar contained in bottles of soda and fruit juice. They were shocked to see that the amount of sugar in a soda filled almost half a plastic cup! This week at program we are excited to try out a healthy alternative to drinking sugary juice: fruit-infused water! 

Dear Friends,

As the year comes to a close, we want to express our sincere thanks for all the support we've received from you, our volunteers and CSA members. In the coming year we look forward to continuing- and hopefully expanding- our community programming. But we need your help!

Our Youth Program offers neighborhood children attending local elementary and middle schools a unique experience in the arts, poetry, creative movement and health and nutrition.  Ninety-five percent of our students are from low-income households and attend at no charge.  We pride ourselves on providing a quality enrichment program to families that need it most.

This coming year we’re excited to continue our students’ growing connection with Community Supported Agriculture (CSA).  With the support of our CSA volunteers, students will continue  to receive weekly hands-on workshops in healthy food preparation and juicing using our local produce and  learn about sustainable agriculture through trips to the farm. And right here in the neighborhood our students are learning about community gardening, working at the Fifth Street Farm roof-top garden at Earth School and composting food scraps at El Jardin del Paradiso garden by P.S. 15. 

We look forward to another great year of programming and our twenty-first of Community Supported Agriculture with Hepworth Farm and participating members, schools and community organizations!

Your tax deductible contribution to support our community programs is deeply appreciated.
Warmest wishes during this winter season. 

Howard Brandstein 
Executive Director

On Thursday, December 10th, kids and parents gathered to celebrate the end of SSYP's fall session. Thanks for Maria Ferrar of the GROOVE movement, our families shared a high energy movement session that left everyone smiling and sweating! We closed out the evening with a Greek folk dancing led by SSYP volunteer Eo Constantatos. It was especially fun to share this joy with our parents, who work so hard and have been so supportive of the Sixth Street Youth Program.      

The photos below document other highlights from this session, including drawing workshops with visual artist Carl Parker, Batik pillow-making workshops with Jen, winter tea-making workshops with East Village wellness coach Natalie Decleve, and our partnership with the Earth School's Green Apple Kids afterschool program.

Our program restarts January 11th, and we are enrolling now! Please see the "Sixth Street Youth Program" page under "Programs and Events" for instructions on how to enroll!   

During October and November, non-profit White Rainbow, founded by Ashley Gail Harris, brought two professional artists to Sixth Street Youth Program to lead hands-on arts workshops with students. 

In October, illustrator Aiden Koch shared with us her passion for zines and comic book art. We engaged in a group comic drawing activity that Koch said she often used as a creative warm up with fellow artists. After each participant drew a character in their first square, the drawings were passed on to a new person, who drew an image in the next square, following a different prompt from Aiden for each sucessive square. After two seemingly random images were drawn, the students were challenged to use the remaining squares to create a simple storyline by making connections between the images. The idea, Aiden explained, was for the students to understand that stories can always be born from images. We had an awesome time sharing the comics when they were finished and observing the way our peers had crafted story from our original drawings.   

In November, collage artist Renee Phillips joined us for a workshop in paper collage. Renee introduced to students a layering technique she uses in her work, where she lays down a paper foundation, and then adds images on top of one another. She also supplied paper materials that she had dyed in advance, allowing students to play with color in their collage work. At the end of Renee's workshop, the students asked her questions about life as a professional artist. Renee's advice to our aspiring artists was to keep producing art, dedicating time to work on your craft each day.    

Check out the photos from both workshops below! 

Tatiana is not your average sixth grader. Intellectual, curious, and a fierce believer in freedom of expression, Tatiana aspires to be a professional writer. We loved this poem she wrote during Sixth Street Youth Program, reflecting on the larger issues that burden our modern world.  The writing session was inspired by a visit from Lower East Side artist and poet Pitts. He shared poetry about the word "dictatorship" in hopes of sparking a conversation amongst the young people about power. Go Tati!   

I wonder

I wonder why people are judged for skin or culture 
I wonder why people make assumptions or claims about others 
I wonder why the majority of people focus on irrelevant news 
And the minority pay attention to relevant 
I wonder why society has higher and lower classes 
in which higher has more authority 
instead of an equalized world 
I wonder why important works of art and stories 
are being forgotten 
and replaced with a majority of (no offense) awful things 
I wonder why a majority of youth follow what the trends are 
I wonder why people label things and people when we were all nothing but human 
I wonder why we hide our true selves 
just to fit in

The week of Halloween, Sixth Street Youth Program partnered with artists and community activists, Mystical Ratchet and Paperboy Prince of the Suburbs, for a Hip Hop inspired, two day Good Monster puppet workshop. Students designed their own good monster puppets, and participated in a creative storytelling jam, as well as a puppet parade throughout the neighborhood. Special thanks to the guest artists, Brooklyn Charm and Artist and Craftsmen for materials donations, and Huertas restaurant for generously supporting our youth program! ​

From L to R: Josh Eliot, Kamani Washington, & Sixth Street Youth Program Co-Director Libby Mislan writing in the BC Garden 

With fall well underway, many of us have fallen into the bustle of school, projects at work, and a whole host of new endeavors. Nostalgia for the ease of summer sets in as the temperatures drop and our workloads increase. We loved this poem written by Sixth Street Youth Program attendee Josh Eliot that perfectly captures the magic of summer.     

I wish I was back at camp 
With no worries,

Doing whatever I want,
No 6th grade threat on my mind.
 
I wish I was back at the place 
That calms my mind 
Just to think about it.
 
I wish I could just feel the 
Carelessness 
And the joy of 
Pure nothingness,
 
The don’t worry feeling of 
Nothing matters, 
The no parents feeling.
 
I wish I could just feel the 
Pure water of Lake Victory 
Wash over my face.
 
I wish I could feel my hands 
Slide over the warm clay 
As I use the wheel.
 
I wish I could feel the feel 
Of always being with friends, 
Like evening activity 
And hanging in the dark.
 
I wish I was back at camp
I wish I was back at camp
I wish I was back at camp!