teens - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-28T20:50:21Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/teensTots & Teens: Students work to protect turtles, assist adults with disabilitieshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/tots-teens-students-work-to-protect-turtles-assist-adults-with-di2021-02-02T20:08:35.000Z2021-02-02T20:08:35.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8507472493,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8507472493,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="8507472493?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a><em>Maura Evans and Katie Rose Brisson paint stakes used to mark sea turtle nests. <strong>Photo provided</strong></em></p>
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<p><strong>By Janis Fontaine</strong> <br /> <br />Learning the value and joy of public service is an important component of a student’s education at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic School in Delray Beach. </p>
<p>Maura Evans, 14, of Ocean Ridge, and Katie Rose Brisson, 13, of Boynton Beach, chose to help Sea Turtle Adventures, a nonprofit tasked with protecting turtle nests along a 3-mile stretch of beach reaching from Gulf Stream to Ocean Ridge, as their service project. </p>
<p>Students at St. Vincent Ferrer are separated into “houses,” and each house chooses a service project, Maura explained. Their house, Équité, chose to work with STA. </p>
<p>If you’ve strolled that beach between May and October, you’ve seen the vibrant orange stakes and the netting that protect the sea turtle nests. Maura and Katie Rose joined forces with about 20 other students to paint hundreds of stakes so they could be reused. </p>
<p>It seemed fitting their house should champion sea turtles because “équité” means justice, Katie Rose said. “Sea turtles are harmless creatures, so we want to protect them.”</p>
<p>Painting hundreds of 2-foot wooden stakes was hot, sweaty work, complicated by social distancing and other COVID requirements, but it taught the kids that public service is sometimes difficult. </p>
<p>It’s a lesson STA’s founder learned firsthand. </p>
<p>Delray Beach native Jacquelyn Kingston launched the nonprofit Sea Turtle Adventures in 2016, but she and her mother, Joan Lorne of Delray Beach, have been permitted by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission to monitor nests along a 3-mile stretch of beach in southern Palm Beach County for almost 20 years. </p>
<p>Now a marine biologist, Kingston started her association with sea turtles at about the same age as the kids at St. Vincent Ferrer — as a 12-year-old volunteer at Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach (then called the MarineLife Center of Juno Beach). </p>
<p>STA has a three-pronged mission: “to conserve local populations of sea turtles, educate the public about the marine environment, and provide nature-based programs and life-skills training to adults with disabilities.” </p>
<p>After working with several adults with special needs, Kingston knew conservation awareness could enrich the lives of these adults and promote sea turtle conservation and education. STA added the iCARE WAVE program (Work And Volunteer Experience), which offers adults with special needs the opportunity to work for STA in partnership with approved vocational rehabilitation work programs. </p>
<p>Katie Rose and Maura’s Équité house volunteered with the WAVE program, where they learned about the joy of service. </p>
<p>Last year, the group put native plants on the beach to improve the turtle habitats, which had taken a beating during hurricane season. “It’s super-fun to do stuff with friends, but I like helping people, too,” Maura said.</p>
<p>“I really liked it,” Katie Rose said of her beach day interacting with the adults. She is worried the coronavirus will prevent the event from taking place this year. </p>
<p>And there’s one more factor at play here, Maura explained. The St. Vincent Ferrer house with the most points at the end of the school year wins a trophy (and bragging rights). </p>
<p>Of course, every house wants to win, but Maura says that some people put too much emphasis on winning. “I feel like it’s more important to have fun.” </p>
<p>Whatever happens, Katie Rose said, “I’m proud of our house.” </p></div>Tots & Teens: What to do with the kids when you’re homeboundhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/tots-teens-what-to-do-with-the-kids-when-you-re-homebound2020-04-01T16:00:00.000Z2020-04-01T16:00:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960945885,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960945885,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="7960945885?profile=original" /></a><em>Second-grade teachers Marie Boslow and Lizzie Paskal work in one the courtyards at Gulf Stream School on March 16, to organize take-home packets for their students to use while the school is closed. All Palm Beach County schools are closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic. <strong>Rachel S. O'Hara/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
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<p><strong>By Janis Fontaine</strong><br /> <br /> As you self-isolate, you’re going to be looking for things to do at home with the kids.</p>
<p><br /> Part of the time you’ll be homeschooling, and plenty of resources are available through your child’s school and online, including top education sites like Ted-Ed, Brain Pop, Khan Academy, Scholastic Learn at Home and Quizlet.</p>
<p><br /> But what about the rest of the time? A new series of free online programs called Keep Kids Smart with ART is being offered by the team at the Boca Raton Museum of Art. Connect with it at <a href="http://www.bocamuseum.org/covid-19-status-update">www.bocamuseum.org/covid-19-status-update</a>.</p>
<p><br /> Its goal is to help parents and their children by providing visual arts programs.</p>
<p><br /> Experts say art can help us deal with difficult emotions, and Executive Director Irvin Lippman said the museum will support the community by creating new virtual enriching experiences online.</p>
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<p><strong>Library resources</strong></p>
<p>Our libraries may be closed, but they have tons of content, available in traditional and digital form. The Boca Raton Public Library has an extensive learning platform for students at <a href="http://www.myboca.us/963/Digital-Library">www.myboca.us/963/Digital-Library</a>.</p>
<p><br /> There is also a vast selection of audio- and e-books, music, newspapers and magazines, movies and TV shows available to download with your library card. Not sure how to use it? Video tutorials are available on demand for many of the digital services and research databases.</p>
<p><br /> The Highland Beach Library canceled all events and community meetings until May 1. On March 18, the library cut its hours to 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, but materials are available only by calling or emailing the library with your request for pickup. You can search for available materials via the online catalog, and the library staff will assist residents with downloading e-books. </p>
<p><br /> If you must have a paper book, the library will provide a pickup time to collect materials from a restricted area at the entrance. For more information, visit <a href="https://highlandbeach.us/departments/library/">https://highlandbeach.us/departments/library/</a>.</p>
<p><br /> The Lantana Public Library at 205 W. Ocean Ave. is closed until further notice, but will offer walk-up services during normal library hours for those who call ahead. Patrons can place books on hold via the library’s Koha system, or call 561-540-5740 to make arrangements. The library will offer virtual story-time and other children’s activities on its Facebook page.</p>
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<p><strong>Online instruction</strong></p>
<p>In response to school closures, Delray Beach-based Space of Mind, a modern schoolhouse, is offering personalized online teaching, enrichment activities and standards-based curriculum for students grades 1-12, as well as coaching and programming for parents and families. </p>
<p><br /> In addition to offering programs for all mainstream learners, SOM personalizes its curriculum to serve students with ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, visual and auditory processing challenges, anxiety, dyslexia, giftedness and the like. Online courses are taught live in small groups that are tailored by learning style.</p>
<p><br /> Space of Mind is at 102 N. Swinton Ave. For info, call 877-407-1122 or visit <a href="http://findspaceofmind.com">http://findspaceofmind.com</a>.</p>
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<p><strong>Other ideas</strong></p>
<p><strong>Connect the generations:</strong> This stay-at-home mandate won’t go away as quickly as you’d like, so this may be the time to undertake a long-term project like researching your family history.</p>
<p><br /> Sandwich-generation parents — with both school-age kids and elderly parents — can make it a family project by connecting the two groups. Have kids ask questions and use the Boca Raton library’s new genealogy tool, MyHeritage Library Edition, to access one of the largest, most internationally diverse genealogy databases in the world. Find it under the Online Resources link on the library’s website.</p>
<p><br /> <strong>Craft a solution:</strong> If the Boca museum’s art classes are a little too challenging, consider an easy craft. Research shows that purposeful use of the hands can decrease stress, relieve anxiety and lessen depression. From knitting to needlepoint, rock painting to fashion design, now might be the perfect time to rekindle an old interest or kick-start a new one.</p>
<p><br /> With the area’s supply chain semi-intact, yarn and crochet hooks will cost just a few bucks if you haven’t stockpiled craft materials in the spare bedroom. Don’t know how to knit? YouTube it. Or perhaps Grandma knows. Hook her up with the kids on Google or FaceTime. And there’s a bonus at the end — like a handmade winter scarf for future travel or gifting.</p>
<p><br /> <strong>Take a fresh-air approach:</strong> Doctors and mental health professionals agree that fresh air and sunshine (needed to process Vitamin D) and spending time in nature are important to staying healthy.</p>
<p><br /> Playgrounds may be off-limits, but you can use your yard to play with the kids. Get out the soccer ball, the baseball and glove, put the basketball net back up, and take the kids out to play. Easy sports for kids and parents like badminton, croquet, bocce, cornhole and pingpong can reduce stress and anxiety. Even easier? Take a walk or a bike ride.</p>
<p><br /> <strong>Use distraction:</strong> It seems counterintuitive, but keeping the hands busy lets the mind rest. Dig out that 1,000-piece puzzle you got as a secret Santa gift. And don’t forget the board games.</p>
<p><br /> <strong>Find joy in cooking:</strong> Since you’ll likely be cooking and eating more at home, make it a family thing. Cooking and baking can challenge math and problem-solving skills, and kids are more likely to eat something they had a hand in preparing.</p>
<p><br /> <strong>Meditate on it:</strong> Even young kids can learn to quiet their minds. A few minutes spent in a quiet, comfortable position paying attention to your breathing can help lower blood pressure and reduce the release of stress hormones like cortisol. Start with two minutes and work up from there. Try to keep it positive, but don’t discourage talk about fears and anxiety.</p></div>Delray Beach: Four teens on house arrest after fire destroys historic train stationhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-four-teens-on-house-arrest-after-fire-destroys-histo2020-03-04T16:55:02.000Z2020-03-04T16:55:02.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960933680,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960933680,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960933680?profile=original" /></a><em>Thirty firefighter units responded to the blaze at the vacant station near Atlantic Avenue and I-95. The force of the blaze knocked over and burned one firefighter. <strong>Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong><br /> <br />The four Atlantic High School teens who confessed to starting the Feb. 25 fire at the Delray Beach historic train station are on house arrest, according to authorities.<br /> The day before they had skipped school and bought a “kitchen lighter” at the Dollar Store, according to the Delray police arrest documents.<br /> They made a cellphone video of the fire, which they shared among themselves in a group text message, according to the arrest documents. <br /> The fire was discussed later that day at the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency meeting. <br /> “The train station did not have sprinklers to prevent the fire from spreading,” said Bill Bathurst, a board member. “Our historic gems need to be protected.”<br /> Board Chairwoman Shelly Petrolia said her heart hurts over the loss of the iconic building. Then she spoke as the mother of four boys and called for a “compassionate punishment for the teens. It can follow them forever and ruin the rest of their lives.” <br /> On Feb. 25, a 911 caller alerted the Fire Department about 10:15 a.m. to heavy smoke coming from the vacant train station, just west of the interstate and north of Atlantic Avenue, said Dani Moschella, department spokeswoman. <br /> At one point, the black smoke plumes were visible across the interstate and nearby parts of the city. <br /> Thirty Delray Beach and Palm Beach County Fire Rescue units responded. The fire lasted several hours, Moschella said.<br /> One Delray Beach firefighter was injured when he was thrown to the ground by the force of the fire. The firefighter suffered burns to his neck and ears. He was treated and released from a hospital, Moschella said.<br /> While firefighters fought the blaze, city police detectives investigated a tip from the 911 caller who saw four boys running from the train station. The detectives obtained surveillance footage from a nearby business that showed the teens running toward Atlantic Avenue, Moschella said.<br /> Delray Beach police were able to trace the teens to nearby Atlantic High School because one of them was wearing his ROTC uniform. The Atlantic High ROTC instructor identified three of the teens and the campus police officer identified the fourth.<br /> “They confessed to starting the fire, which they said got out of hand,” said Ted White, spokesman for the Delray Beach Police Department.<br /> Delray Beach police arrested the teens, between 14 and 17 years old, and drove them to the Juvenile Assessment Center. They had their first court appearance on Feb. 26 when the judge let them out on house arrest with conditions of no contact with each other and not to return to train station. <br /> Their next court date is March 18, White said. <br /> The county State Attorney will determine whether they are charged as adults.<br /> In addition, the state fire marshal is investigating the fire, Moschella said.<br />A fire department official toured the site the day of the fire and determined the walls are structurally sound, said Roger Cope, a Delray Beach architect who was involved with restoring the train station.<br />“But the wooden structure supporting the roof was destroyed,” Cope said. The historic train station can be restored, he said.<br /> The vacant station, built in 1927, is formally known as the Seaboard Air Line Railway Station. In 1986, the depot was added to National Register of Historic Places. Designed by architect Gustav Maass in the Mediterranean Revival style, the train station was last used by Amtrak, in 1995.<br /> Delray Beach paid $1.58 million in 2005 for the historic train station on nearly one acre. At one time, commissioners discussed spending $325,000 to renovate it. <br /> Lately, the city Public Works Department has stored lawn maintenance equipment and extra garbage containers at the vacant station.</p></div>Tots & Teens: Dance pros teach youngsters basic steps, social skillshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/tots-teens-dance-pros-teach-youngsters-basic-steps-social-skills2020-03-03T20:00:00.000Z2020-03-03T20:00:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960924453,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960924453,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-full" alt="7960924453?profile=original" /></a><em>Grigol Kranz and Pam Casanave coach groups split into grades 1-5 and 6-10 at St. Andrews Club. Casanave is a regular in Boca’s Ballroom Battle. <strong>Photo provided</strong></em></p>
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<p><strong>By Janis Fontaine</strong></p>
<p>Hair bows fly, ties flutter and laughter resonates off the windows overlooking the ocean as dozens of kids follow instructor Pam Casanave and her assistant Grigol Kranz in basic dance steps.</p>
<p><br /> The ladies are in white gloves and party dresses in shades of rose from blush pink to blood red. The gentlemen wear suit jackets and ties. As they struggle to learn steps and avoid each other’s toes, Casanave and Kranz move between them, gliding and smiling. <br /> When they let the kids loose for a game of “musical hearts,” they twirl and bop with abandon.</p>
<p><br /> This is the dance portion of cotillion, a two-hour class that combines etiquette advice and dance instruction to build social skills and enforce gracious behavior.</p>
<p><br /> The class, 60 kids from first to 10th grades, meets about 10 times between September and May at St. Andrews Club in Gulf Stream. Casanave, a professional dancer, choreographer and instructor from Boca Raton, started the cotillion classes through her company, Dance With Pam, last year with the encouragement of local moms.</p>
<p><br /> Casanave is well-known in the dance community. She and her husband, Jean-Marc Casanave, owned Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Boca before he died in 2016.</p>
<p><br /> Casanave continued to dance, choreograph and teach at her own school while focusing her talents on the annual Boca’s Ballroom Battle, which pairs amateurs with professionals to raise money for the George Snow Scholarship Fund. She helped grow the event into a huge success.</p>
<p><br /> Casanave coached Literacy Coalition CEO Kristin Calder when she competed, and when Calder’s kids, Harrison, 16, and Caroline, 12, aged out of their cotillion classes after the eighth grade, Calder suggested Casanave and cotillion might be a perfect fit.</p>
<p><br /> Casanave came up with a curriculum and hit the ground running in 3-inch heels last year.</p>
<p><br /> For teaching purposes, the kids are split into two groups, grades 1-5 and 6-10, and each session carries an etiquette topic. For Valentine’s week, the topic was “magic words”: please, thank you, I’m sorry, excuse me, may I, and hello.</p>
<p><br /> “Introductions show we’re friendly and courteous,” Casanave says.</p>
<p><br /> Good manners open doors that even the best education cannot by using the universal principles of kindness, politeness and grace. “Parents want to raise kind and compassionate children, and manners serve us very well,” she says.</p>
<p><br /> Dancing with actual touching takes a little getting used to, but dance’s similarity to sports helps.</p>
<p><br /> Kranz, a ballroom dancer and personal trainer, coaches them: Stay loose, bend your knees, finish the movement, pay attention to your partner.</p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960924466,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960924466,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-full" alt="7960924466?profile=original" /></a><em>Instructors Pam Casanave and Grigol Kranz lead youngsters and teens in dance and etiquette classes at St. Andrews Club in Gulf Stream. <strong>Photo Provided</strong></em></p>
<p><br /> The kids represent different schools — Saint Andrew’s, Gulf Stream and Oxbridge — which they like. Margaux Bonutti, 12, goes to Gulf Stream and is more comfortable in cleats on the soccer field, but really enjoys the dance lessons. Her 15-year-old brother, Marc, who goes to Oxbridge and is interested in aviation, says, “At first I was hesitant about coming to class, but now I appreciate the things they’re teaching us and I look forward to it.”</p>
<p><br /> Caroline Calder loves music and theater, so she can’t learn enough dance, and Gracie Robinson, 12, who rides horses three times a week, thinks cotillion is bringing out her personality. Among the younger kids, the attention span is shorter, but the lessons are there. Amelia Grandic, 7, in a sequined top and fuchsia tulle tutu, nibbles cookies post-dance and stops talking about her guinea pig to offer this dance (and life) advice: “It helps if you follow the directions.”</p>
<p><br /> But Amelia’s brother, Thatcher Grandic, 9, in his navy-blue blazer and no-nonsense glasses, sees the big picture. He says the purpose of good manners is to make others feel comfortable. He says good manners are about treating strangers like friends.</p>
<p><br /> The Gulf Stream student, who likes math, is not sure what he wants to do when he gets older, but says, “I’d like to do something that helps the world.”</p>
<p><br /> And that is the epitome of good manners.</p></div>Boca Raton: Alive with ideas, teens compete for business supporthttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-alive-with-ideas-teens-compete-for-business-support2013-05-02T17:51:48.000Z2013-05-02T17:51:48.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960447300,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960447300,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="538" alt="7960447300?profile=original" /></a></strong><em>ABOVE: Fifteen entrepreneurs ages 12-18 wait their turn to present to the judges.</em></p>
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<p><strong>By Emily J. Minor</strong><br /> <br />If you think kids today are lazy — holed up in their rooms, Googling cheat codes for video games, making new friends only on the Web — then you need to call up the good folks at the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce and make arrangements to sit in on the Young Entrepreneur Academy.<br /> Yeah, it’s called YEA for short.<br /> These young people are going places.<br /> “We have everything from nonprofits to a business that’s a fundraiser for schools,” says Beth Johnston, the chamber’s vice president of government and community affairs who helps run the program. “These kids are amazing.”<br /> A hair bow business. A teen photography business. A young lady who sells hip lacrosse sports gear. (She started it after she couldn’t find anything cute already out there.) <br /> In partnership with Florida Atlantic University’s Adam Center for Entrepreneurship, the chamber collects a small sampling of local inventors (who want investors), and then puts them to the real-life test. <br /> It works like this: The program’s sponsors and mentors, many of them local business executives and entrepreneurs, select about two dozen students in grades 7-12 who have demonstrated what the program calls “creativity, innovative ideas, academic effort, determination, enthusiasm, the ability to communicate, and a commitment to the community.”<br /> Then, with instructors helping them along, the students come up with their ideas, write a business plan, learn to pitch that plan, and eventually learn to make it happen and sell it to the community.<br /> Competition is fierce.<br /> Last month, 15 of the program’s top students appeared before a tough panel of judges at FAU’s Boca campus — each one of them trying to convince judges that their project deserved to be sent along to the University of Rochester for competition at the national level. <br />The Rochester competition is big because it’s a chance to present before some of the nation’s top CEOs.<br /> “This is incredible real-world application,” says Sam Zietz, a Boca Raton resident who had a daughter in the program and who eight years ago created software for a point-of-sale small business system called ToucheSuite. (It can do everything from keep track of appointments in a hair salon to distribute marketing mailers.)<br /> “These kids get it. They get it,” said Zietz, who says he “bleeds entrepreneurship.”<br /> “They know what it’s like to stand up before a crowd and try to sell something.”<br /> Like the young baseball player who got tired of pine tar all over his gear — his uniform, his bag, his hands, the fresh set of clothes in his gym bag — so he invented a nifty baseball glove (with a container) for pine-tarring his bat.<br /> YEA member Julia Galang helped in the pitch for Bow Boutique, a business that makes and sells cute hair bows. <br />“It was nerve-wracking, to have all those people staring,” she said. <br /> But she made it through, and she’s only 12 years old.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960447867,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960447867,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="538" alt="7960447867?profile=original" /></a><em>Bronsen Bloom answers questions from the judges about his 501(c)(3) charity, Musical Cares. Bloom, a senior at Pine Crest School, collects musical instruments for schools with underfunded music programs, then helps create music programs in those schools. <strong>Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p><br /> After last month’s presentation, Bronsen Bloom won judges’ hearts with his nonprofit, Musical Cares.<br /> Bloom, a senior at Pine Crest School, collects new and used musical instruments for schools with underfunded music programs — which is pretty much public schools everywhere — then works on those school campuses to help create music programs. He started the program in Boca Raton about three years ago, and is takinng it national.<br /> In Rochester at the end of April, Bloom ended up in the top nine and was the only not for profit to get to that point. His business was featured on a Rochester television station as he was giving instuments to students in a Rochester school. <br />The application for next year’s class is available at <a href="http://www.bocaratonchamber.com/yea">www.bocaratonchamber.com/yea</a>.</p></div>