By Davia Douglas
October will relaunch the Teen Service Corps as a permanent BAPA Program with a kick-off meeting on October 22, 2023. The goal of this program is to provide community teens with an opportunity to learn the importance of community through service projects and community engagement.
Teen Corp is designed to foster a sense of community pride, instill the importance of community service and provide opportunities for service hours through a variety of activities throughout the year. In addition, the meetings will also include a learning component with guest speakers covering various topics pertaining to teen life skills.
Teen Corps was started in 2020 and has been steadily growing. We are proud to call it an official BAPA program, complete with a calendar of events and its own page on our website.
BAPA will provide Teen Service Corps members with opportunities to earn service hours often required for graduation. An opportunity to compile an extensive list of activities for their high school or college portfolios. The program will allow the teens to engage with other community-minded youth while networking with peers from other schools, community leaders and business owners. They will also build leadership and empowerment skills.
Any and all youth from the Beverly/Morgan Park community, grades 7-12, are eligible to apply for Teen Corps.
The “Introduction to Teen Corps” meeting is on Sunday, October 22 at noon at the BAPA office, 1744 West 99th Street. Teens in grades 7 - 12 are invited to attend and parents are welcome too. The meeting will outline what Teen Corps will be focusing on in the year ahead. For more information, contact Tina Jenkins Bell, tbell@bapa.org.
