C.W. Avery, Central City, Galowich, Morris
The Y is excited to announce that the organizers of the Fitter and Faster Swim Clinics will be providing an opportunity for YMCA members to participate in a free webinar with two-time Olympian Chloe Sutton! Scheduled for 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 29, this virtual Question and Answer session will be a great chance for youth swimmers to talk to, and receive feedback from, an Olympic swimmer.
Click here to reserve your spot: https://event.webinarjam.com/
Additional Links:
Today we are excited to share a guest blog from C.W. Avery Family YMCA Youth and Family Director Shannon Stawikowski as a part of our Keeping Kids Connected Initiative! Shannon has been kind enough to provide a step-by-step breakdown of a fun arts and crafts activity that was sent to families in the Y’s Pint-Size Pupils program this week. Shannon and her son Jaxon had a great time putting together a paper mâché volcano!
What you’ll need:
-large piece of cardboard
-small, empty container, such as a spice container
-Newspaper
-1/2 cup Flour
-1 cup Water
– Paint for your volcano creation
-Items to decorate, such as green pipe cleaners, green pom poms, beads, other green decorations, toys, rocks, etc.
-Hot glue gun or Tacky glue (always have an adult’s help when using a hot glue gun)
-Tape
-2 TBSP Baking soda
-3/4 cup Vinegar
-Red food coloring
-Squeeze bottle or plastic cup
Directions:
1. Cut cardboard into two circle shapes. One circle should be the size of your volcano (ours was around 8 inches in diameter). The other circle should be slightly wider than you’d like your volcano to be. Ours was around 12 inches in diameter. You can trace something round, like a bowl, to create your shapes.
2. Glue your empty spice container into the center of your smaller cardboard circle. Next, scrunch some newspaper or other paper into balls. Tape or glue the paper around the spice container to create the shape of your volcano.
3. Mix some paper mâché paste. Paper mâché is a paste made from flour and water. We used 1/2 cup of flour and 1 cup of water. Stir the mixture together in a bowl (some lumps of flour may remain, you can stir more as you use it) and set aside. Take your newspaper and cut or rip it into strips. Strips should be about 1 inch wide and around 6 inches long.
4. To paper mâché your volcano, dip strips of paper into the paste one at a time. Be sure you dip the entire strip in. Use your fingers to gently wipe excess paste off of the paper strip and then place the wet paper strips onto your volcano shape so that they cover the paper. Do not cover the opening of the spice container! Overlap strips as you go and layer as needed. You will want to wrap paper around the edges (at the top and bottom).
5. If anywhere on your volcano starts to look too wet, just place a dry strip of paper or two in the area to soak up the excess paste. Once the entire volcano is covered, set it onto the large cardboard circle and allow it to dry completely, at least overnight. If the paper seems too thin, or you find gaps anywhere, add another layer of paper mâché after the first has dried.
6. Once your paper mache has dried completely, use paint to decorate the volcano. Set aside until the paint is dry.
7. Lastly, decorate your volcano! Paint some smaller bits of cardboard green and cut them into grass shapes. Bend one end of several green pipe cleaners into a spiral to create a fern. Grab small toys to create a scene. Add small green bits like pom poms and beads, if you like. Use red puffy paint to add some lava to the top of the volcano. Be creative with things you find in or around your home! Now your volcano is complete!
8. Create a volcanic eruption! (Your volcano may not survive this eruption, since it is made from paper – make sure you have played with it as much as you want before moving on to this step!). To make your volcano erupt, first add 2 teaspoons of baking soda into the spice container at the center of your volcano. Next, pour your vinegar into a squeeze bottle or plastic cup and add a few drops of red food coloring. Place your volcano onto a baking sheet or other tray with raised edges (to catch the mess) or do the experiment outside! Slowly squirt or pour vinegar into the volcano opening and watch it erupt! You can repeat the reaction as many times as you like (add more baking soda if you need to).
We thank C.W. Avery Family YMCA Youth and Family Director Shannon Stawikowski for contributing this guest blog.
Let your creativity shine and plan to participate in the YMCA’s Easter Egg Coloring Contest! Open to children ages 5-13, this contest is the perfect opportunity for kids to show off their artistic talents and help spread a little Easter cheer during these challenging times.
Here’s how to enter:
1. Download the blank Easter Egg template below and print it out. You may also create a template of your own, just be sure to include a Y logo in your design.
2. Grab some crayons, markers, colored pencils or paint and create an Easter Egg design that you think will inspire the community. From pastel colors and bunnies, to chocolate candies and spring flowers, we can’t wait to see your original designs!
3. Submit your design through a message to your local Y’s Facebook page or send an e-mail to [email protected]. Submit your design by Thursday, April 9. Please be sure to include a name and age in the submission.
4. Designs will be posted on the Facebook pages of the four Greater Joliet Area YMCA branches from Friday, April 10 through Sunday, April 12. The designs with the most combined photo reactions from each of the following age groups will receive a $30 gift card to an area restaurant:
Ages 5-7
Ages 8-10
Ages 11-13
Three lucky winners be chosen.
Good luck!
Greater Joliet Area YMCA Facebook Pages:
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Every winter the Y brings communities together to promote youth development through our Youth Basketball Leagues. We look to maximize the positive effects of athletics by emphasizing healthy competition and promoting teamwork, and we know 2020 was another great year for area basketball! With the season coming to a close, we’d like to take this opportunity to share some of the key facts and figures from this YBL season. You can take a look at these inspiring numbers below:
The Y would also like to thank all the families, players, volunteer coaches and staff members who participated across our association’s programs, as well as the sponsors who helped make this season possible:
C.W. Avery Family YMCA:
Bill Jacobs BMW
Bill Jacobs MINI
Bill Jacobs Volkswagen
Gus P. Rousonelos
Joseph & Sons Mechanical, Inc.
Plainfield Rotary Club
Rembert Blount Property Group
Rathbun, Cservenyak & Kozol, LLC
Galowich Family YMCA and Smith Family YMCA:
Busey Bank
Midwest Tankermen
Rathbun, Cservenyak & Kozol LLC
SCJ
Morris Community YMCA:
AG Resource Management
Animal Care Hospital
Ayers Electric Inc.
Brandt Excavating Inc.
Brian Zabel & Associates, PC
Busey Bank
Century 21 Coleman-Hornsby
Cortina, Mueller, & Frobish PC
Dairy Queen
E-Z Auto Sales
Feeney’s
First Midwest Bank
Fraternal Order of Eagles
Grundy County States Attorney
Huntley Farms
Indicon Electric
Jerrick Construction
Joe Martin CPAMST
Mack & Associates
Midwest Industrial Sales
Morris National Bank & Trust
Riverside Chiropractic
Roe Trucking
Roth Jorstad Insurance
Sky High Coaster LLC
Three Rivers Plumbing
Turtle’s
U.C. Davis-Callahan Funeral Home
We can’t wait to see everyone on court next season!
At the Y, we are committed to strengthening our communities through Youth Development, Healthy Living and Social Responsibility. And now, we are looking to members for their perspective on how we’re doing.
Every day, we strive to help members achieve the goals they have set for themselves and their families. To ensure members an opportunity to share feedback on their Y experiences, we have partnered with SEER Analytics to conduct a member survey. The online survey only takes a few minutes to complete using an email link, and is completely confidential and anonymous.
Members will be receiving an e-mail this month with a link to the online survey. We hope to hear about important personal experiences at the Y – the highlights as well as the opportunities we have to improve.
We look forward to receiving this feedback as we continue our efforts to strengthen our programming and services.
Saturday will mark the final time Morris Community YMCA Sports Manager Ken Iverson participates in a Youth Basketball League (YBL) weekend. And when Ken thinks about his last day, he can’t help but think of his own childhood.
“I fell in love with the game of basketball when I was just a boy,” Ken said. “My dad, a Norwegian immigrant, had never played the game, but he put a hoop up for me. Just a piece of plywood sitting on a pole. I went out and shot on a slanted driveway and just played and played.”
Iverson, a Morris native, has been a fixture in the community’s sports scene for more than 40 years and his passion for basketball burns with the same intensity as it did when he was a kid.
“I can remember sitting on the steps of the bleachers at Morris High School games because there was nowhere else to sit. People were screaming and yelling and I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen in my life,” he said.
Ken would go on to play at Morris High School and also got a chance to walk-on at Western Illinois University. He returned home to coach middle school basketball throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s and, after retiring in 2005, he was approached to help expand the Y’s presence in Morris.
“We started off with the youth programs, which was my wheelhouse. I’ve been doing that all my life,” Ken said. “But it’s also been rewarding to expand programs to adults and seniors.”
YBL’s growth under Iverson’s leadership opened the door for more sports programming and eventually the Y’s expansion into its current downtown Morris location. Ken played a role not only scouting locations for the Y, but also recruiting the likes of Executive Director Missy Durkin to join the Y team.
“Over the past six years it’s been an honor to work with Ken and watch his passion for the Y continue to grow,” Durkin said. “I can’t even begin to imagine how many lives he’s touched through his Y career from YBL and adult leagues, to fishing camp and more. We’re grateful he is not retiring just yet, but we know he will be deeply missed in the gyms next year when YBL resumes.”
After 14 years, Ken still relishes his opportunities to make an impact at the Y, particularly working with kids.
“I’m convinced the reason sports are so important is because of the life lessons you learn for outside the game. It’s about never giving up, hanging in there, always trying your best. For kids, there are virtues that are better learned in this environment than anywhere else,” he said.
Ken is also excited for the future of YBL having worked with Chris Interial, who was named the Y’s new Sports Director last summer.
“Chris is amazing. I was worried about who was going to come in for me and now I think they might just forget all about Mr. I. Chris is going to take what we have started here and run with it. He’ll make it even bigger and better,” Ken said.
Iverson shared that it has been a tremendous joy to make a difference in his hometown.
“I think the Y is the biggest and best thing that’s ever happened in my life and I think it is the biggest and best thing that has ever happened in Morris,” he said. “It has truly been a blessing.”
On behalf of all the athletes, coaches and staff members who have participated in our Morris YBL program, we would like to thank Coach I for his passion and dedication to the Y and the game of basketball. If you would like to help celebrate Coach I’s last YBL weekend, feel free to stop by Morris Grade School this Saturday. Games begin at 9 a.m. and will continue throughout the afternoon.
