I’ve decided to focus this week on Arts Day! For those of you who aren’t familiar with the event; Arts Day is a Talent Social/Association Field Trip that brings all the different Teen Camps in various Y’s around the area together. This year Arts Day took place at Park South YMCA where they welcomed the following branches: Grand Prairie, Irving, Lakewest, Plano, McKinney, and Moorland. The first half of the day was spent with various artists from the metropolitan area teaching art related sessions to the teens. The second half of the day, the Talent Show happens! It’s an opportunity where all the teens from different branches can participate and put on a show for one another.

The following organizations to led the art lessons this year: Dallas Black Theater, Bandan Koro Dance, Dallas Museum of Arts, Young DFW Writers, and South Dallas Cultural Center. The teens activities ranged from African dance & drum lessons to performance poetry! One of my favorite parts of the day was watching the different branches interact with one another during the dance and crafts lessons. These lessons are immensely valuable for these teens and you can see it from the effort they show during the sessions. Matter of fact, there was this little girl named Johanna from the Irving branch that left the artist from the Young DFW Writers speechless. The artist himself couldn’t believe how excited she was to share it and encouraged her to continue writing. 

The Talent Show was also a blast! There was dance, rap sessions, skits, all kinds of performances. We got to see a lot of talented dancers from the Moorland branch that left the audience clapping like crazy. There was also a beautiful performance from the Moorland branch as well where two young ladies sang and used ASL, American Sign Language, to perform the song Rewrite the Stars. It was an amazing experience and if I had to describe it in one sentence I would say: It was like being part of a family reunion.

The Y really does a fantastic job of making everyone feel like family and as one of the campers said, “I can’t wait for next one!”

Rubi Nava

Impact Evaluation Intern