After a great start to back to school, we are still very excited to see the faces of our old and new youth. We started The P.L.A.C.E. 100 mile challenge with 100 percent of our youth involved. As mentioned in last month’s tribal youth update, on Sept. 29, we kicked off a new contest for all our youth, both male and female, on National Women’s and Girl’s Health Fitness Day. The contest, called the PLACE 100 Mile Program, encourages fitness by challenging each youth to walk 100 miles over the next few months. All the walking will be done at the PLACE gym, and participants have until Dec. 1 to complete it. Those youth who do complete it will receive a t-shirt that reads “I survived the PLACE 100 mile challenge!” We even had one young man do four miles in one day!
October was anti-bullying month so we challenged the youth to make anti-bullying posters and a video. The winner will receive a grand prize which will be announced in a later edition. Oct. 16 was The P.L.A.C.E. Carnival! We had Extreme Inflatables, human bowling, and a collision course. There were tons of prizes. More than 200 people came through and we raffled off giant stuffed animals, a Keurig coffee maker, and a 27 inch flat screen TV. The youth also enjoyed reward days going to Firelake Bowl with snacks from Subway, movie day at the P.L.A.C.E., and fun day at the park. November will be just as exciting. It is Native American Heritage Month. Some of our activities will include:
- Mondays in November – Native American art
- Nov. 3 – Drum making
- Nov. 12 – Native Dancing
- Nov. 13 – Veteran’s Day Assembly
- Nov. 19 – Native Beadwork and Stickball
- Nov. – Thanksgiving Dinner
Our reward days for November will include bowling, skating, and a movie day. The latest Tribal Youth meeting was held on Oct.27 with FireLodge Youth Council President Trae Trousdale. If you’d know a youth, aged between 12-17, who might be interested in learning more about FireLodge Youth, please contact me at dgreene@potawatomi.org or call The P.L.A.C.E at 405-241-5110.