Lawrenceville Teen Advisory Boar

Lawrenceville Extreme Teen Cinema Presents:

Steven Spielberg’s Gremlins

June 12, 2008

Staff Present: Niles

Teens Present: 25

Let me start by saying this: I tried to watch this movie when I was in kindergarten; my afterschool program played it and it scared the daylights out of me. I’m talking crying and screaming. They had to stop the movie so I could get out of the room. Looking back on that day I realize I may have overreacted. Not only is Gremlins not that scary, but it’s also awesome. Awesome in a way that only exploding monsters in a microwave can be. Awesome in a way that only little furby creatures in a RC car racing through a department store can be. Awesome in a way that only exploding a movie theatre full of monsters watching Snow White can be. Gremlins is that awesome and more. Gremlins is so awesome, in fact, that 25 teens came out to watch it at the branch and snack on cookies and popcorn. The only thing that surprised me was that nobody recognized a young Corey Feldman.

Lawrenceville Extreme Teen Club
Meeting Minutes
“Game Night”
Teens in attendance: 7
Staff present: Niles

Ah, games…. The great equalizer of men. And teens. There’s nothing to stir a fire in a competitive soul quite like a game. It was in this spirit that we met in the Lawrenceville quiet room to bring the noise, bring the funk. And it was broughten. Brought. As always we began with our round table high five in both directions and the nigh-impossible “simultaneous high five.”

What started out as a friendly game of Pond Scum quickly escalated into a heated Jenga face-off. But when the Jenga tower toppled so did all preconceived notions of the traditional “game.” All that was left was a life-on-the-line duel on the BS battlefield. There were some pretty close calls, but fate smiled on us and allowed us all to leave in one piece.

Game night was a success. The teens arrived alive and departed the same way. My expectations were exceeded. We ate cookies too.

Lawrenceville Extreme Teen Club (ETC) Minutes
March 6^th, 2008

Program: Good Old Fashioned Guitar Hero Rock-a-Thon

Teens in attendance: 12
Staff in attendance: 2

How It Went Down:

Our teens had been asking for an encore (pun very much intended) to our last guitar hero extravaganza so we felt it was about time to oblige them. We set up in the quiet room again, because making that much noise in a space called the “quiet room” is pretty much my absolute favorite thing to do. The teens arrived gradually starting at about a quarter to seven and were extremely pleased to see Lawrenceville’s new huge flat screen high definition television broadcasting the rocking-ness of the evening’s festivities. I made sure to bring out a bunch of board games so that anyone who wasn’t playing and didn’t want to just watch could do something fun. We started a game of Operation loosely based on the actual rules, but then quit when nobody could remove even one piece from the poor guy. Then I accepted all challengers to a game of miniature Connect Four, advising competitors to, “bring their smallest A-game.” I went undefeated, except by girls. There was a couple of Simpsons Chess matches started but never finished. And Jenga! (No game night is complete without Jenga). The main event was a lot of fun. The teens came with varying degrees of skill and experience at playing pretend guitar. A few of them played on the hard setting while a few had never played before. Everyone enjoyed it, though. My personal highlight was playing the hardest song on the hardest setting against one of the teens. I was winning right up until the very end when he kicked on his star power and just beat me. In all honesty I was just happy to not get booed off stage. It was a rocking night, made only more rocking by the double stuff oreos and bottled water we provided. Because nothing says “rock on” like double stuff oreos and bottled water. Everyone knows that.

Lawrenceville Extreme Teen Club (ETC)
Program Minutes for February 7th, 2008

Program: Chinese New Year Cultural Celebration

Teens in Attendance: 8
Staff in Attendance: 1.5 (see minutes for details…)

The “skinny”:
We took it as providence that Chinese New Year fell on a Thursday this year; Thursday being the day we typically have our ETC meetings. The stars and planets were all in the right alignment for us to do this. We begged and pleaded with fellow library associate, Wilson Yeung, to help us plan the meeting. Because he’s so incredible, and despite having a more than full workload (what with our awesome “For Dummies…Not For Dummies” display that he masterminded) he finally broke down under our constant barrage of beseechment. He picked out some traditional decorations and treats and gifts as well as bringing in his personal mahjong set. With his help we were pretty much ready to rock.

When the teens arrived we started things off with a round table high five (of course) and passed out some papers with instructions on how to write some Chinese characters. We then read the horoscopes of the teens based on their birth animal in the Chinese calendar (2008 is the year of the rat, btw). After this we watched a short clip of a traditional Chinese Lion Dance followed by an even shorter clip of traditional Shaolin Kung Fu. All the while the kids were chowing down on some delicious candies and chocolate covered fortune cookies our fellow associate Elaine brought for us. Then the mahjong was played. Some of the teens had played before and some thought they had played before. Unfortunately we only had time for one game, but they loved it. The winning team (we played in pairs) got free shirts and then after they left we gave everyone else shirts too =)

Minutes for LAW Extreme Teen Club (ETC)
Jan. 31, 2008

Teens in Attendance: 13
Staff in Attendance: 2

Program: Making Calendars!

The “Haps”:
The meeting officially began when Niles made an announcement over the PA. Directly the teens jam packed our two joined tables so that there wasn’t room for everybody. Awesome! Unfortunately, right as we were about to start with our compulsory high fives a group of five teens, who were walk-ins, said their ride had come and would not be reasoned with to come later. Down to 8, though still a good turnout for our group. High fives as advertised, then an ice breaker of Mad Libs with some very creative vocabulary including “chartreuse” and “facetious.” We had a good laugh and then moved on to the main event. Niles had prepared beforehand some templates for the teens to create their own personally stylized calendars. As they did this we discussed possible songs to be included in the ETC Soundtrack vol. 2 mix cd. There was much excitement about this despite it somehow devolving into something like a Warren Zevon greatest hits collection. Strange. There were also snacks (for an extremely short time).

Our next program will be a celebration of Chinese New Year, February 7^th!

November 15, 2007 7:00-8:30
LAW ETC Minutes

Attending: Peter, Michael, Luke, and Nicholas, Abbey, DeAnna, Niles, Lakshmi, and Mary Jean

ETC extends special thanks to staff member, Lakshmi Ramachandran for helping to make this one of our most popular programs to date. She provided traditional wear for Mary Jean. She prepared Naan and discussed Indian culture with the group. She also helped participants to apply Henna designs.

The meeting started off with a giggle-enticing icebreaker, Poetic Justice. We wrote words that begin with the letters of our names and that describe our personalities. We then proceeded to the food munching part of the program since eating would be precarious with wet Henna on hands and arms. Everyone tried a taste of goat Gouda in light of an ode to cheese submitted to the ETC wiki. It was deemed “weird tasting” by some members and “way good” by others. Meeting participants also consumed fruit, warmed Naan (the reigning favorite), and Soan Papdi cakes. While eating, Niles and Mary Jean showed the group a display of books including Henna Patterns, Indian Cooking, etc. Niles also showed a Redwall Cookbook to an ETC member who is a huge Redwall fan. Almost all of the books were checked out. After eating, we watched a slide show about Henna. Lakshmi opened the Henna cones and started showing members how to apply it. They practiced designs on paper hands first. After the Henna was applied, we did a drawing for the Huge Bucket of Teen Read Week Goodies. Members received a raffle ticket for each entry to the ETC wiki. Michael, the most prolific writer, was the lucky winner. He triumphantly displayed the bucket King Kong style for the rest of us to admire. Before the meeting ended, we discussed several future program possibilities. Member suggestions included a guitar demonstration, another chess tournament, a visit from Galactic Quest, making gingerbread houses, and an open mic night.

Note: The Henna slide show is available for other TAB groups to use.

Oct 18, 2007 7:00-8:30

LAW ETC (Formerly known as TAB) Minutes

Attending: Peter, Michael, Luke, and Nicholas, Niles, and Mary Jean

Niles and Mary Jean opened the meeting with a What If icebreaker. The result was a great deal of hilarity as questions and answers were traded to make new meanings. Teddy Grahams were the snack of choice. The group worked on making collages and found poetry about the enjoyment of reading. As they glued, ETC members mentioned that they would like to do a play or perform monologues. Mary Jean told them that the library has monologue books to check out. They also asked about the possibility of an open mic night. They discussed ideas for recruiting additional members and how to get a higher attendance. As the gluing wound down, several rousing renditions of MAD LIBS were played. Several members said that they would attend the Reading Festival. They were excited about the upcoming November meeting on Indian Culture and Henna Ink. They looked at a pattern book with examples of Henna Art. ETC has been active on their wiki. Members are enjoying commenting on each other’s poetry.

Next Meeting: November 15 7:00-8:30.

Lawrenceville Teen Minutes for September 20, 2007

Teen Reps in attendance: Niles and Mary Jean

Teens in attendance: 3

It's official! The Lawrenceville TAB is now the Extreme Teen Club (heretofore referred to as ETC). We gave out the iron on transfers that Niles had worked on based on the design and idea by our member Luke, even though he wasn't in attendance.

check out the logo at our wiki site: http://www.extremelaw.wiki.zoho.com/ ...or you could just download the attachment in this email. Whatever's clever.

Aside from that, we pretty much stayed low key. We talked to the kids about the writing contest for teen read week, we showed the kids the new and improved wiki, we did a mad lib of the theme to Gilligan's Island. It pretty much rocked. All the while enjoying a variety of cookies and milk (the cookies varied, not the milk; it was 2%) Every few minutes or so we were joined by Mary Jean, who popped in and out of the meeting from covering the desk. She reminded the teens that for every post they make on the wiki they get free stuff. Swag!

We considered our options for the October meeting, which is looking like it's going to be "YouTube's Greatest Hits," to go along with the theme of Teen Read Week, "LOL@ Your Library." We're pretty much gonna watch funny video clips on YouTube and work on the display poster for the Reading Festival. Should be a good time.

This program was a great big experiment for us. It was the first time we tried to do a program on a Saturday as well as the first time we attempted to do two programs in one month (less than two weeks apart!!). Mary Jean and Niles began rearranging the tables in the branch and setting up the chess boards a little after 10 putting a bottle of cold water and a cup of m&m’s at each spot. We had planned for a maximum of 20 competitors/10 games going simultaneously. We didn’t really know what to expect, so when 10.30 rolled around (the program was scheduled to start at 11) and we already had seven names on our sign up sheet we were pretty optimistic. Three teens had signed up with their mother earlier in the week and another teen signed himself and his two brothers up on the day of. All six of them were first time TABbers. Katherine (who volunteered with us this summer and came to a TAB meeting then) came a few minutes later. Seven names were on the sheet but only two actual physical kids were here. Did I mention that Katherine had never played chess before? Fortunately, Michael (the new guy) volunteered to play a few practice games with her. At 10.55 Niles made an announcement for the tournament and we soon had a couple more, and finally Michael’s brothers came so we started the tournament with 8 competitors (including Niles because there was an odd number of teens). The teens who signed up days in advance never showed!

Mary Jean and Niles decided early on to do a timed round robin tournament instead of an elimination tournament so that everybody could keep playing and get a chance to play multiple challengers. Winners would be decided by a point system. That format went over very well as the kids were very excited to play against new opponents as they saw how each other fared against the others. Niles was a popular opponent, as he took sound thrashings in each game he played (even by Katherine, who had never played chess before that day).

The tournament went four rounds and lasted for two hours until 1pm. At that time we had a definitive winner: Luke, our most consistent TAB member and also the guy responsible for the re-naming of our TAB to ETC (Extreme Teen Club). The top three competitors were presented with gold, silver, and bronze medals that we special ordered and certificates that Niles made up on publisher. It was also pointed out that Niles put the wrong date on the certificate, to which Niles responded that he meant to do that. 2^nd place went to Michael, the new guy who gave Katherine enough instruction in 25 minutes to beat Niles; and 3^rd place went to Jabari, another new guy who went 2 – 1 in the tournament, losing only to Michael who lost only to Luke. Katherine came in an impressive fourth place followed by Peter, Christopher and Nick.

All in all I think the tournament was a grand success, even if we didn’t fill all the tables; and we definitely hope to do it again.

The Haps: First off, I have to thank E&O for their help and general graciousness and helpfulness in letting me walk back and forth in their offices to grab all the controllers, games, systems, projectors etc, etc. So, after I dragged all the stuff into the quiet room (yes, we took over the quiet room for guitar hero; and yes, it was as awesome as it sounds) I began to set up. A few of the regular members showed up a little early and volunteered to help to set up, earning themselves some cool points and the right to play first.

Time to officially begin! We had some new faces for this meeting, no doubt lured by the siren-song issuing forth from the humongous screen glowing in the darkened quiet room; or possibly from the incredible (if I may say so myself) flyers that Niles created and posted throughout the branch. As we always do at our TAB meetings, we kicked things off with a roundtable high five (one in each direction) and an extremely difficult (yet successful) simultaneous roundtable high five.

The very first song of the evening was “Surrender” by Cheap Trick. Since we decided to play in competition mode we set the rule that the winner stays, loser (or, more pc: the participant who did not win) passes the control. This first song also set the precedent that girls are better than boys because though they were outnumbered 9 to 2 the girls pretty much never passed the control. It was a slaughter. It was so bad that when one of the girls had effectively (and convincingly) trounced every boy in the room one after the other (including Niles) we had to switch to a new mode of play. We moved on to team mode and the girls set the high scores for that as well.

We brought along a Simpson’s chess set for the kids who were waiting their turns to play, which was a stroke of genius because it gave us the perfect opportunity to promote our upcoming chess tournament on the 25^th of this month. This will be the first time we will attempt two programs in the same month. Many of the kids expressed interest in the tournament and TAB in general. Also, those who were waiting their turns at the game were given mini tours of the teen section, which was conveniently located right outside the quiet room.

The snack for the night was cold water (which was as much a hit this month as it was last month) and cookies, which were also a hit.

Our meeting began as every Lawrenceville meeting begins: with an around-the-table high five. We then dived headlong into our icebreaker, which was the old eat a bag of m&m’s except for one and answer a question based on which color is left game. The kids seemed to enjoy this one very much, especially since it managed to transmogrify itself into the old eat TWO bags of m&m’s except for one etc, etc.

On to the main event! Mary Jean and Niles were very excited about this program because we finally got to give out to the kids the LAW TAB Soundtrack mix cd that they talked about last month at our “Music Download” meeting. Niles masterfully crafted the cd based on the songs the kids submitted for the mix and ordered the songs in such a way that the cd flows elegantly from song to song. Here’s the tracklisting:

And that’s all stuff they picked out on their own (except for Paramore and Marvin Gaye, those were 100% Niles).

After they got the cd’s they spent the rest of the meeting decorating their own covers. We had a few music magazines and some random others for them to cut pictures out of and some construction paper and colored pens and pencils. What they came up with was nothing short of inspired. The kids who finished their cd covers early moved on over to the chess table to sharpen their skills for our chess tournament, happening next month on August 18. Also in August, on the 9^th, we’ll be having a Guitar Hero competition/exhibition as a way to kick off the school year.

Last but not least, our snack this meeting was water (at the actual request of the TAB members after our adventure last month with sugar free caffeine free diet cola) and graham cracker Scooby snacks which was met with reluctance but once Niles showed them that they were not, in fact, real doggy treats they tore into them.

As is customary at the LAW TAB meetings, we kicked the meeting off with a round-table high five (though Niles was left out, much to his chagrin). We then got right into our icebreaker “The Best and Worst of School.”

We had a lot to cover in this meeting so we got right to it. We gave the kids the choice of what to talk about first: The Renaming of the TAB, The T-Shirt Logo Design, The TAB Soundtrack Project, or the Creative Writing Project. We had a near unanimous vote to go with the TAB soundtrack. Niles and Mary Jean went into the meeting with no false notions of being able to cover everything, but the kids were so interested and responsive that we ran over on this one topic. The good news, however, is that the kids were really excited about it. Niles showed them several different websites and programs where they could stream and (legally) download music. Niles played one of his favorite songs for the kids and it’s pretty safe to say that he is completely out of touch with what is “cool.”

After this web demonstration we began taking ideas for the TAB Soundtrack track-listing. We had a very diverse range of ideas, from what’s on the radio now to what was on the radio 30 years ago or more. By the time we had a good list, it was a little past the time to call it a night. We didn’t get to touch on everything we wanted but we did get the kids excited about one thing. Next month is t-shirt making, so let’s hope we get lots of art emailed to us!

There was a lot of hoopla surrounding this meeting. We were very excited about the possibilities and potential that could come from an author chat; even a phone-in author chat. When 7pm rolled around we had an attendance of two teens and myself. We exchanged greetings, congratulated our graduating senior and presented the devil’s and angel’s food cakes that we got for her special occasion.

I tried, as briefly as I could, to summarize Rick Yancey’s book, “The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp,” without spoilers of course. Then the phone rang. Time for some action.

We said hello to our esteemed guest, who guessed correctly how many kids were in the room. Mary Jean and I had prepared a long list of questions to ask in case the discussion hit a low point. I was pleasantly surprised when it did not. The two kids asked just about every question on our list and more on their own. They were genuinely engaged; and so was Mr. Yancey. It was easy to tell that he truly loves what he does and believes in it all the way. About 10 minutes into the chat, another teen arrived. Around that time we all concurred (silently) that it would be a great idea to open the food. We all had a good time laughing (again, silently) at my trying my best to open, divvy, and dispense the snacks to each teen while Mr. Yancey spoke, none the wiser. After about an hour or so, Mr. Yancey wrapped up the discussion. I, and I think he too, was very pleased with how it went down; the low attendance made for an intimate environment that allowed everybody to be involved and engaged.

After we said goodbye the teens and I exchanged high fives and talked about our plans for the upcoming meetings. The June meeting will be spent deciding on a logo and design for the TAB t-shirts, which will be given in July. When the meeting officially adjourned, the teens, almost in unison, asked me to suggest some books similar to, “…Alfred Kropp.” I recommended James Patterson’s Maximum Ride series (I haven’t read either of them but I think I will =)

Lawrenceville Teen Advisory Board
Meeting Minutes
______________________________

Teen Rep: Niles
Attendees: Luke, Allyson, Peter, Abbey

This month's meeting was a great success. Of the four teens present, three of them were multiple meeting attenders and the other one expressed his interest in returning. We began the meeting with a roundtable high five (clockwise and counterclockwise) and moved on to our icebreaker: improv storytelling. All the teens were handed a different bookmark that had three teen book covers and a witty caption each. The teens made up story plots based on the covers and captions, all within a time limit of 30 seconds. Let's just say we've got some incredibly creative teens. Niles then gave short book talks for the different books on the bookmarks. After this one of the teens had to leave for a tutoring session. And then there were three...

On to the main activity!

Our project for this week was "found poetry." The teens cut out words and pictures from magazines to create their own poetry. Let's just reiterate...we've got some incredibly creative teens. While the teens were crafting, Niles tossed out some ideas for things they wanted their TAB to be about and recorded the teens' suggestions. We got some some awesome ideas, including:

making a music video

designing t-shirts

making a mixtape/TAB soundtrack

movie night

computer games/music/videos

a battle of the bands concert

open mic night

"pimping" a bookcart

making a library commercial video

writing a book

Again, I say...we've got some incredibly creative teens. To feed the fury that was their imaginations we munched on some girl scout cookies; samoans were by far the favorite. At the end of it all we had a messy table, some disfigured magazines, a wreck of cookie wrappers and some great pictures of the teens and their poetry (parental release forms pending).

Next month we will be hearing from mr. rick yancy, the author of the teen book, "The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp." It promises to be an adventure!

The meeting began with 3 teens, one being a regular attendee and two we scrounged up before we started. One other curious girl came as we started the icebreaker, "the human taco." After the ice breaker, Amy Walker and I jumped right into the origami, showing the teens how to fold various animals. During the course of the meeting another girl joined. Later, 5 more ambled their ways to our origami extravaganza. The meeting was semi-catered (Wendy’s donated small frosties). At the end of the meeting we discussed books for future book discussions and decided on "Uncommon Faith" by Trudy Krisher to be read for book discussion. Next meeting is April 19.

Jennifer, Abbey, Jessica returning with Yemi, Sunmi, Alex and Kaz also in attendance.

Two became three returning members at the magnetic board as attendees were asked to compose several short magnetic poems to start off with. Niles had four, Jay tried too hard to make one really good one and failed.

The main activity was Valentine’s Day cards. Several more participants found the group and joined in. Old greeting cards were recycled and there was a litany of markers, paint pens and colored pencils on hand. Niles donated several manga books to cut up and design new cards with. Homemade glue from Mary Jean was on hand but a glue stick was mostly used, except by Jay, who tried to promote the vinegary mixture. It was quite effective. Meanwhile, candy bracelets were also being worn and consumed. Niles and Jay discovered a bit of a musical generation gap.

The event lasted until 8:30 when library staff needed to begin branch closing preparations. It was announced that the next meeting would most likely involve origami, poetry or both. Origami poetry was an intriguing prospect to those present.

Jennifer, Luke, Abbey, Nancy, Jessica in attendance. We had 6 additional guests.

After attendance was taken, there was general discussion of the plans for the evening. Tab members engaged in an icebreaker from Niles where they had to choose a card from the desk and give corresponding information, i.e. if a 6 card is drawn, share 6 things about yourself, etc.

It was Games Night, so members took turns playing Mario games on the Gamecube. They could choose from board games such as chess, Jenga, Operation, poker, Simpson’s Uno, and Connect Four. It is noted that the Gamecube was abandoned for a rousing game of poker. A TAB member asked a reference question about the difference between a “card shark” and a “card sharp”. Mary Jean did the appropriate research and gave the answer to the group. *See below for answer

While attendees took turns playing various games, they munched on moon pies and drank Coke.

The event lasted until 8:30 when library staff needed to begin branch closing preparations. TAB members were given a library-themed word search to take home. Members who bring back the completed activity to the next event will receive a surprise.

An individual who is an expert at cards and likes to play those who present a lesser challenge

Abbey, Allison, and Luke came to their first TAB meeting. Present Teen Reps included Niles and Mary Jean.

Mary Jean welcomed the new members to the TAB and gave them information about TABs in general. Mary Jean suggested the idea of Decked Out Book Carts. The attending TAB members said they’d like to do it. It won’t take place in time for the contest, but will be planned for later in January.

Niles sent them on a treasure hunt. Since there were 3 members, they went as one team instead of two teams. Clues were hidden all over the library. The clues were written in poetic form and shaped like puzzle pieces. They were cut from a copy of the library’s floor plan to form a map. After the treasure hunt lead the TAB to the training room, Mary Jean showed the TAB the Teen Scene website on Virtualville.

They discussed the website and enjoyed seeing where minutes are posted. They discussed that there would not be a December meeting, but that they were invited to the Winter Masquerade at Dacula. Mary Jean gave them invitations as a reminder.

In the course of discussion, Abbey and Luke suggested a games night for the next meeting in January.

Abbey, Luke, and Allison made floppy disk magnets while playing a couple rounds of CrazyLIB_rary (i.e. Mad Libs) and enjoyed chocolate chip cookies.

Teen Reps: Niles, Mary Jean, Tommie Ann (click here to see your Teen Reps!!)

We welcomed the TAB members to their first meeting. There was discussion of what TABS do and ideas for future projects and meetings. We pointed out the bulletin board area where TAB members will see news and upcoming events. This first meeting was about getting to know each other.

Niles orchestrated the My Favorites ice-breaker. They went to the stacks and found books that they liked so they could share them with each other. They introduced themselves and said why they liked the book. They also shared a favorite song or movie. Danielle Steel and Lurlene McDaniel were two favorite authors with the group.

We then worked on our floppy disk notebooks while munching on cookies and licorice.
We discussed the next meeting and handed out reminders.

Lawrenceville Branch will be closed during December for reconfiguration. We will consider holding a December meeting at an alternative location if the group wants to meet. We will discuss this at the November meeting.