Last Message.. Some helpful information.

I strongly encourage anyone who would like to see what it is like working for a City's Community Services Department really look into it. Personally I had such a great experience working with the City of Chandler and you are not just limited to Parks and Recreation. Chandler hits all areas of our colleges fields, if you are into special events a great contact with the City of Chandler would be Hermelinda Llamas she is the Special Events Coordinator with the City if you would like some information about potential internship opportunities with her in this department her email address is hermelinda.llamas@chandleraz.gov . If you are in the non-profit field the City of Chandler supports a number of non-profit organizations in the Chandler area and we work very closely with them some include the Chandler Boys & Girls Club, the City has funded the construction of a new, beautiful Boys & Girls Club right in down town Chandler and if you would like information about potential internship opportunities you can contact Mindy Elias, Branch Executive for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chandler her email address is melias@clubzona.org or a youth service organization also in downtown Chandler called ICAN (Improving Chandler Area Neighborhoods) ICAN provides free, comprehensive out-of-school-time programs that empower youth to be productive, self-confident and responsible citizens. For potential internship opportunities you can email them at info@icanaz.org or visit their website at www.icanaz.org . These are just a few of the potential opportunities and programs Chandler offers and I know other cities as well have some of the same opportunities. I hope this information can benefit future ASU inter prospects and I wish everyone the best of luck in their future and who knows one day soon I will have an ASU intern myself.

Final Post for the Internship

The last two weeks at my internship where pretty mellow, but still just as exciting as the previous weeks. After coming back from Anytown I was highly motivated and inspired by all the insightful conversations and discussions I had with all the teens at the camp. This empowered me to come back and put more effort in the work I do for teens and it also justified to me why I do the work I do with teens. The previous week put my faith back into the younger generation and I have no doubt that this next generation of young adults will be the voice of change our communities need. With all this awaken energy I assisted Teo Ruiz a coordinator who oversees two of the recreation satellite sites as he started to prepare for the student to go back to school and the start of our satellite site recreation programs. Because of the load managing two site Teo had me generate a list and locations all the supplies needed for Andersen Junior High, which is where we host our teen recreation programs. I also took on the job of creating an information flyer about all the programs we run through this site, sat down with the site staff and met with them about the Lunch Time and After School Program calendars and planned out all the activities for the first quarter. I also met with the Principal and Vice Principal to talk about what they would like to see from the City this coming year and any additional expectation they have for us. I also completed the Teen Programs Activities Resource Guide I had been working on through out the summer, this guide will now serve as a tool for all the recreation leaders to use to aid them when planning their activities for their site programs. This guide did serve as a valuable tool when the recreation leaders and Andersen and I sat down and planned out the quarter, it had all the descriptions of activities as well as supplies needed. I feel confident that all 3 of the recreation satellite site will benefit from this resource guide I created.

I have said it so many times through out the summer, but I could not have thought of a better place for me to do my internship and increase my skills as someone going into the recreation field. I have learned so much, but equally gave back just as much, I feel confidently that the impact I have had on Chandler's recreation program will be a lasting one. It is funny how things work out, because as my time as an intern with the city comes to a close, a coordinator position with Chandler at one of their satellite sites has opened. I will be applying for this position and, well hopefully everything works out and I land this position, I would absolutely love the opportunity to work full time for the City of Chandler Recreation Division lets keep those fingers crossed :-) .

Week 8 at the Internship

This has to have been the week I had been waiting for during my entire internship. My supervisor sent me to Anytown Summer Leadership Program, to be an advisor at the Anytown Camp Site in Prescott, AZ. Anytown provides youth leadership development programs that focus on diversity awareness, social justice, and personal empowerment. Anytown recognizes that when our youth are empowered they become more inclusive, more understanding, and more active in fostering these ideals in their peers and within their communities Anytown Arizona strives to meet this need by providing a structure and venue in which participants can recognize, investigate, and tackle the social issues they face daily. Anytowns program offer a safe space and a series of workshops based in experiential learning with the objective of supporting leaders who create change in their schools, organizations, and communities. Sara sent me to this 7 day camp because in October after my internship is completed she would like me to stay on board with the City of Chandler to plan, coordinate and co-direct Chandler's Unitown diversity and leadership camp. Attending this summer camp for a week will provide me with the right tools and resources needed to put on a successful camp. During the week of July 17-24, 55 teens between the ages of 14-18 came from all over the state of Arizona to go through a series of large group workshops and small discussion group to work on ways for them to become advocates of tolerance and to stand up against bias attitudes and behaviors. With out giving away too much details about this camp, because Anytown is the type of camp you have to go and experience versus someone telling you all that happens. After being at that camp for a week I strongly feel that statement stands true. This was an eye-opening and life changing experience and I feel so fortunate I was about to attend and be apart of Anytown. Now I am prepared to start putting together Chandler's Unitown Camp.

Week 7 at Internship

This week I had the pleasure of sitting down with Sara Owen the coordinator for ASU's internship program, this was a great opportunity for me because I got the chance to show her what fun and exciting task, projects and various opportunities I have had while doing my internship with the City of Chandler. After sitting down with her and my internship supervisor Sara C de Baca I took Sara O. on a tour of our downtown community center and chat with her some more about my duties and experience thus far. After meeting with Sara I spent the early evening at Chandler's Tennis Center, I sat down with the Tennis Center coordinator Erin Grinn and talked to her about her day to day responsibilities and what exactly she oversees while coordinating the tennis center. This gave me the opportunity to see first hand what other coordinators do outside of youth and teen programs. It did get my brain thinking of ways to integrate youth and teen programs at the various facilities and satellite recreation sites and work on was to combine those with the tennis center, exposing those youth and teens who would otherwise not have the opportunity to participate in tennis or visit the facility. Later that week on Thursday I assisted Courtney Hodge another recreation coordinator who over sees the downtown chandler community center youth programs (Apples to Zebras) and classes at the community center, she was putting on an annual end of the summer showcase called Evening With Kids held at Chandler Gilbert Community College. This event showcases all the Apples to Zebras classes from all the recreation centers in Chandler and the kids age ranging from 3-5 years old sing songs the learned and practiced through out the summer, moving up the age ladder to teen and youth tumbling and adult belly dancing. This was a fun and very cute evening I am so fortunate that Courtney had me assist her in making this event a successful one. Friday of this week I prepared myself to get sent to Anytown Camp for the week held in Prescott, AZ.