We have been working hard in the Youth Program at Pillsbury House to get the second floor ready for the upcoming Summer Arts Camp! We’ve been painting, cleaning, and moving around some furniture. We would love to have your help if you are up for a few hours of volunteering with us– just contact Corina or Heidi. Also, if anyone has ideas of things they think would be good around here, just tell us, and we will see what we can do!

If anyone has any great book suggestions, add a comment with the book title and author, and what you liked about it! Let’s see what kind of list we can come up with!

Friday, December 19th, we are having a photo exhibit opening at Midtown Global Market (Lake and Chicago) to celebrate the hard work of so many of you! Exhibited will be photos by several of the after-school kids, as well as the recent “glamour shots” that some of the teens took with Emily this week. Please come and bring your families, friends, neighbors, etc and enjoy some coffee, cider, cake, great art, and great company in the pleasant atmosphere of family night at the Global Market. We are getting very excited for this event!

Seven students from the after-school program participated in an agency-wide 2-week video grant/class in November during which small groups of youth from each center  created an original video with John Akre, a teacher from MTN (Minneapolis Television Network). This last Friday, all the participating youth took a trip to MTN studios in St. Anthony Main for a screening of all the videos that were made during the project. Everyone did a fantastic job, and got their own copy of the DVD to show their friends and families their work. Congratulations MTN students!

The Pillsbury House annual Holiday party is coming up, next Thursday, December 18th! Please come volunteer to help decorate, serve cookies, do crafts with the kids, watch “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, and various other tasks. Contact Greg or Corina for more info.

If anyone is interested in going to a production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown this Saturday night, at the Youth Performance Company, please contact me ASAP. We have received a few free tickets for the 7:30pm show, and I am willing to set up a van trip if anyone is interested in going, but I will have to know right away.

Check out the website of the theatre company: www.youthperformanceco.com

Emily, our photo teacher, will be putting on two “Glamour Shots” evening workshops. Come take portraits for your online profile pages this Wednesday, December 3, and next Wednesday, December 10, from 5-7pm. Bring your fancy clothes and get ready to have some photo fun!