One single resident of Ravena steps out and creates a place for the kids 

A One-Man-Show Won’t Work

To Get the Best Out of It We Have to Team Up

Coming together is a beginning.
Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success.

In the meantime one single Ravena resident takes his savings and his time, gets a second job to do something for the kids. Something the kids really need: a place to go other than the street! And they get rides home after the club closes…in his care, not in a Coeymans police vehicle. While the village of Ravena is shelling out hundreds of thousands of dollars for a handful of special friends, and the town of Coeymans is busy looking the other way while leaving youth services to the Coeymans Police Department, one single resident of Ravena steps out and creates a place for the kids: the Ravena-Coeymans Youth and Teen Activities Center (RCYTAC).

Parents and residents of Ravena-Coeymans: When’s the last time you visited the RCYTAC? I visited just the other day and I was floored to see how nice it is. I was floored to see a lot of teens who I know personally enjoying the place. Those kids actually stopped, greeted me and were happy to see me there. They actually looked, well, happy! The disk jockey’s a teen, the food service staff are teens, the teens learning how to take charge and socialize. As I was visiting, kids were strolling in but none were coming out so I assumed that they were involved in one of the many available activities…all of them monitored and supervised, mind you!

While I was standing outside with Mr Michael Fisher, creater of the RCYTAC, I was amazed when a parent came up and asked if she could donate the refreshments from her son’s grad party, because he decided that he didn’t want a party and that the RCYTAC should have it. The parent also made a fairly generous cash contribution for the kids. That same parent, a psychologist and author of children’s books, is planning to do poetry and literature workshops at the RCYTAC! Question: What are YOU doing?

I have one single question, parents, residents: Where the hell are the rest of you????

Why is it you’d risk leaving your kids unsupervised, in their rooms, on Facebook, being evil? Why wouldn’t you give them a ride to the RCYTAC where they can socialize in a healthy environment?

Why is it you’d risk your teen’s wandering around dark streets and parks at risk of life and limb? Why wouldn’t you give them a ride to the RCYTAC where they can socialize safely?

Why is it you don’t enjoy some personal time to recuperate without the unnecessary stress of either knowing where your kids are or, worse still, not knowing?!? Why wouldn’t you give them a ride to the RCYTAC where they can socialize in a healthy environment?

Why is it you’d risk having the Coeymans Police, the Albany County Sheriff, or the State Police bringing your kid home or bringing your the news of his or her arrest, bail, court appearances—or worse, news of a tragedy— when you could have supported the RCYTAC with some time and a couple of bucks donation?

Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of your tax dollars are being spent on worthless projects like a village fitness center

Why is it you sit back oblivious to the fact that tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of your tax dollars are being spent on worthless projects like a village fitness center that is exclusive and unwelcoming to many in the community, while youth programs and services are ignored? Why aren’t you demanding that some of that money be donated no strings attached to the RCYTAC?!? No strings attached! We don’t want it to become a Coeymanazi brainwashing camp, do we? Why aren’t you parents and residents appearing at village and town board meetings screaming bloody murder that nothing is being done for youth…well almost nothing, the Coeymans police seem to like arresting them. Don’t you realize that if the kids are off the streets and not looking for something to do, they’ll likely stay out of mischief?

Ravena Coeymans Selkirk teens and youth are tomorrow’s consumers and voters; If you mobilze NOW and get your parents to support your projects, you can move on local government and get those geezers to support your RCYTAC. BE YOUR OWN RCS CHAMPIONS!!!

Teen Work is Team Work

Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk teens: Why would you stick with street friends who will only get you into a mess of trouble? Why don’t you get smart and mobilize for your own good? Michael Fisher is handing you the opportunity to do something really good, important, responsible, independent for you and your generation at the Teen Center. Mr Fischer is handing you the opportunity to show that you can become a part of something great, you can be your own leaders, you can create a community you can be proud of, and you can empower yourselves and your friends to get the attention of local residents and government to take an interest in your welfare, in your RCYTAC, to support Mr Michael Fisher’s vision for RC youth. Ravena Coeymans Selkirk teens and youth are tomorrow’s consumers and voters; If you mobilze NOW and get your parents to support your projects, you can move on local government and get those geezers to support your RCYTAC. Be fair! Don’t make Mr Fisher do it all on his dime…he just can’t do it without your help and support.

Really Bad Move!

As scary as the girls’ Facebook exchanges were, some good points were made such as: Being bad is not cool because it will come back to bite you in future, when you’ll really need to prove who and what you are. Beating someone up is not cool, it’s criminal, and it’s not going to get you a job or an education; it’s going to get you a reputation and a bad one at that and one that’s likely to follow you wherever you go. But if you are a leader now and to take the initiative to work for community, that’s going to serve you well for the rest of your lives. Be smart…be leadership…be champions!

Why is it you are sitting there thinking that your kids are getting the most out of the school district budget? Are you in denial or just plain stupid? Have you examined the school budget to see just how much of it is “for the kids”? You might want to do that one day. And don’t be misled by the dumbing down of the curriculum or the fancy-sounding names they give to programs that are there just to enrich the staff with extra pay. Ask yourself why an athletics coach or a teacher is being paid 4-6 times the per capita income of RC residents or 2-3x the average household income of a RC household? Then ask yourself why you haven’t made a substantial donation to the RCYTAC for the valuable service of keeping your kids safe (the school system doesn’t seem to be able to do that), saving you bail money, and even possibly saving you funeral expenses. Blunt, but real.

Empowered Youth

We support what is good for this community and most especially what is good for our greatest hope and asset: our teens and youth. We adults who have the good sense and vision realize that some day we are going to have to depend on today’s youth when they are making the decisions and running things. And the kind of people I want to see running things for me when I need them are the kind of teens and youth I saw at the Ravena-Coeymans Youth and Teen Activity Center.

Support the Teen Center
The Editor

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