Banyan Community after school programs offer extended programing 8 days a year. These are School Release Days when schools are closed, and Banyan is open from 12:00-5:00pm. These extra special days offer the opportunity for more traveling offsite adventures. This past MEA break is a great example of some extra special programming.

First, our high school youth took this extra time to complete some college visits and took a detour to the State Capital for a tour! Youth visited Hamline University and Macalester College, and more visits are planned in the spring.

“I’ve never been to the capitol before. I love how anyone can just visit.” -Banyan youth

The middle school youth kneaded their creative muscles with some clay. Northern Clay Center joined Banyan twice to provide youth an opportunity to design, stretch, build, and sculpt some new treasures. Youth created pumpkins, a piggy bank, and more. They also took an afternoon outing to go bowling.

 “What kind of air do they have out here? It smells so fresh!” -Ian at Gale Woods Farm

The elementary youth took two extra special field trips. One trip was to Gale Woods Farm where youth took a tractor ride and made lots of new furry friends. The other trip was to the Children’s Museum. Jaylen Carr, Banyan Youth Recreation Specialist, reflected on observing the collaboration of the youth playing at the ping pong cannon, “It was a joy to see the kids get excited as the ping pong balls flew across the room. It was easy to tell they were proud of themselves.”

“The Banyan youth worked seamlessly and without conflict with each other and other youth in the museum. They treated everyone kindly and with respect.” -Jaylen Carr

These School Release Days are extra fun and give opportunities for youth to explore new places from the Minnesota Capital to a sheep’s pasture. Thank you for your support in making sure these opportunities are available to the next generation.