Programs

Our Programs:

Monday: Homework and Music Studio

Tuesday: Movie & Discussion and Girls Group

Wednesday: Youth Rock and Boys Group

Thursday: Homework and Music Studio

Friday: Hang Out and Rap-Up

Extras: Sports, Meet the Needs to Succeed, Arts & Crafts, Games Room, Music Studio, Off Site Activities, and Information & Education

Meet the Needs to Succeed

This will be the eighth year that volunteers, and staff, from Cornerstone will take part in CYC’s “Meet The Needs To Succeed” Program, at Sir John Franklin Junior High. We go to the school on Wednesday’s for an hour or two and assist teachers in their classrooms to help provide the students with more one-on-one help.
Homework

Monday and Thursday afternoons from 3:30 till 5:00 pm there are staff and volunteers at the centre to help the youth with their homework and in other areas of learning that they struggle with, such as reading and writing. We have computers with internet access for the youth to use to conduct research for their school projects.
Arts & Crafts

The community youth, as well as staff and volunteers look forward to doing arts and crafts together on various afternoons. Arts and crafts include activities such as beading, painting, colouring, drawing, scrapbooking, and building seasonal decorations. While taking part in these activities, the youth tend to open up a lot more and some great discussions can take place.
Girls Group

Girls Group is a program designed to engage junior high girls in conversation with adult mentors about the real life issues that they face on a daily basis. Through various activities such as scrapbooking, baking, crafts, and games, the girls open up and give us incite into the life of a junior high girl and the things they face each day. These conversations help to build healthy relationships with the youth.
Boys Group

Boys Group is a program designed to engage junior high boys in conversation with adult mentors about the real life issues that they face each day. The boys do various activities including model kit building, slot-car race tracks, skating, rocket building, and games. These activities give the boys time to bond and build healthy relationships with one another.
Sports Activities

Our main sports activities happen a minimum of once a month. These include things such as swimming, laser tag, and zoo trips. There is also a basketball pad in the back and equipment for street hockey which we play during the summer in the adjacent parking lot. These activities help to encourage the youth to have an active lifestyle.
Calgary Foundation Games Room

With a generous grant from the Calgary Foundation, Cornerstone was able to furnish the downstairs with a number of arcade type games such as an air-hockey table, a bubble hockey table, a foosball table, a pool table, a PlayStation console, and a Nintendo console. In recognition of their grant we call the room the Calgary Foundation Games Room. The games room is used by the youth on Tuesday afternoons for Movie & Discussion, Wednesdays from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm for hang-out, Monday and Thursdays from 5:00 pm till 6:00 pm after the homework program and on Fridays from 1:30 pm till 9:00 pm.
Off-trip Activities

We find each year that a lot of our community youth have never been to a professional sports game. Thanks to generous donors, we receive tickets to the Flames, Stampeder, and Hitmen games which enables volunteers and staff to be able to experience some wonderful first time events with the youth. We hope to be able to do some more of this in the coming year. Do you have tickets you can’t use? We have kids who can!
Music Studio

To date, we have invested approximately $7,500.00 into musical instruments, guitar amps, power speakers, microphones, and a digital recording console. The addition of these items to the studio has made it a hit with most of the youth who frequent the centre. Volunteer musicians and staff spend time with the youth teaching them and jamming with them, sometimes for hours. This is one area where young attention spans are not short. Some of the youth have done well enough to play in public. This wonderful program allows for self expression, imagination, and team work.
Information & Education

One afternoon each month we invite a speaker from another organization in to speak to our youth about an issue of importance to them. Topics include anger management, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, physical relationships, suicide, peer pressure, bullying, and self-worth. The youth generally participate well in this program and disclosure and conversation can be quite insightful.
Movie & Discussion

Once a week we watch an pre-viewed, age appropriate movie with the youth. Afterwards, we have a discussion with them regarding the movie and different things happened in it and different decisions the characters made. We try to relate it to their every day lives and talk about what we would do in similar situations.
Rap-up

Rap Up, which takes place on Friday afternoons, continues to be a hit with the youth. Two volunteer facilitators offer the youth a safe place and time to talk about issues that are of interest and concern to them. These conversations are usually brought up through fun and engaging activities that are provided by the volunteers.