TEEN DAY Ithaca is a nonprofit organization that strives to provide creative, quality, educational opportunities to homeschooled teens in Central New York and the Southern Tier. It wasn’t very long ago that TEEN DAY Ithaca sprouted and bloomed, and it’s already hard to imagine our lives without it. We’ve built an incredible center of learning and community, and we’ve done it all on a shoestring budget.

After four years, though, our shoestring is fraying.

But we need your help to make that happen.

To help us avoid online processing costs, you can mail a check to TEEN DAY, 166 Crescent Place, Ithaca, NY 14850.

There are several ways you can support TEEN DAY Ithaca at this time:

• Make a direct cash donation. Your one-time donation of $25, $50, $100 or more OR a recurring monthly donation of $20 or more would go a long way toward securing the continued programming families depend on.
• Encourage others to donate. Do you have friends or family members with a desire to support and empower teens following their own educational path? We would appreciate your sharing our message with them.
• Make connections. Do you know any businesses or individuals who might like to sponsor a class at TEEN DAY? Those who value self-education, empowering teens, instruction in STEM and/or the arts, could easily find TEEN DAY an appealing investment.

For questions about TEEN DAY, contact Gina Varrichio or explore our website (teendayithaca.org).

Thank you so much for supporting TEEN DAY Ithaca. Your donation at this unprecedented time is the sunshine helping us continue to grow.

With warmest regards,

Jen Meyers,
on behalf of the TEEN DAY Ithaca Board of Directors

We’re so sorry about the wayward blog notices some of you have been receiving! Let the evidence show TEEN DAY has officially hit the ground running for 2020-2021!

Today began week two of the academic year. It’s always such a pleasure to see the many months of planning come together for a whole new year of programming – fabulous instructors, enthusiastic participants, and a commitment to offering a safe, stimulating educational environment for all TEEN DAY families.

So what does this year hold?

Check out our COURSE LIST.
See our MODIFIED SCHEDULE.
Read through the new COVID-19 PROTOCOL.

We look forward to sharing our highlights with you as the year unfolds!

I think it is an apt reflection on the 2019-2020 academic year that the traditional farewell blog post is appearing a full month after classes came to their end. Every year I say something to the effect of “Oh, what a year!” And every year there really are dozens of memorable moments to reflect on. But this year has been, shall we say, even more memorable than most.

After shifting nearly all classes online after Spring break, TEEN DAY managed to finish the year strong. In the face of technical glitches, converting course content, and inventing new ways to foster community, we pieced together a digital version of our planned programming. No amount of thanks is enough for our versatile instructors who learned how to manage new technologies in record time and stepped up to ensure a seamless transition from in-person to online instruction. And, of course, all this work would have been in vain without the flexibility of TEEN DAY participants and their families as we worked to rapidly reinvent ourselves.

On the last day of classes each year, we have little celebration – cake, certificates of completion, and a group photo. This year, participants had to bake their own cake, if they wanted to eat it. Certificates were sent out as email attachments with a brief congratulatory note. But we DID manage a group photo. It isn’t the whole gang, but, as should really be the motto for the TEEN DAY Class of 2020, we gave it our best shot!

Looking forward to doing it all over again (ok, not ALL of it) in 2020-2021!

It’s the start of a new era, y’all.

We have always asked participants to purchase their textbooks (when there is one assigned) for their TEEN DAY classes. But we’ve always hoped to one day save up our pennies to be able to buy them ourselves. And today’s that day!

We are currently buying copies of the following texts in very good condition for $9 each:

Human Odyssey, vol 1: Prehistory through the Middle Ages
Edited by Mary Beth Klee, John Cribb, and John Holdren
Herndon, Virginia: K12 Inc., 2004; 664 pages
ISBN: 1931728534

Human Odyssey, vol 2: Our Modern World, 1400-1914
Edited by Mary Beth Klee, John Cribb, and John Holdren
Herndon, Virginia: K12 Inc., 2005; 736 pages
ISBN: 1931728569

*We WILL be buying the third volume in this series, but likely not until 2021.

If you would like to sell or donate your book(s) to TEEN DAY for use in future courses, please contact the TEEN DAY administrator at admin@teendayithaca.org.

The anticipated schedule for the TEEN DAY Ithaca 2020-2021 academic year is now on the website!

Find out what you can expect by reviewing the full schedule HERE. Been waiting to take a look at course descriptions until you knew what was when? They are nearly all posted. Read about all upcoming courses HERE.

We still have one more mystery ball in the air to enhance an already fantastic lineup. Keep an eye on the website to see what comes of it!

Usually, I would put up a post about general registration opening today. However, in the few hours between actually opening registration and beginning this post, all available slots have already filled. That’s officially a new record for us!

But don’t dismay. If you had hoped to be involved next year, it may not be too late! I highly recommend signing up for our waitlist. It is not unusual for us to pull people off the waitlist as things shake out in the next month or so. Go ahead and register, so it’s YOUR name we pull!

• New York State History
• Elections
• Mixed Media Art
• Stained Glass
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Life Science

Contact us and tell us your favorites! Or, let us know what else you’d like us to explore!

We’ve been so busy at TEEN DAY this past semester, there’s been no time to post! But don’t think we’ve been just resting on our laurels. Please enjoy the Fall HIGHLIGHT Photo Reel for a snapshot of what we’ve been up to!

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We officially made it through Day One of the 2019-2020 academic year! We wrangled 25 participants between the ages of 12 and 17, 10 instructors, and various parents and siblings.

Classes were taught.
Books were received.
Art was created.
Friends were made.
Lunches were eaten.
Soccer was played.
And we laughed and we laughed and we laughed. (Especially those crazy Debate kids…)

And we all left somewhat overwhelmed, but so happy to be back. Sigh.

This is a guest blog post by Teen Day instructor Michael Smith. Michael led the 2018-2019 course Being a Citizen and will return to Teen Day in 2019-2020 to lead the course Understanding Where We Are.

I joined the staff of facilitators of learning experiences at TeenDay for the 2018-19 year.  As a homeschooling parent (though my spouse has primary responsibility for these efforts) for all of my two boys’ “school” years, and as a teacher at the collegiate level for 20 years, I have long thought that the word “teaching” does not adequately convey the relational dynamic that is at the heart of meaningful learning.  Nor does it embody a clear enough sense that the spirit of inquiry primarily comes from the learner, a spark that a good facilitator of learning can fan and shield and help to develop into a flame.  Or maybe an all-consuming blaze.  Or maybe nothing.  That’s part of the dynamic too.  Moreover, a teacher/learner binary tends to obscure the fact that one of the purest joys in my life is how often I learn from and with my students.

In planning “Being a Citizen,” the class I guided in 2018-19, I knew that I would gain valuable insights into the ways young people perceive our system of government, and maybe by seeing government and civic engagement through their eyes I would see anew the possibilities in our politics.  Moreover, I knew that the learning experience would refresh my own understanding of the Constitution, of the form of government it guides, and of the state and local systems of government most of us experience more directly.

The experience exceeded my expectations in every respect. Continue reading “On Facilitating Learning at Teen Day” →