Week Five at PASTA

This week, I primarily worked on developing a youth curriculum. I reviewed resources from the database and various curriculums for kinship youth and in emotional intelligence. I decided to divide the resources into four categories. The first is focused in understanding themselves and their families. The second is focused on understanding their emotions and how they feel things. The third is what to do with their feelings. The fourth is focused on their futures and setting up plans for success. The activities I compiled are artistic and allow the youth to access their creativity. Next week, there is an abbreviated PASTA session for youth in which I hope to test out some of these activities and gauge reactions so that it may inform the future of the curriculum. I was meant to go to a youth group meeting this way, but it unfortunately got rained out. Instead, I attended a Zoom support group for caregivers and, as always, it was highly informative of their family situations. I was inspired by their compassion and sheer will. The four grandmothers who attended discussed many things, especially the challenges of Covid. I was moved when one of them said, “I wasn’t meant to be a mother, a teacher, and a grandmother all in one.” The pandemic was difficult for everyone, but it was especially challenging for these women. Listening to them gave me an even greater appreciation for these families.