Hey teens!

Here's another week of adventures for you after a nice long weekend. Don't let the fun stop! Drop by anytime between the hours of 4:00-5:30 Mon-Wed!

MONDAY – VICTORIA DAY – LONG WEEKEND!!! Obviously you guys won't be coming in today but just so you know, NO PROGRAM TODAY. Go outside, enjoy the weather. Get some sun, you're all too pale!

TUESDAY – JIANT JENGA (yes I know I spelled giant wrong) – We have both of the Jenga sets so there will be two times the madness. I still maintain that we can get it as high as the ceiling but so far you guys have let me down. Bring your brick stacking A-game this time guys!

ONE HOUR ART CONTEST

The last one was such a success that we’re once again doing a One Hour Art Contest. We only had the pictures up in the library for 5 days last time and there were over 100 votes. This time around we’ll have a specific theme for you guys to work with (to be revealed on Tuesday). Also, I’ll let you know that there will be two chances to win a prize. You’ll have a chance to win a smaller prize from the library and your piece can also be entered to win a deluxe set of art supplies. Bring your creativity with you and see what you can whip up in the time limit.

(the winning piece from the last contest)

Also, Deborah from CIWA will be back again with another short interactive activity. This one is about how you can stand up for your ideas. There will be chocolate for those who stay for the presentation.

WEDNESDAY – FOOD DAY AT BOB BAHAN – Once again we’ll be heading over to the pool house for food. If you haven’t been yet you’re really missing out. Leather couches, foosball table, Xbox, and free food. What’s not to love there. Last week we had paninis. Paninis! You can’t beat that! Meet in the library at 3:45 or just head straight over there for 4:00.

THURSDAY – TWO WHEEL VIEW – This bike mechanics course is registration only. If you’ve missed out this time don’t fret, we’ll be having it again in the fall. For those who don’t know, Two Wheel View teaches bike mechanics to youth. Teens who successfully complete the program earn a free bike, lock, and helmet at the end of the program.

(In honor of Victoria day, here’s an old school Victorian bike. Fun fact, it’s called a Penny-Farthing. Not fun fact, crashing on that sucker would be rough.)

Don’t forget we have a private study room (with cushy chairs!) available for teens during these hours on a first come, first serve basis. We’ll give you a snack and you can shut the door and get down to business.

Also, for your information, the East Calgary Health Centre now offers a Sexual and Reproductive Health Clinic for teens on Tuesdays and Thursdays between the hours of 12 and 4:30. Birth control information & low cost supplies, emergency contraception, STI testing & treatment, pregnancy tests & options support, and HIV tests. This is a drop-in clinic and it is completely confidential. Parent permission is not required for you to visit the clinic. The East Calgary Health Centre is located at 4715 8^th Avenue SE. 403-955-1431.

MONDAY – GAMING– It’s gaming time! Get your thumbs stretched and limbered up (wouldn’t want to sprain something). We have a ton of games for the Wii and a growing selection of Xbox games as well. Also, if you’d like to bring 360 or Wii games from home feel free (must be rated T or under though). If you couldn’t care less about Master Chiefs or portly Italian plumbers we always have a selection of good ol’ fashioned board games too. And yes, computers will be on as well for all you Facebook junkies.

TUESDAY –STRATEGY GAMES– Back by popular demand is Strategy Games! There’s some good ones here including: Bang, Carcassonne, Save Doctor Lucky, Ticket to Ride, Junta Viva El Presidente, and Poo. Yes, there is a card game about monkeys throwing POO! I played it last time and I must say I’ve never had as much fun flinging feces as I did that day. If board games aren’t your thing, we also have the gaming equipment and computers if you just want to chill.

Also, Deborah from CIWA will be back again with another short interactive activity on Multiculturalism. Those who come at 4:00 will get chocolate bars! WEDNESDAY – FOOD DAY AT BOB BAHAN POOL – So far we’ve made cookies, nachos, smoothies, chocolate fondue and more. What could it be this time? Fillet Mignon? Swordfish? Caviar? If you want to see what’s next, either meet us at the pool, or in the Library lobby at 3:45 if you want to head over with us. I still maintain that free food is the best food.

THURSDAY– TWO WHEEL VIEW – For those who are registered, make sure you come to our bike mechanics course on Thursday. For those of you who are bummed that you missed a chance to earn a bike, we will be offering this program again in the fall! Hope to see you all this week!

Hey teens here’s what you’ve been missing out if you’re not here hanging out with us!

Several weeks back we had our weekly cooking sessions. That time we all made a healthy and yet delicious snack: Fruit Burritos! We filled our lovely tortilla wraps with fresh berries, yogurt, peanut butter and bananas. What more can you ask for?

Last week we had a Lego contest. This wasn’t your normal contest … All the teens started off with the basic Lego pieces. However, the twist was that each one of them had to prepare themselves for “special” Lego pieces that I threw into play. If you ever watched “Sweet Genius” or “Iron Chef”, the concept is similar to their “special ingredient.” Some teens were put to the test, but in the end each one of them incorporated the pieces very well. It was so hard to decide on a winner. Which one do you like?

Here’s what’s going on the week of April 22-25. Drop by anytime between the hours of 4:00-5:30 Mon-Wed!

Don’t forget we have a private study room (with cushy chairs!) available for teens during these hours on a first come, first serve basis. We’ll give you a snack and you can shut the door and get down to business.

MONDAY – HALO 4 TOURNAMENT – It’s gaming time! Drop by and show off your Halo skills for a chance to win EBGAMES GIFT CARDS. We’ll also have the Wii set up for some casual gaming if Mario Kart is more your speed. If you’d prefer good old-fashioned board games we have a pretty good selection – Cranium, TWISTER, Candyland, and Othello, just to name a few. As usual, computers will be up and running as well for all you Facebook junkies.

TUESDAY – T-SHIRTS TRANSFORMED – Everyone has at least a few T-Shirts they don’t wear anymore. Rather than sitting unworn, taking up space in you dresser, why don’t you bring them by and jazz them up a bit. Sharpie Tie-Dye will leave it looking sharp (pun intended), or if you don’t mind cutting up the shirt, you can make a T-shirt bag or even a dog toy! Gaming and computers are still available if you’re not the creative type.

AND

ART CONTEST – In June, we’re going to be celebrating World Refugee Day at the Forest Lawn Library by having a simulation refugee camp. You’ll get a back story and there will be various challenges to overcome such as finding food and water. We’ll also be welcoming a former refugee to the Library.

To build up to this event we’re having an Art Contest with amazing PRIZES! You’ll find out more when you come to the Library. Before we get into the t-shirts (which will be awesome!) we’ll be welcoming Stephanie from CIWA to chat about multiculturalism. This will be a short talk with

FREE PIZZA provided for those who come!

WEDNESDAY – Candy Sushi + DJ Kyle Morgan – We’ll be making sushi out of candy, and eating it of course! Let’s see what cool creations we can come up with. On this day we’ll also be welcoming DJ Kyle Morgan for a DJ lesson! For the musically-challenged, gaming and computers will be on hand.

THURSDAY – Two Wheel View – For those who are registered, make sure you come to our bike mechanics course on Thursday. For those of you who are bummed that you missed a chance to earn a bike, we will be offering this program again in the fall!

Here’s what’s going on the week of April 15^th. Drop by anytime between the hours of 4-5:30 Mon-Thurs!

Don’t forget we have a private study room (with cushy chairs!) available for teens during these hours on a first come, first serve basis. We’ll give you a snack and you can shut the door and get down to business.

MONDAY –LEGO CONTEST AND BUTTON MAKING - Listen up Lego lovers, we’re having a Lego contest. This isn’t the kind of Lego contest where you can bring in your crazy creations from home (though I’ve always wanted to see a Lego Deathstar). No, this is the kind of contest that stretches your creativity to the limit. You’ll each be giving a supply of regular old Lego, you know, the boring colored brinks that are ridiculously painful to step on. We’ll then introduce the “secret ingredient pieces” which will spice things up. You’ll have 45 minutes to create what you can. The coolest, most interesting, or just plain wackiest creation will win a prizes.

Also, back by popular demand is Button Making. Make a pin for your bag or a magnet for your locker. Feel free to bring pictures, magazines, or comics from home too.

***Today we’ll be in the upstairs program room***

TUESDAY – ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE GAMES – You know what there’s not enough of in video games, books, and TV? Zombies. Just kidding, those suckers are everywhere these days! Seriously, you can’t go a day without seeing them. Whether it’s Walking Dead or Call of Duty, they’ve taken over mainstream culture.

They’ve also taken over the library. Come by today to play some Zombie themed tabletop games. Zombie Dice, Bowling Zombies, Pandemic, and Last Night on Earth. It’s sure to be a brainless good time.

WEDNESDAY – BBQ AT BOB BAHAN POOL! – FREEEEE FOOOOOD! Burgers, hotdogs, all the good stuff. Enough said. Meet us at the library at 3:45 or head right over to the pool on your own. There’s sure to be plenty but it is first-come-first-serve so don’t be late!

THURSDAY –EARN A BIKE PROGRAM – This is the third week of the Two Wheel View bike program. The program is completely full so if you aren’t on the list, you’re unfortunately out of luck. You can still come up to the desk, sign out a board game, and grab a snack however. The giant chess set is also a great place to hang out and you can usually find someone up for a game.

Also, for your information, the East Calgary Health Centre now offers a Sexual and Reproductive Health Clinic for teens on Tuesdays and Thursdays between the hours of 12 and 4:30. This is a drop-in clinic and it is completely confidential. Parent permission is not required for you to visit the clinic. The East Calgary Health Centre is located at 4715 8^th Avenue SE.

The Teen Afterschool Series launched again for Winter/Spring with a BANG! Over 90 teens attended the event that included video games, board games, button-making, pizza and freshly made on-site waffles.

The Teen Afterschool program is held at the Forest Lawn Library every Monday - Thursday after school hours in collaboration with Calgary Afterschool. This time around we've changed things up a bit. Every Thursday we will be hosting a Food Challenge. We're not talking about Fear Factor style, but whether or not can you cook and decorate? Let the creative one win!

Here's a little sneak peek of our first challenge on Jan 31st. Each teen had to decorate their cupcakes in a very unique way. We supply the items, all you have to do was get messy!

Some notable programs we will be offering for the teens includes First Aid certification, a bike mechanics course through Two Wheel View, a tobacco awareness workshop, a budgeting workshop through Momentum, and a DJ guest speaker.

We hope to see you at some or all of our programs!

-@FLAWN is the place to be!

The Forest Lawn Blog has been up and running since October 2011, we've been live for about a year and few months! Wooo Hoo!

When people ask me "What happened in 2012?", I usually answer "It was all a blur..." However, now that we have this little blog, I thought I might take this opportunity to highlight some of the events that has happened in the past year.

• Community Garden: The Books 'n Worms Community Garden was officially launched on June 21st. With our ground breaking celebration, there is now a Community Garden in the Forest Lawn area. By mid-July people had a chance to harvest some zucchini, lettuce, beans and radishes. I can't wait till Summer 2013 to be able to walk through the garden again! This will be THE MEETING PLACE in Forest Lawn!

• Teen Afterschool: A program geared towards teens between the ages of 13-17 to explore, learn, and have fun outside of school hours. The program has been a great success in attracting teens of all different ages and skill levels. The library has offered programs from Yoga, Zumba, Cookie Decorating, Wii, Xbox, Drawing, and Drama just to name a few.

• First Ever Hunger Games Challenge: Our teens were starving for a hunger games challenge, and we did just that to meet their needs! We made our own little cornucopia challenge incorporating themes and resources from the novel. Since the Hunger Games was a great success, we came up with Hunger Games Part 2! In this challenge the teens had to reenact a scene from Catching Fire in along with learning how to write a script, design costumes and much more!

• Taste of Cultures: Every year the Taste of Culture has attracted over hundreds of people throughout the community. This was a great opportunity for everyone to learn about the diverse culture we have within this neighborhood. It was by far my favorite event to look forward to each year. I loved trying all different types of ethic food, and their outfits were amazing!

• Refugee Experience Series: The Refugee Experience Series has really taught the teens what it's like to be a Refugee. Our biggest event was a simulation of a Refugee Camp. Even now when I see the teens they talk about how they really enjoyed that process and that they gained so much from the program. We even had the honor to have Carol Huynh share her own personal Refugee Experience.

We hope you all had a chance to participate in some of these events. If you have a story about the library in 2012 and would like to share, we would love to hear it in the comments!

The Forest Lawn Teen Afterschool program held a Cookie Decorating event as one of their many afterschool programs. Before the program started all the teens were patiently waiting to get messy. Who wouldn't want to decorate some cookies and then enjoy their scrumptious treat? Check out some of their decorations!

After a few rounds of cookies, our Teens needed to burn off their energy. Why not play a game of Twister?

Can you say "ouch" ?	How flexible are you?

Since the weather is getting chillier these days, why not host your own Cookie Decorating event? You can start by browsing through our baking books to fulfill all your baking needs and more! Also, if you have an awesome Cookie receipe you would like to share, feel free to post it in the comments!

This year's Halloween was a little different at the Forest Lawn Library. We teamed up with the Teens to decorate the basement for our own little scarefest. Those who were brave enough walked through the doors of doom.

Teen AfterSchool programs for the month of November also included a Fear Factor Challenge, a zumba class, a cupcake decorating class, weekly meetings of the Hunger Games Club and the Knitting Club, and a First Aid Certification course funded by the Bob Bahan Pool.