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Harland Community for Youth and Families took a great trip down the Jordan river this spring. According to Executive Director Gilberto "Juan" Rejón Magana, "...these trips are earned. Participants are rewarded by going on these river and trail clean ups for good attendance at soccer training, increases in their GPA, and good behavior. We also take the opportunity to invite parents to come with their children. It is a great time to strengthen the bond between parent and child all in an environment of experiential learning,"  First order of business was learning about the craft of canoe travel.  And then we hit the river! There is a lot of work to do to help clean this river up!  Working together in the boats created great conversation, team problem solving and enjoyment of nature.  Exploring nature in our urban environment.  Team work.  Thank you all for this great trip down the Jordan River!
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The new Jerseys are in!  Please see the slideshow below to view a lot of portraits and team pictures of the teams. photos from vordenberg.com
On the afternoon of April 17th a group of 75 kids walked from Mountain View Elementary down California Ave to the Jordan River Parkway. From there we walked down the path to 1700 S, picking up trash all along the way. This was part of the Hartland Community Adopt-a-Trail program through Hartland Community 4 Youth & Families (HC4YF). The group was accompanied by teachers and led by Gilberto Rejón Magana, executive director of HC4YF and head coach of the Hartland Youth Soccer Club. The goal of this outing was to get kids out into nature and to help clean up the path along the way. Another goal was to introduce these kids to the HC4YF organization and the opportunities available to them through it..  The kids spent the afternoon walking, laughing and doing a community service in a natural environment in their neighborhood. They learned about an organization that provides fun, educational opportunities for them as they get older.  That is success.  This is success.  "We are going to have a great year!" Says Gilberto Rejón Magana, known throughout the Hartland community as Coach Juan. "Typically we not only meet but exceed our goals. But you know even when things don't go as planned if we learn it is still a success." That is the growth mindset in action. Always seeking to learn, to grow, to improve. It is important to find metrics of success, and building those is something we are actively doing at HC4YF and look forward to sharing. But sometimes success is measured in smiles and laughter, sometimes success is a lesson learned rather than a point on a graph.  No matter how accurate our tools become at measuring HC4YF's long-term success, it is important we not lose sight of the importance of a single day, a smile, a group of kids laughing. And remember that learning not only leads to great success, but is a great success.
 The strength of an organization is in its people. The diversity of those involved at every level of Hartland, from the participants to the leadership to the volunteers, give Hartland its strength and help provide opportunities for growth for everyone involved. Over the next weeks, months and years we will update you on our programs, activities and successes. In this post we will share, through portraits of the participants, some of the people involved in Hartlands programs. In these portraits you can see the source of our motivation, our strength and our purpose.                           Thank you for viewing our blog. We invite you to contact us with any questions or comments.
The Hartland Community for Youth and Families website now has a blog. The blog is called Success Stories. The idea is that we have a place to share and shine a light on our successes. Success can be a long-term project seen to fruition, a dream come true, or simply a few great hours spent playing soccer or hiking along the Jordan river. We already have a lot of success stories to share and there is even more ahead. Stay tuned.  |
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