Culinary Arts

The Culinary arts program provides a setting for children and teens to learn how to cook in a commercial equipped kitchen. Professional chefs conduct the classes. Youth learn the art of food service, food safety guidelines, nutritional concepts and hospitality.  The students work as a team to gather ingredients for the cooking classes and follow recipes to make various tasty treats. The program not only allows the students to learn how to cook, but hopefully to inspire them to pursue careers in the food service industry.  While cooking, the students practice their math and reading skills, time management, team building skills, and they also learn the importance of following directions in completing a task.

Camping & Wilderness

What a treat it is for city youth to pack their gear, wave goodbye to parents and head off for a weekend of back packing, camp fires, ropes training, nature exploration, fishing, hiking, and scavenger hunts in non traditional settings. Teens At Work, Inc. incorporates camping and wilderness activities in our program to promote team building, social development, survival skills, creativity and problem solving .  Youth gain an appreciation for the outdoors and learn about the importance of taking care of the environment..

Community Playground

 In 1996, for National Youth Service Day, Teens At Work, Inc. in collaboration with Hands On Atlanta mobilized the community to build a safe play playground for children. The playground is a learning structure where children navigate through an obstacle course to strengthen their muscles and coordinating skills while having fun. The playground currently serves approximately 1500 children and youth that find the park to be a safe place to gather and play.  Families, day cares, after school programs and youth service programs, school groups and summer camps utilize the park.  So parents, when you are in the area, stop by and let the fun begin.

Mentoring

There are many things that we do in our lives that we cannot imagine doing without someone's guidance. Mentoring is very important for youth because it provides them with positive role models to promote nurturing relationships, provide guidance in important life experiences, builds character and gives youth a sense of support for today and hope for tomorrow.  The youth participate in mentoring activities along with other activities previously outlined to keep the lines of communication open between staff and youth for guidance and advisory purposes. These mentoring activities focus on areas of academics, knowledge, attitude, values, skills and behavior. These activities build both internal and external assets in youth. Some of the activities are used from the Mentoring GuideBook " 25 Things Every Youth Should Know and Experience.  The youth learn how to tie a neck tie, experience fine dinning, grill outdoors, take a day hike, visit a bookstore and purchase a book, writing a letter to a friend and many other life changing experiences.

Afterschool Enrichment

The After School Program  offers services afterschool, during school breaks and summer break for children and teens ages 5-17.

The foundation of the program is a strength-based approach to working with the youth. Emphasis is placed on their strengths and personal assets instead of their behavior.

The program provides a safe and learning rich environment that focuses on the student as a whole person to meet their intellectual, physical, emotional and social needs. Activities include Homework Assistance, Volunteerism and Civic Engagement, Life Skills Development, Cultural Enrichment, Academic Learning, Mentoring and Camping and Wilderness Adventure.