Waynesburg students fill void at Youth in Action programs
Across the wooden floors of what used to be a bar, young people army-crawl to catch plastic balls with large serving bowls. Their friends grab them by the ankles, pulling them back to their designated home bases. This is just another Saturday game night at West Sides.
The program meets at West Sides on Monday, Thursday and Saturday nights. Mondays are called “drop-in nights” where the teens just come to relax.
Thursdays are more geared toward Bible study and attract a handful of teens. Saturdays, referred to as “Saturday Night Live,” have structured activities that vary every other week between game nights, movie nights and whatever else the volunteers decide to plan.
“I just love any and every opportunity to interact with the youth in Waynesburg,” said Becca Shindelar, senior human services major. “It is incredible to have fun and relax with the youth, with my friends from the university, in a Christ-loving atmosphere.”
“We got to play the human version of ‘hungry, hungry hippos’ and plenty of other great games, and it was awesome to just see everyone so comfortable with being themselves and having a great time,” said Shindelar. “I love seeing college students embrace their youthfulness and get competitive with games. You are never too old to enjoy great games with youth.”
“We can always improve on our outreach and advertising aspects,” said Shindelar. “We also can improve on our outreach to the student body, and helping them to be a part of the work that we do. We have struggled in the past with having enough students from the community and finding ways to fit leaders into the gaps appropriately.”
“Other Waynesburg students should volunteer to serve the community that isn’t well known to the college campus,” said Youth In Action mentor and junior creative writing major DeRon Scott.