The theme for this summer has been continuing to teach kids as projects across the city of Trenton have encouraged kids to keep their minds sharp.
With programs like the Trenton Literacy Movement and The First Junior Public Safety Academy, Trenton has seen kids strive to learn more. This trend continues with Culture is Key’s summer program serving Trenton kids with high school and college mentors.
“I’ve given them a skill, working with younger children. So if they don’t do anything else, they know that they have experience working with younger students,” said Eric Bullock, founder and CEO of Culture is Key.
The camp has a total of 15 kids with six student program leads. Robert Guillaume, a program lead, explained that they take the kids through activities like arts and crafts and affirmations. “So we come in, start with motivational videos, (and) ask him what they got from the motivational videos…I noticed, like, at least the kids I’ve worked with so far, they’re receptive to it. So they kind of get what’s going on,” Guillaume said.
He continues, “I think it is important because it’s like one place for kids to go. It’s ideal. And not everybody knows about mentors or has access to them. So if you (have) somebody older…show the kids the ropes and…teach them math, getting ready for school and all that stuff, it’ll help them out as a place to put the energy that’s positive.”
“On top of that, once a week, Culture is Key hosts a guest speaker for kids to talk to. “So today we’re doing a healthy eating, healthy living, healthy habits seminar, ran by a good friend of ours, registered nurse Nya Kabia,” Bullock said.
Kabia is a registered nurse who currently works as a Traveling nurse. She explained that for the lecture, she chose to speak about healthy living and making good choices regarding food. “I noticed that many of the patients suffered these disease factors. So I thought it was important to teach the youth to make decisions early in life, so they don’t have to experience them later,” Kabia said.
Currently, about 30 million Americans live with diabetes.
“I think that the healthy options within the African community, African American communities specifically, are not taught within our community. So being a nurse, I have noticed that many African Americans suffer from diabetes, hypertension, and stroke. Education could be introduced with like diet, exercise and having a strong foundation and choosing healthy topics would help prevent those,” Kabia said.
Kabia and Bullock eamed up to teach Trenton kids how to prevent that. There was a Power Point and kids were shown how much sugar is in a can of Coke, a Powerade, and orange juice.
“This is an opportunity for us to talk about healthy food, healthy exercise, what to eat, what not to eat,” Bullock said. “It’s important that we kind of allow the community to learn what’s healthy, what’s not healthy, because we’re so close to what’s not healthy right down the street.”
The next Seminar is on September 1st at 110 Prospect Village, The Prospect Village Community Center at 10 a.m. For more information, contact Eric Bullock at 609-635-3434.
