Ten excited sixth-graders attended our first-ever overnight lock-in on Saturday, May 4, at the Cokata Wiconi teen center. The lock-in was an opportunity to experience the state-of-the-art facility prior to the kids’ official welcome as seventh-graders after the upcoming school year.
It also served as a thank-you to the children, who spent an afternoon making care packages for 11 women at the Cheyenne River Elderly Manor in Eagle Butte. The packages were distributed in honor of Mother’s Day weekend.
“We worked with the sixth-grade teachers ahead of time to promote the event within their classrooms,” said Megan Guiliano, our youth programs director. “We had 10 sixth-graders participate in the community service event, and all 10 came for the lock-in.”
Each care package included a teddy bear, hygiene products, lotion and a homemade card, wrapped in a blanket and tied with a decorative scarf. Each sixth-grader chose a name and gave his or her care package to that woman.
“The best part was delivering the care packages to the ladies,” Megan said. “We walked from the teen center to the Manor, care packages in hand, and each sixth-grader knocked on his or her recipient’s door to present the Mother’s Day gift. Watching the kids deliver the gifts, and seeing their faces light up when the ladies saw the packages, was very special. All of the ladies gave the sixth-graders a hug, and many of them invited the kids into their apartments while they opened the packages.
“I was very proud of the kids,” she continued “Although some were shy at first, they were super excited once they delivered their gifts. Afterward, they talked about how grateful the ladies were, and how they thought it would be fun to do activities like this in the future.”
Excitement levels were even higher come Saturday, when the sixth-graders arrived at Cokata Wiconi at 6:30 p.m. for their all-night lock-in. The evening started with a teen center tour, which gave the children a chance to see such highlights as the dance studio, the library, the art studio and the computer lab. Then the real fun began.
Staff and volunteers served walking tacos for supper, and the sixth-graders immediately launched into a girls-versus-boys basketball tournament, several rounds of Mafia in the dance studio with a lantern, making s’mores on the outdoor patio, flashlight tag on the playground, Knockout in the gymnasium and a showing of “Mama” on Cokata Wiconi’s big screen.
“Afterward, some of the girls painted in the art studio, and we made our own simplified haunted houses at The Main youth center in teams,” Guiliano recalled. “That was a kid’s idea, so we incorporated it on the fly!”
Staff, volunteers and youth returned to Cokata Wiconi for a late-night screening of “Pitch Perfect.” Some kids feel asleep, Megan said, while others were determined to stay up until breakfast and pick-up time.
“Several of the kids said throughout the evening, ‘I just don’t want this night to end,’” she remembered. “This was probably one of my favorite teen center events of all time. We really enjoyed spending time with these kids in a smaller group. Because we’re open to teens of all ages, we don’t always have the resources to provide specific age-appropriate activities. This event was so special, I think, because it was exclusively for the sixth-graders.”
CRYP is planning to offer summertime lock-ins for other age groups in the months to come. Guiliano said she’s had requests from seventh to 10th graders, all wanting a lock-in of their own.
“We’re really looking forward to starting a regular series of lock-ins, because we realize how important it is for our youth to have special activities within their own peer group and to have Cokata Wiconi to themselves,” she explained. “The lock-ins also are a great way to promote community service among our young people. For these sixth-graders, the Mother’s Day project was a source of excitement as much as the lock-in was. They were proud of what they accomplished, and of the joy they brought to their elders.”