First Lady Mary Pat Christie recognizes Abby Daly, Founder & Executive Director of Bridge of Books, as a New Jersey Hero live @ The Jersey Explorer Children's Museum

The Jersey Explorer Children's Museum in conjunction with NJ Youth Corps were honored to host NJ First Lady Mary Pat Christie in her recognition of Bridge of Books founder and executive director Abby Daly as an official recipient of the "NJ Heroes" award. Mary Pat Christie, wife of NJ Governor Chris Christie, started the NJ Heroes Program to "recognize, celebrate, and promote the Heroes of New Jersey who inspire fellow New Jerseyans to give back to their community."

Here is the First Lady's official statement on the wonderful acknowledgment of Abby Daly:

Today I took a trip to the Jersey Explorer Children’s Museum in East Orange to honor Abby Daly as my 4th NJ Hero of 2014.  Abby’s non-profit foundation, Bridge of Books, provides an ongoing source of books to underprivileged and at-risk children throughout New Jersey in order to support literacy skills and to encourage a love of reading.  The organization’s name comes from the belief that a book, like a bridge, can take a child to new places.  Abby, who has always been involved in community service, saw an overwhelming need for books in many areas of our state.  As something many of us take for granted, she wanted to find a way to be able to provide for those children who may not even own a single book.  Through donations and book drives, Bridge of Books has been able to facilitate the distribution of over 425,000 books since its launch in 2003.  Bridge of Books also partners with the New Jersey Youth Corps, who helps with the distribution of the books.  Today, the Youth Corps set up a “Summer Book Blast Book Fair” for the children of East Orange inside the museum, as well as a tour where they were able to explore the different interactive exhibits.  The children were ecstatic to have such a great day planned for them!  Bridge of Books brought over 2,400 books for these children to choose from, take home, and call their own.  The looks on the children’s faces as they were holding onto their brand new books was priceless.  It was great to be at the Children’s Museum today and meet so many inspiring people involved with the Bridge of Books Foundation.  Abby presented me with a beautiful frame that read “Books have the Power to Change Lives” – a philosophy that I find to be so important and true.  Abby truly demonstrates what it means to be a New Jersey Hero. 

SOURCE: http://newjerseyheroes.org/index/2014/07/abby-daly-the-bridge-of-books-foundation/

The Jersey Explorer Children's Museum was elated to have Mary Pat Christie in our presence and we are so proud of Abby Daly and her continued commitment to literacy. Every guest that visits the JECM, can take home free books due to our longtime partnership with the Bridge of Books Foundation. We truly appreciate them as do the families and students who frequent our museum. 

FOR MORE INFO ON ABBY DALY AND THE BRIDGE OF BOOKS FOUNDATION PLEASE VISIT: http://www.bridgeofbooksfoundation.org/

NJ Youth Corps June 2014 Graduation

Here at NJ Youth Corps, we are very proud of our student graduates from the 2013/2014 semesters. We had a small graduation ceremony in June of this year to commemorate our students success in the program. They worked diligently to complete and pass their academic testing, in addition to completing 150 community service hours. They are focused and eager on starting the next phase of their young lives which includes part/full-time employment and/or admission into Hudson County Community College.

Jersey City Youth Corps Program live on Quest Community Vibrations Radio @ Seton Hall University.

The Jersey City Youth Corps were recently invited to speak on a live radio program which took place at Seton Hall University on 89.5 WSOU FM, home of Quest Community Vibrations Radio. This half hour Saturday radio show is spearheaded by Mr. Richard Bey and young emerging correspondents and talent. Ryan, one of our student's from the Youth Corps program and current staff member at the Jersey Explorer Children's Museum, spoke about his experiences studying and working thus far on air. We also asked Ryan after the show, how he felt about representing for Youth Corps over the airwaves. 

 "Being on the radio show was very exciting for me, it was one of the few things that I haven't had the chance to do. I talked about Youth Corps, working at the museum (JECM), just getting out there telling people what we do was a lot of fun. It was a very good experience meeting everybody that we got a chance to meet. I would love to do it again, if the time comes." - Ryan 

Click below for the full radio interview which also features NJ Youth Corps Co-Director Gary Patnosh and Crew Leader Doug Bailey.

Check out and please support Quest Community Vibrations Radio @ their website http://questyouthradio.com/

 

Listen To Entertainment Internet Radio Stations with Quest Youth Radio on BlogTalkRadio

The New York Times Travel Show Field Trip

Saturday March 1st marked the Jersey City Youth Corps trip to the New York Times Travel Show. Students were challenged to learn about different countries across the globe for general knowledge as well as gathering information for our new "Wonders Of The World" exhibit. This project is currently in development at the Jersey City Youth Corps work-site, Jersey Explorer Children's Museum. After a quick lunch stop in NYC, the team arrived at Jacob Javits Center for an engrossing two hours of entertainment and education.

Quick pre-briefing with students/staff on what to expect inside the travel show.

 Students/staff pose for quick picture before they get inside.

 Students/staff pose with the Zambia Tourism Board. Zambia is located in the continent of Africa.

 Students/staff in front of Sea World exhibit.

Here are some of the student reactions regarding the travel show.

Jamal: "It's definitely something you should experience at least once in your lifetime.You learn a lot of things. A lot of culture."

Ryan: "You get to see a lot of different places that not a lot of TV shows or news stations talk about. You get to see the culture and how nice it is over there and whether you would like to go there or not. It opens your mind to a lot."

Steven: "I came in and it looked very interesting. The more I got into the exhibits, the more I learned about what was going on. You learn about all these places that people don't really know about. There are familiar countries, but they are also these small countries that are actually very interesting."

Chris: "It was pretty fun, we got to win some prizes - but you still get to learn."

Kennay: "I had fun, I liked touring the different places. Thailand, Japan - that was real cool and fun."

Stephanie: "I liked the different types of countries. There were many different cultures and environments. They cook differently and have different clothing and stuff. It was good just to get out of Jersey City."

Standout Saturday's at JECM

     

STANDOUT SATURDAY'S AT JECM #1

Jamal, Chris and Rey organize books for guest giveaways.

      Saturday February 22, 2014 was a great day at the Jersey Explorer Children’s Museum. In addition to having our walk-in guests and a wonderful visit from Guiding Star United Holy Church, the JECM hosted students from New Jersey Institute of Technology who will be working with the Youth Corps program on a variety of projects intent on enhancing the museum for current and future uses.

Making sure our Youth Corps students gain proper professional development experience is a major priority for our program. Staff is able to elevate their current positions by becoming Floor Manager for a day, which increases their responsibilities and allows them to flourish from a different perspective. They have to learn and develop leadership qualities, time management skills and a positive attitude to successfully complete a busy day.

Our Floor Manager of the week was Stephanie, and she had a cooperative cast of hard working Youth Corps students that did their part to ensure the day went smoothly without a hitch. Stephanie was responsible in putting staff in their positions, conversing and welcoming our guests, keeping the staff on track with the exhibit rotations and keeping watch on the different events taking place throughout the building. Saturdays are typically very busy with many different variables, and Stephanie maintained her composure and focus throughout her shift. She spoke with a confident tone at the end of the day about her experience:

“My experience in being floor manager is it's difficult at times but you just have to keep yourself composed. Make sure everyone has a good time. The hardest part of my job today was taking the walk-ins and having them sit down and organized. It sounds easy but that was the hardest part. The best part of my job today was seeing all the smiles on the kids faces when they left. My advice for future floor managers is to make sure you know what you are doing and have a very good schedule.”

Working with a very capable and intelligent team, Stephanie had the services of Jamal, Rey, Shakira, Kennay, Chris, Steven and Ryan who ran exhibits ranging from the Ancient Tomb treasure hunt, Jukebox and Science. Tequan, who was a standout in last semesters group of Youth Corps students, volunteered his services as well. 

Stephanie goes over schedule with Kennay.

Tequan takes guests on tour through Jukebox exhibit.

Shakira and Kennay double check their jobs for the day.

Steven, Jamal and Chris ready to conduct science experiment with guests .

Stephanie oversee's book organization for guests.

Rey and Tequan make sure they have all the details for incoming guests and their itinerary for the day.

The Jersey Explorer Children's Museum

The Jersey Explorer Children's Museum is located on 192 Dodd St. in East Orange NJ. It is the official work site of the Jersey City Youth Corps Program. It is open to school groups and educational institutions Wednesday through Friday, 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM by appointment. On Saturday's from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM it is open to the public for exciting tours and birthday celebrations. For more information on the individual exhibits and additional activities please visit the official site: http://www.jerseyexplorer.org/

 Youth Corps Crew Leader and staff conducting science experiment for guests.

Youth Corps staff member with guests in our Main Street exhibit.

Youth Corps staff member with guests in our Tomb of the Ancient Kings exhibit.

Welcome To Youth Corps of Jersey City!

• NJ Youth Corps is a year-round program for young adults aged 16 to 25 who left high school without earning their diplomas.  Youth Corps provides these individuals with a second chance, supporting their efforts to earn their diplomas while also developing essential employment skills through meaningful community services.  The program is located on the NJCU campus, and provides a wide variety of support programs in:

  • Remedial Academics
  • Computer Training
  • Reading/Writing
  • Math/Science
  • Critical Thinking
  • GED Test Prep (Introductory Vocational Training or DSAT and College Prep)
  • Social Skills
  • Leadership
  • Visits/Tours
  • Awareness
  • Career Counseling
  • Personal Counseling
  • Cultural Activities

Our office is located at

New Jersey City University

Grossnickle Hall

Room 415

2039 Kennedy Blvd.

Jersey City, NJ 07306

For more information, please call (201) 200-3101