The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community’s Youth Services Department launched its first newsletter this month, called the Salt River Youth Times. The two-page newsletter highlights Youth Services programs, culture, staff highlights and community events. 

The newsletter is quarterly, and the first issue features department activities from October through December 2021. The first page features three programs, the Hawk, Teen Wolf and Hummingbird groups. 

“We asked that the leaders of each group pick a youth who is willing to write a paragraph on the group they participate in. They will answer questions or talk about what they like about their group, their favorite activity, what they learned in their group, etc.,” said Youth Services Supervisor Karina Watson. 

On the second page, Youth Development Specialist Isaac Lopez provided a blurb on one of the major projects he worked on with the youth, making gourd rattles that are used for singing in the O’odham and Piipaash cultures. He noted that one of his students took great interest in the singing workshop that was taught by Anthony “Thosh” Collins. 

The newsletter will always incorporate something on culture, explained Watson, whether it’s a small blurb on activities or a crossword puzzle that features O’odham and Piipaash vocabulary words. 

Also on the second page is a short profile of a Youth Services staff member with a photo. 

“We are going to be featuring our different staff members. This quarter we chose Youth Development Specialist Nick Armenta, who has worked for the department for 12 years,” said Watson. 

The newsletter also features a photo collage of Community events that the youth participated in. This first issue covers the Youth Services booth at the Salt River Schools Spooktacular event, the Early Enrichment Program’s participation in the SRPMIC Fall Overhaul, and the VAII Bike and Skateboard Raffle. 

“We wanted to share what the department is doing to connect with the Community outside of the department, but also feature the department’s events,” said Watson. “For example, our big event [this quarter] was the VAII Bike and Skateboard Raffle. We’d like to thank all those who helped us make that event a success.”

Each quarterly newsletter can be viewed at the Way of Life Facility’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SRPMIC.WOLF.