Meet Our New Summer Intern!

Hello everyone.  My name is Hannah Vizza and I am a recent graduate from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. I have a Bachelors of Liberal Arts Degree in History and minors in Art History and Women Gender Studies. After attending Cal Poly, I moved back to my hometown in the bay area where now I have a summer marketing internship with Friends For Youth. I would describe myself as a friendly, positive, and active person. I love to meet new people, play sports, and eat chocolate.

I have many passions including traveling, reading, and painting. During my junior year of college, I was lucky enough to study abroad in Florence, Italy for a semester. In Florence, I immersed myself in my Italian heritage, made pizza, ate way too much gelato, and fell in love with Renaissance art. Also, while studying abroad, I was able to visit seven different European countries, including England, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Spain, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. I made new lifelong friends and enjoyed the different cultures I encountered. This experience broadened my perspective on life and enhanced my adventurous spirit and love of diversity.

In my free time, as I mentioned above, I love to read, paint, and be outside. Currently, I am rereading “Bossypants” by Tina Fey and I still find it just as hilarious as I did the first time. Tina Fey also happens to be not only one of my favorite writers but actors as well. In addition to “Bossypants,” I love to read many other series of books that range from Dan Brown’s “Da Vinci Code” to “Harry Potter” and to “The Lord of The Rings.” Also, I am a Jan Austin fan and have read several of her novels. When I am not reading, I am either outside spending time with my friends, going to Giants baseball games, or painting. Although I am not the best artist, I find painting, drawing, cooking, and other crafts to be both entertaining and relaxing.

I hope you all have found my brief introduction to be informative yet more enjoyable. I am very excited to work more closely with everyone at Friends For Youth!

Mentor Tip of the Week

Organize a garage sale and keep track of how much profit you make. Someone's trash may be someone else's treasure. Ask family, friends, and neighbors if they have anything to give you for the sale. They may be happy to have help to get a few items out of their garage, back yard, or kitchen. Before you do it, check out tips or advice online for having a successful garage sale. And, as always, remember to have fun!

Mentors and Mentees Come Together to Make Tiles of Friendship

Junior and Senior Friends had a chance to show off their creative talents during Tuesday night's Tile Making Activity. Friends for Youth was excited to offer this popular activity again this year.

Thanks to Mentoring Institute Director Sarah Kremer, Friendships got to learn about glazes, coloring, and techniques to employ while decorating their tiles. After the introduction, everyone was given his or her own tile to decorate.

Friendships got to work. Designs and styles varied, but each tile dealt with the theme of Friendship.

"Great activity and turnout," Senior Friend Kristen commented. "We both had a good time - looking forward to seeing the finished product!" All of the decorated tiles will be fired and distributed to the Friendships who made them.

Mentor Tip of the Week

Take a CPR or a first-aid class together. You can also check out the Bay Area Red Cross website for more information. Be safe and have fun!

Friends for Youth congratulates all the 2012 High School and College Grads!

Junior Friend Mayra graduated from Sequoia High School last Friday. She walked to accept her diploma while family members and Friends for Youth staff cheered her on. Mayra will be starting college classes in the fall. 

Friends for Youth congratulates Mayra and all the other 2012 graduates who have been part of the program. Wonderful job on all your hard work and consistent dedication!

Why am I jumping for joy? Because we held another successful Friendship Portrait session with our amazing volunteer, Darren Ferriera, senior photographer of the Gap, Inc. In May, twelve mentor and mentee pairs joined us at the Gap's photo studio in San Francisco for a day of connections, fun, and wonderful photographs. For the past 11 years, we've been very fortunate to have Darren volunteer his time and services to create beautiful and expressive portraits of our mentors and mentees. His studio also sponsors the event, donating the space and equipment, and their corporate office, through an employee volunteerism program, also makes a donation to us - what could be better?

Thank you to Darren, the Gap, and the Gap Foundation!

Becky and Michelle

Dan and Eric

Henry and Joevanny

Lisa and Cindy

Margrit and Arzebet

Mentor Tip of the Week

The days are getting longer, summer is almost here, and free concerts have started (or will start soon) in many cities. Take a blanket and some picnic food and enjoy the wide variety of musical talent. Try Redwoood City, Palo Alto, San Carlos, San Mateo, Mountain View, Los Gatos, San Francisco--or another city near you.  Palo Alto also hosts a World Music Day on Sunday 6/17.  Have fun!

Free Tickets This Summer

Friends for Youth is offering some really fantastic free ticket opportunities this summer. Free tickets go to mentoring Friendships currently matched in the program, and are a great way to have lots of fun and see new things for free!

Tickets come up for every kind of interest. Which baseball team do you root for? See both the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants. Interested in Science and animals? Put your name in to go to the California Academy of Sciences. Want to see a piglet race? Go to the 2012 San Mateo County Fair!

Free tickets is just one of the advantages of becoming a mentor with Friends for Youth. If you want to find out what the other advantages are, get started!