The Kings are eating dinner at the Hyatt Regency during our cultural enrichment trip in September. A group photo was taken in front of one of the homes that belonged to Frederick Douglass. The final tour was a cruise on the Inner Harbor.
We normally take a cultural Enrichment trip each year in June but this year we pushed it back to September due to Covid-19. This year we stayed at the Hyatt Regency hotel, toured Johns Hopkins University, took a riding tour of historical sites in Baltimore City and ended the day with a cruise on the Inner Harbor.
On October 16, 2021 the mentoring program was joined by United States Senator Chris Van Hollen.
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings from 5:30-8 pm Mentoring Male Teens in the Hood has a tutoring component. On Monday we focus on Math, Tuesday we focus on English and Reading and Wednesday we focus on Computer Programming. The Kings are separated by age. They bring their homework to be worked on and when they do not have homework, the teachers have prepared lessons for them to work on. The tutoring component is the training ground for the Kings to excel in their classes.
One of the trips that we took allowed us to go to Madison Square Garden where we had a private room and had a conversation with the General Manager of the New York Knicks. Many of our Kings had basketball questions because many of them like to play basketball. They were in awe walking around the inside of the Garden and seeing how big it was. Not only did they get to see where the Knicks played but they also got to see the separate rooms where other events are held like boxing events.
Originally called Madison Square Garden Center, the Garden opened on February 11, 1968, and is the oldest major sporting facility in the New York metropolitan area. It is the oldest arena in the National Hockey League and the National Basketball Association. In 2016, MSG was the second-busiest music arena in the world in terms of ticket sales, behind The O2 Arena in London. Including two major renovations, its total construction cost is approximately $1.1 billion, and it has been ranked as one of the 10 most expensive stadium venues ever built. It is part of the Pennsylvania Plaza office and retail complex, named for the railway station.
Our Kings were packed and ready to go on our summer enrichment trip trip. Each time we take a trip, our Kings have a sense of excitement. Too many of them have never been out of Baltimore. The anticipation of seeing a place you have never seen, getting to eat all you want at different restaurants, visiting cultural enrichment sites, having the freedom to stay in a room with one other person and stay up late are just some of the things that the Kings get to experience. There is also great anticipation for those that enjoy swimming because there is always a pool when we take our summer trips as well as a gym so they have the option of working out before getting in the pool.
