The Chinatown Teen Program was founded in fall of 1995 to meet the needs of youth for whom the Chinatown Afterschool program was too constraining. The Teen Program is a close-knit group of middle school students and volunteer counselors who meet twice a week to help with homework and work on special projects.

The program also emphasizes fun trips on weekends and holidays. While some of these trips are educational, the focus is more on building social skills and creating a safe space for the teens to interact. Early adolescence is a hard time for anyone, but is even tougher in the crowded inner city. Our counselors hope to make the transition to adulthood easier for our youth.

Our Mission Statement

The Chinatown Teen Program seeks to provide middle school students in the Chinatown community with a positive environment for personal and social growth. Toward these ends we hope to accomplish the following:

1. Provide opportunities for experiential learning both within the community and outside the teens' daily environment.

Expose them to Boston's multiplicity of cultures and peoples.

Expand their horizons of future opportunities in their careers and personal lives.

Develop life interests, whether recreational, academic, or social.

2. Provide a safe environment for positive social interaction.

Develop social skills and friendships.

Provide tools for positive group interaction and peaceful conflict resolution.

3. Encourage personal development of each teen as an individual.

Allow each teen the opportunity to develop apersonal sense of ethics and morality based on careful consideration of consequences.

Provide the necessary background information to enable teens to make these decisions (i.e. drugs, alcohol, smoking, gambling, homophobia, sexism).

Reinforce academics as one important key to future success.

If you have any questions about our programs, please do not hesitate to contact Leslie Tam or Ina Wu.