12/16/08: Joerg - A Normal Guy

As many of you may know, Bayer HealthCare – the major manufacturer of products that improve human and animal health worldwide – is a major supporter and benefactor of the Teen Center project. When asked how I felt about them supporting this project a lot of things came to mind but the first was extremely grateful.

I know that as many projects in the business world go, they cannot even attempt to be successful with out a strong partner. Bayer is our major and well known partner and supporter - contributing to the capital campaign to build the Teen Center and serving as the founding supporter of the Teen Task Force itself. Bayer is helping to supply the educational stipend that all members of the Teen Task Force will be receiving after finishing their time on the project.

Through this partnership with Bayer, I have had the pleasure of meeting and conversing with Joerg Heidrich, Senior Vice President and Berkeley Site Head of Bayer HealthCare. During our community engagement breakfast in September I was thrown the task of introducing him as our guest. Through some research that I did he appeared to be a very interesting man. His business philosophy is “I’m not the one making nice charts; I’m more the one who’s about action, execution, and making continuous improvements.”

Upon my second meeting with Mr. Heidrich at the YMCA Annual Dinner in November, I was actually able to sit next to him and have a regular conversation. And just as I had assumed about him being interesting – it was indeed true. Though he plays a major role at Bayer HealthCare he is still a normal guy. We talked about things like iPhones, iPods and how technology is advancing rapidly.

Mrs. Heidrich was talking to the guy next to her about exercise and how Mr. Heidrich needs to get back into it.


More information on Bayer HealthCare and the work they in the US and around the world click here.

More information on Bayer USA Foundation and the work they do to support non-profits like the YMCA click here.

12/11/08: Nothing I Should Feel Scared About

As I slipped on my slacks I thought of all those people that were going to be there tonight." There is nothing I should feel scared about, I have met most of these people before, it will all be fine," I thought to myself as I took a deep calming breath. I got to the Teen Center at 5:00pm and positioned myself at the greeting table. Minutes later the room was filled with Rotarians – looking nice and mingling with Task Force.

Rotarians are members of the Rotary Club, a non- profit organization that is committed to improving communities everywhere. The Berkeley Rotary Club has been an important piece to the puzzle we’re working on – the making of the Teen Center – because of their financial support I am able to be a part of the Teen Center Task Force.

After introductions we gave tours of the building to the Rotarians and saw the look of excitement in their faces and heard it in their questions.

After tours back in the lobby Fran (the YMCA’s President/CEO) and Tracy (our supervisor) talked for a couple of minutes, and then it was our turn to be in the hot seat. We all spoke about why we joined the Task Force and what projects we were currently working on. We ended the night with a brief Q&A session.

The questions made us think and speak on our feet, but we all did our part to give accurate responses. Everyone spoke eloquently, I was proud of how far we have come as a team and as individuals. Okay, I’ll just say it – we did great!

Though the night was over and the event was a success, with both sides learning a lot from each other we still have a Teen Center to build.

Rotary likes to be involved in projects ‘with’ the community rather than ‘for’ the community. For more information on the types of projects that Rotary works on click here.

11/25/08: Jack LaLanne, Teens and the YMCA

I was hit immediately by the whimsical but strong glint that shone through those blue zebra rimmed sunglasses. Behind those glasses were hidden the eyes of one of the world's most integral creators of modern day fitness. With an obscurely cracked joke and a punch to the shoulder I finally met the infamous Jack LaLanne along with his wife Elaine. Seeing as health is one of the YMCA's most important goals it was definitely appropriate to invite Jack to the Berkeley-Albany YMCA's Annual Celebration.

Along with the LaLannes the YMCA also honored radio host and parent educator Rona Renner and Pumpsie Green, the first African American player for the Boston Red Sox.
The Task Force was invited to the event for a number of reasons. We covered a wide array of jobs at the reception and dinner. Several of us were pretty much there to greet, mingle, and guide Jack and Elaine and other honorees and guests around. In our journeys we met and conversed with many people integral to our project: YMCA Board Members, donors and community leaders. We had an exhibit set up where two teens were explaining the Teen Center to a nothing less than captivated audience. Two other teens were also lucky enough to present an award to our friend Joerg Heidrich the Senior Vice President and Berkeley Site Head from Bayer HealthCare. Bayer has been such a help to the project and was honored as the YMCA’s Corporate Partner of the Year at the event.

In addition to all our great interactions we actually learned a thing or two and had some great food. This night showed us a new side to the Teen Center project. It gave us insight into how important the Teen Center actually is to the YMCA. No pressure though…we just have the weighty expectations of a whole lot of people not to mention a whole lot of money riding on our shoulders. I know we can pull through. Of course it helps seeing the YMCA pull together such a fabulous, well-crafted event. With skills like that on the team as well as this remarkable group I know we can make the Teen Center a marvelous reality.

If you missed the YMCA’s Annual Celebration you can still check out the slideshow of the event by clicking here.

11/24/08: What does LEED Look Like?

On Saturday November 8th, three teens from the Task Force traveled with Tracy to the newly renovated California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco to learn more about the sustainable design aspects of the building. Diana Meckfessel, a professional counselor and mentor who is on the Task Force has a friend who is a docent there, and specializes in giving tours about sustainability. With her connection, we were able to get an “insider’s look” at what earned this building a LEED Platinum standing.
Being able to understand what the LEED program is is important to the Task Force because our goal is to create a LEED Gold Teen Center. Going on the tour illustrated to me how LEED actually looks in a building instead of just seeing it as a set of theoretical criteria written on piece of paper.

Our docent started by giving us some history on the architecture of the Academy, and then we got to the fun part. For me, the highlight of the tour was going up to the roof, which is entirely green. There, our docent explained the structural components of the building that were able to hold such an expansive roof that is entirely covered with shrubbery. Even though it was a cloudy morning, the roof offered picturesque views of the Golden Gate Park landscape. Observing the roof made me start thinking about how the Task Force could possibly design a green roof as well.
Going on field trips like this is especially interesting because it takes what we’re learning about in our weekly meetings out into the “real world” and shows how programs such as LEED are actually implemented in buildings.

To see the amazing rooftop garden at the California Academy of Sciences click here.


To find out what LEED stands for and for more information on LEED Certification click here.

11/19/08: Rotarians, Teens and the Berkeley Rep

Berkeley Rotary Club – a key supporter of The Teen Task Force – invited us to a special evening at Berkeley Rep to see the play “Yellow Jackets” written by BHS graduate, Itamar Moses. I think they wanted us to get an idea of how Berkeley was back in the early 90’s – when the play takes place – so we could compare it to how things are today.

We’ve been working so hard on Teen Center project and it’s been quite a journey but we’re still not finished yet. I thought a field trip with some “down time” was just the thing we needed to keep positive and focused.

Our night began with a reception in the Rep’s courtyard, where we had refreshments and socialized with the Rotarians. The teens attacked the food: how could you not guess? The building was modern and beautiful and the courtyard open and welcoming. Greenery made it feel fresh and relaxing. (More new ideas to think about in terms of adding to our Teen Center.)

Anyways we took our seats and I browsed through the program to get a better feel for the play. Then it started with the flickering of lights and kids fighting. “Even back in the 90’s kids were fighting” I whispered to my neighbor.

I laughed from beginning to end because there really wasn’t that much of a difference from when I was in high school: same old fights, students talking back to the teachers, and complaints of the Jacket (the school paper) not meeting everyone’s needs.

I learned that there wasn’t much of a difference in Berkeley from then to now. Being a 2008 BHS graduate I’ve seen a lot happen over my 4 years there and most of the things I’ve seen in school I saw again in the play. It was like a flashback from when I was at Berkeley High.

For more information on the Berkeley Rotary Club click here.


For more information on Yellowjackets and Berkeley Repertory click here.

11/19/08: What does GREEN mean?

Last Friday, we visited the Stopwaste.org building in Downtown Oakland to learn what a LEED Platinum building looks like. Outside, what I first noticed was a GREEN building – yes, the building itself was the color green! When we entered, the first thing we saw was a touch screen machine. “What is it?” Everybody asked. The machine showed how much energy the building saved per year, what percent of the electricity was coming from solar panels, and much more.

Then we were ready to continue the tour but before that, chocolate on the front desk was waiting for each one of us. With chocolate in our hands, we entered the largest and tallest room, similar to the main room from our Teen Center. There was a lot of space, light, and fresh air. Walking around the building, we saw their kitchen, which featured lights that turned on with a movement. The bathrooms were Antonia’s favorite. She liked how pretty they were, and the automatic faucets with their own solar sensors to generate power.

We were also impressed with the gallery of recycled art pieces. One that stood out to me was a shirt made of pictures from a magazine. Very pretty! Later we went to the second floor where the offices were located – similar to how our building will be. Everywhere there were desks with brochures and guides of how to be green and how to recycle.

Overall visiting this building was a great experience. It gave us new ideas for our building, a better understanding of what it is to be green, and made us wonder if we were able to do similar things in our building and if we had the budget to do them.

See what we saw - check out the virtual tour of Stopwaste.org for yourself

10/31/08: Three Exciting Options

Alyson Yarus from Noll & Tam came to visit recently. First she chatted with us about our thoughts on the Yellow Jackets play at the Berkeley Rep (she saw it with some of the Task Force members). Then she presented us with three exciting layouts of what the teen center could possibly look like. One had three floors, another had a bunch of windows and they were all really great.

Our team pretty much unanimously all gravitated toward the same plan that we had all come to like without arguments or persuasion. So I guess the one we chose must be “the one” (hopefully). We all really liked Option #1 because it has a partial third floor (also known as the roof) with a bunch of programming going on up there. The rest of the building included a leadership development room, academic achievement room, and an employment career training office for teens as well. Alyson made notes on the schemes so she had to take them with her, but we’re all excited and can’t wait to see what she brings us next time.

Click here to see the plan the Teen Task Force favored.