Tina Bechler

Welcome to the Youth Worker's Spotlight for February 2010!

King County is home to so many amazing organizations and youth workers!  The Youth Worker Spotlight will highlight one of these people each month.  If you would like to nominate someone to be spotlighted please send an email to kcydn@childrenandyouth.org.

Tina Bechler

Program Director at Bike Works

“This work gives me back just as much as I put into it.  I feel really blessed to go to my job everyday – it is a dream job.  I could not have imagined a better place for myself”.

1)  Why is your program amazing?

a.  It is super important for youth to have places to go where they feel ownership of the place they are in.  One of the strengths for us is in the classroom where the youth can make it their own.  Youth drop in to work on bikes and those with skills are there as informal mentors (running the space).  They are there for the less experienced volunteers who are not necessarily younger.  It turns the age paradigm on its head by allowing anyone to be what they want to be – A ten year old that has more experience might mentor a sixteen year old that is new to bike repair.

b.  Our program is engaged in many facets of these youth’s lives.  Bike Works has been a home away from home for young people to come in whenever they like to talk about their lives and go on rides together.  It allows them to have a place.

c.  Additionally, Bike Works is a fun place to be.  Adults that work there are engaging in interesting and quirky ways.  [Bike Works] provides a home for youth who just want to do their own thing.  We attract people who don’t always fit into mainstream society; we are passionate in talking about the world and society and how boxes might be created.  With youth we work at breaking down stereotypes while exploring and celebrating the ways we are different from each other.

2)  What is your favorite program resource?

 There are so many different ways in which what Bike Works does can fit with the work of other organizations:

· We partner with Passages Northwest and The Audubon Society on outdoor education.

· We partner within schools to talk about bike repair, mechanics, physics, simple math and problem solving with students.

· We partner with ORCA and Beacon Hill (among others) in their after school programs.

· We partner with organizations like Teen Link to provide training for our staff to better serve youth. 

There are limitless opportunities with the community at large.  My favorite resource is the ability to tap into other resources within the community which is only limited by the number of days in a week.  We cannot partner with all of the organizations that we would like to. 

3)  Why is connecting with other youth workers important to the work you do?

Connecting with other youth workers is super important.  When I talk with other program directors, I hear about what pieces they are succeeding at or struggling with.  These helps me know in a broader sense what we (as non-profits serving youth) are doing to keep our programs as impactful as we want them to be.  I also learn what the pieces are that all of us are doing in dealing with the same issues.  This sounding board is helpful is seeing the ways we have each addressed what is going on in our community.  It is important to use other people as a resource.  To hear that others are also meeting challenges you see that we are all in this together and pushing towards the same thing. There is a strong sense of community with others doing the same types of work and that is super valuable.