myHR: April 20, 2022

Are You Ready for the Summer? 

After a long winter and another challenging year of the pandemic, families of all ages are getting ready for the summer. This means finding camp activities for children and teens on summer break, and safe and affordable childcare options for working parents and guardians. Choosing the right summer camp and childcare can be a challenge, especially on a budget.

Here are some resources and tips that Penn staff and faculty can use to help their families get ready for a summer of social enrichment, education, and just plain fun.

Summer Camp Options and Discounts

2022 Penn Summer Camps and Programs

Penn has a variety of activities for children and students of all ages, including enrichment, academic, and athletic camps. Due to the changing nature of COVID-19, many camps may experience a change in dates or venues. Be sure to check the individual camp websites in this Almanac listing for updated information.

YMCA Summer Camp

Children can learn, grow, stretch, and explore this summer at a local YMCA day or overnight camp. Financial aid assistance is available for families and YMCA members can access a discounted rate.  Eligible Penn faculty and staff can access a membership discount to regional YMCAs. For more information about how to register, take a tour, COVID protocols, and other details, view the YMCA’s frequently asked questions.

To help ease the cost of your summer fun, Penn staff and faculty can check out YouDecide at Penn for access to hundreds of discounts on activities and events.

Tips for a Great Camp Experience

These Care.com articles offer practical advice on finding affordable summer camps.

• 14 Free or Cheap Summer Camp Options for 2022
• Summer Camp Cost: Breaking Down the Price of Day, Sleep-Away, and Specialty Camps
• Special Needs Summer Camps for Kids: What to Consider in Your Search

Care While You Work

While summertime means time off for the children, parents and guardians may still have to work outside of a traditional vacation. After the school year ends Penn is here to help you navigate your childcare needs with Care.com resources.

Penn’s Backup Care program offers benefits-eligible faculty and staff up to 10 days of backup child or adult care per fiscal year (July 1-June 30) through Care.com. Care can be offered in your home. Some of the cost is covered through a subsidy program based on your annual base salary and other factors such as the number of hours you arrange and the dependents’ special needs.

Care.com puts you in touch with professionals who meet your family’s specific needs and expectations. The Care.com team can help you find and hire caregivers through a personal assisted search. Call 855-781-1303 for more information. Also, don’t forget those four-legged members of the family. Use the Care.com portal to search for a pet sitter or dog walker.

Visit the Penn Childcare Resources and Support webpage for additional information about benefits and services for faculty and staff. 

Earth Week Wellness

We all depend on the Earth for almost every aspect of well-being, from the land we walk on, the air we breathe, and the food and water that sustain our lives. The recent Earth Week Wellness Walk and Campus Ecology Tour celebrated the benefits of Penn greenery in our lives. As Earth Week continues, faculty and staff still have many opportunities to join virtual and on-campus events designed to educate and inspire action for a healthier environment. These Penn Earth Week fitness classes, walks, and volunteer activities will get your body moving, while the lively discussions will strengthen your mind.

Volunteer at the Penn Park Farm
Wednesday, April 20 and Saturday, April 23
Penn Park Farm (240 S. 31 St.)

Celebrate nature by getting your hands in the soil and learning more about our organic, low-till farming practices. You'll help us plant, weed, harvest, and everything between. Register at the link above for a one-hour session. For more information on volunteering, check out @pennfoodandwellness  on Instagram or email emylee@upenn.edu.

Ethel Day Symposium: Unearthed History of Black Garden Clubs in America
Thursday, April 21, 11a.m. to 1p.m.
Online

African-American gardeners have contributed to the gardening paradigm, the beautification movement, and American history for centuries. This year marks the 90th anniversary of the Negro Garden Club of Virginia, which was a pivotal moment for African-American gardeners and their efforts to organize. In this one-day, two-hour virtual symposium hosted by Morris Arboretum, we celebrate and reflect on how that work impacts our communities today. Admission to this event is free with a PennCard.

Oceans at Risk with Fabien Cousteau
Thursday, April 21, 12p.m. to 1p.m.
Perry World House (3803 Locust Walk)

Covering 70% of the world’s surface, oceans are the world’s largest ecosystem, but they are at growing risk from climate change. Join us for a conversation between The New York Times reporter Lisa Friedman and famed ocean explorer Fabien Cousteau about the threats to our oceans and what can be done to preserve this lifeline for humanity.

Wellness Week: Yoga at Penn Park Farm
4 pm. to 5 p.m.
Penn Park Farm (3000 Walnut Street)

Join Penn Recreation and Penn Food and Wellness Collaborative for a special outdoor yoga class at the Penn Farm for Wellness Week. This class is free to all Penn Community members. Advanced registration is required. Please bring your own mat.

How Trees Speak to Us: The Human-Tree Connection
April 22, 12p.m. to 1:15 p.m.
Online

Where would we be without trees? Join us during lunch for a lively moderated panel discussion that will offer unique perspectives on this fascinating topic from professionals in horticulture, environmental history, and Philadelphia urban forestry. This event is hosted by Morris Arboretum & Penn Alumni.

UC Green Tree Planting
April 22, 10a.m. to 2p.m.
5100 Pine Street, Philadelphia, PA

Come help plant trees to support the greening of University City and its surrounding neighborhoods! Registered volunteers will meet at Malcolm X Park at 5100 Pine Street.

Wissahickon/Schuylkill Rivershed Cleanup
April 23, 8:30 a.m.
4900 Ridge Ave
5000 E. Flat Rock Rd, Philadelphia, PA

The Philadelphia Water Department, Penn Sustainability, SEAS Green Team and Philly Canoe Club are teaming up with you to clean up our city river banks along the Schuylkill River. If you need a ride or you would like to carpool from cleanup location, meet at Philly Canoe Club at 4900 Ridge Ave at 8:30 a.m. Volunteers can also go directly to 5000 E Flat Rock Rd, Philadelphia, PA 19127 by 9:30 a.m.

Walk for Water Fundraiser
April 24, 11a.m. to 1p.m.
Shoemaker Green (217 S 33rd St.)

Isla Urbana@Penn's second annual Walk for Water begins at Shoemaker Green with speakers and a t-shirt giveaway. Next, walk over to the ice rink for two hours of ice skating and pizza. Tickets are $10/person and will cover admission to the entire event. All of the proceeds will go towards fundraising for the installation of rainwater harvesting systems in Mexico City to help provide communities with access to clean, safe water.

Visit the Penn Sustainability website for more information about Earth Week and the University, including April’s 30x30 Challenge and other environmental initiatives and opportunities for faculty and staff participation.

Indoor Mask Requirement Resumes

The University recently announced an update to the on-campus masking policy in accordance with a policy change by the City of Philadelphia.

As of Monday, April 18, the University requires all members of and visitors to the Penn community to wear masks while indoors in public or shared spaces.

Exceptions to the masking requirement include single occupancy offices and shared spaces where 6-foot distancing can be maintained, with roommates in College Houses, and by permission in instructional settings for pedagogical reasons.

Visit https://coronavirus.upenn.edu/content/public-health-guidance for the latest updates and details.

A Season for Resilience

April in Philadelphia is filled with beauty in spite of the occasional frost. Sometimes, just when you think spring is here to stay or you hope things are back to normal, cold winds start to blow. During seasons of change, putting on your winter coat and face masks again gives you that extra protection to help you stay strong. On May 5, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., Human Resources popular virtual workshop, Radical Resilience: Ideas for Sustainable Life Balance, offers you other tools to help you bounce back.

In this interactive workshop, facilitator Amma Napier will discuss the term “anti-fragile,” coined by New York University professor Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Anti-fragile takes the idea of resilience to the next level by asserting that there are conditions whereby we are not only able to bounce back from adversity, but we become even stronger as a result.

“Resilience tools allow us to effectively deal with the inevitability of change,” says Napier, Senior Talent Development Consultant, HR Talent Development.

In the workshop participants will be given tools to increase their ability to be super-resilient and learn the three areas that help create conditions for anti-fragility:

1. Permission to Be Human. This refers to the need to recognize emotions, whether anxiety or gratitude. We must embrace difficult emotions in order to feel the positive ones. When we reject negative emotions, they grow stronger and we block the positive ones. We can deal with the entire spectrum of our emotions by crying, if needed, writing about them, or talking to someone about them.
2. Dealing with Stress. What allows us to continue to be energized even in the face of stress is time to recover from it. This applies to both physical and emotional stress and its effect on our mental and physical health. You can become energized through recovery by doing simple things such as taking a walk to get away from a stressful situation, getting a good night’s sleep, or taking a day off.
3. Relationships. A Harvard study that followed 700 individuals for 75 years found that the number one predictor of happiness and the number one predictor of health is relationships. These relationships can be with a partner, friend, extended family member, colleague, or someone else. Relationships should be close, intimate, supportive, and healthy. Forming and maintaining relationships virtually is okay, too, as long as the connections are deep, allowing each party to really talk about things that are important.

Participants will also learn the 3Rs of change that will help you become anti-fragile: Reminders, Repetition, and Rituals.

“Resilience is a practice built by incorporating new behaviors and perspectives into your life, and any behavior we want to make a habit or ritual requires practice and repetition, and often we need to have reminders to do that,” Napier says.

“It’s like making time for exercise.  We may need to put it on our calendar (remind ourselves) and make it a regular practice (repetition) to get the benefits of it.”

Register today for Radical Resilience: Ideas for Sustainable Life Balance and come out of difficult times empowered and ready to move forward.

For more professional development programs, visit the Learn & Grow section of the Human Resources website.  

Healthy Meals: Blueberry Avocado Smoothie

For a very delicious and nutritious treat, try a Blueberry Avocado Smoothie. Enjoy it as a quick and easy breakfast or refreshing snack on a hot summer day. Blueberries add the sweet, fruity flavor and avocado adds a creamy, smooth texture to this vitamin-rich, high fiber smoothie.

Click here to send us your healthy recipes and tips.

Makes 1 Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened milk of choice

½ cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt

1 cup frozen blueberries

½ ripe avocado

½ cup baby spinach

1 teaspoon agave nectar or pure maple syrup

Instructions:

Combine ingredients in a high-powered blender and blend until smooth.

Transfer to a glass, top with any toppings of choice and enjoy!

Pro Tip: Using frozen fruit in a smoothie not only eliminates the need for ice, but ensures you are getting an abundance of nutrients, regardless of if the fruit is in season or not!  

Meet With a Registered Dietitian Today!

• One-on-one, virtual nutrition counseling
• 100% covered under many insurance plans and available to spouses and dependents
• Simple Sign Up Process – Visit Penn’s Corporate Wellness Nutrition’s Sign Up page, provide your information and a customer service team member will reach out in one to two business days to book your appointment.

Did You Know: Benefits Open Enrollment Ends April 29

Penn’s annual Benefits Open Enrollment ends Friday, April 29, at 5 p.m. Don’t miss your opportunity to make changes to your health plans, life insurance, and flexible spending accounts for the 2022-2023 plan year. To learn more about your options, visit the Open Enrollment web page. You can also register for the April 26 virtual benefits presentation, which includes question-and-answer time with Penn Benefits staff.