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We are happy to announce that we will be offering adult tennis lessons again starting on September 20th.

The 5-week Fall Social Adult classes are offered in two sessions each week, in Albany and Schenectady.
The first session kicks off with the Fall Social Adult Classes beginning Wednesday, September 20th from 5:30 – 7:00 PM at Westland Hills Park in Albany, using a ball progression format.
Adults will have the option to learn to play in a regular or red ball format.
The second session - Fall Social Adult Family Tennis Class on Saturday, September 23. The Family Class for ages 4 to adults is from 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM at Michigan Ave. Park in Schenectady.
This Family Class is a beginner class for adults and kids to learn alongside each other using a ball progression format, including red, orange, green and yellow balls. Red, orange, and green balls use a smaller court and slower-bouncing balls. These three ball formats are geared toward new tennis players, which allows them to grasp the fundamentals of tennis at their own pace, including grips, preparation, swing path and ball placement.
We encourage families to come out to play together, but adults are welcome to come by themselves and learn. Kids must attend with an adult. Kids will learn together, and adults will learn together.
The cost to attend each session is $25 per adult for the 5-week program (kids are free). No refunds will be given.

Racquets are available for a $20 suggested donation. If you need a racquet, please email us prior to class and we'll have it ready for you (racquets may be used).
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Hannaford Selects 15-LOVE for
Bloomin' 4 Good Program for September
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15-LOVE has been selected by the Store Leadership Team to receive $1 from every specially marked Bloomin' 4 Good bouquet sold during the month of September 2023 at:
Hannaford
900 Central Avenue, Century II Mall, Albany NY
Thank you in advance for your support!
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15- LOVE Celebrates 34th
Summer of Programming
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by Florinda Gypi
View Summer Program photos on Facebook
15-LOVE held its first-ever indoor Jamboree on August 10th at its office. The significant event that celebrates the end of summer tennis and educational programs is normally held at Washington Park in Albany, but true to this summer’s record-breaking wet weather, rain kept us indoors.
Structured around five core pillars, our programming includes Tennis, Literacy, Healthy Living, College Prep, and STEM, providing a very active and educational summer experience for the kids enrolled in the program.
Our tennis instructors, who have received extensive training, have been teaching outdoor tennis at sites located in Albany, Schenectady, Troy and Rensselaer from the end of June-August. This summer, we added two new classes associated with tennis: An adaptive class at various sites—which included our instructors teaching tennis to an entire class while still focusing and responding to individual student’s needs. Through a partnership between 15-LOVE and the Albany City School District, we worked with 12 adaptive classes at Albany School of Humanities (ASH) this summer. It was a rewarding program for all involved and we learned a great deal.
Secondly, throughout this summer, 15-LOVE also offered a high school fundamentals class in order to give the opportunity to various students wishing to try out for their Middle School and High School tennis teams a little advantage.
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Moving on to the educational front, our students who were enrolled in the Literacy, STEM, and Gardening classes, had the opportunity of participating in a lot of activities which have been mainly taking place in the 15-LOVE office.
STEM classes were held every Monday with our representative from the SUNY Polytechnic Institute, where students, besides theoretically being delivered lessons, got hands-on practice in a lot of science experiments under the supervision of our summer education team.
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Literacy classes combined with gardening lessons took place every Wednesday. The weekly-delivered literacy lessons consisted of a different book to read each week, followed by lessons, group discussions, and creative activities related to the day’s reading.
Then literacy classes were followed up by gardening lessons. Children were able to see freshly planted vegetables growing in the 15-LOVE garden every week and pick their own vegetables from the garden for the day’s recipe. Printed recipes and healthy living tips were distributed weekly to the children in the 15-LOVE office and to all participants at tennis courts.
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“Summer here at 15-LOVE can only be described as organized chaos, with the main purpose being keeping our kids safe, active, learning and having fun,” said Amber Marino, Executive Director.
“All of our instructors, summer education team members, and staff, do their best to deliver quality programming and act as positive role models for our youth participants, in order for their experience here to be healthy, educational and enjoyable,” said Marino.
All the participants who attended the Jamboree were able to participate in carnival-type games with 15-LOVE instructors, get school supplies, a 15-LOVE t-shirt, reusable cooler bag (thanks to Albany County!), books, fresh herbs & veggies from our garden, and pick up clothes and other items we had available. Importantly, they were able to say good bye and thank you to their instructors and friends made during the summer. The Jamboree is always a great way to end our summer program and prepare our kids for a successful school year ahead!
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Meet the Rest of the 15-LOVE
Summer Instructors
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We couldn’t fit all our instructors in last month's issue! Meet the rest of the crew:
Please note the correction below to Josiah and Noah Spivey's profile photos, which were switched around last month.
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Lila Boukarim - Tennis Instructor
1. Where are you from? Troy, NY

2. Where do you go to school? And what are you studying? I am going into my Junior year at Binghamton University and I am Studying Psychology and Education!
3. What do you want to do with your degree? I want to become a school counselor or school psychologist.
4. What do you hope to gain from your experience at 15 LOVE? I hope to gain knowledge on how to work with the differing abilities and learning needs of students and how to make learning as fun as possible!
5. Tell us something that you think many people may not know about you, or you want people to know about you? I used to live in Lebanon and Qatar!
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Stanley Cornell
1. Where are you from? I am from Albany.
2. Where do you go to school? And what are you studying? I entering 10th grade at Albany highschool.
3. What do you want to do with your degree? Undecided on degree yet and plans after highschool.
4. What do you hope to gain from your experience at 15 LOVE? I hope to give back to the program and help the 15 love participants of today have fun in the program as I once did when I was a younger student.

5. Tell us something that you think many people may not know about you, or you want people to know about you? As a participant in 15 Love for many years I have had many fun experiences and memories like when I was given the chance to go to the US open and hit on Arthur Ashe stadium and watch many good tennis matches which made for a very fun and memorable
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Jennifer Lalman - Tennis Instructor
1. Where are you from? Schenectady, NY
2. Where do you go to school? Schenectady High School
3. What do you want to do with your degree? Although I haven’t decided yet, I know I want to pursue a degree in science or psychology.
4. What do you hope to gain from your experience at 15-LOVE? Not only do I hope to gain tennis skills, but I also hope to meet new people and further my communication skills through my experience with 15-LOVE.
5. Tell us something that you think many people may not know about you, or you want people to know about you? I’ve been a part of 15-LOVE since I was 4 years old
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Ben Marino - Tennis Instructor
1. Where are you from? Guilderland, NY
2. Where do you go to school? Guilderland HS going into 11th grade.
3. What do you want to do with your degree? I want to go to college after high school.
4. What do you hope to gain from your experience at 15-LOVE? I hope to gain experience working with kids.
5. Tell us something that you think many people may not know about you, or you want people to know about you? An interesting experience, memory etc. My family owns Marino’s Pizza at 1301 St. Street Schenectady, NY
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Micarha Semper - Tennis Instructor
1. Where are you from? I am from Schenectady, NY.
2. Where do you go to school? Through a partnership with Schenectady High School and SUNY Schenectady Community College I am taking college classes full time at SCCC to get an associates degree in Science with a concentration in Biology.
3. What do you want to do with your degree? I hope to transfer some or all of my credits to a 4 year institution to work towards a masters degree or higher in Biochemistry.
4. What do you hope to gain from your experience at 15-LOVE? I hope to continue developing my communication and leadership skills. Teaching this summer has definitely helped improve both of those skills.
5. Tell us something that you think many people may not know about you, or you want people to know about you? An interesting experience, memory etc. Something many people may not know is that I have been playing the violin for around ten years.
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Hasan Serville- Tennis Instructor
1. Where are you from? Scranton, PA.
2. Where do you go to school? And what are you studying? HVCC, studying Computer Science with a focus on Web Development.
3. What do you want to do with your degree? I want to land a job with a successful tech company.
4. What do you hope to gain from your experience at 15-LOVE? I want to build connections, and improve in all aspects of who I am.
5. Tell us something that you think many people may not know about you, or you want people to know about you? An interesting experience, memory etc. I grew up playing Badminton, and took it pretty competitively, which is a big reason I started Tennis and became a part of 15-LOVE.
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Mohammed Saif Shahabuddeen - Tennis Instructor
1. Where are you from? Schenectady NY
2. Where do you go to school? And what are you studying? Siena College, Engineering
3.What do you want to do with your degree? Aerospace Engineering
4. What do you hope to gain from your experience at 15-LOVE? Have built connections with other people
5. Tell us something that you think many people may not know about you, or you want people to know about you? An interesting experience, memory etc. I graduated high school with an advanced regents diploma and an associates degree in math and science.
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Noah Spivey - Tennis Instructor
1. Where are you from? Schenectady,NY
2. Where do you go to school? Schenectady High School
3. What do you want to do with your degree? I am still in High School.
4. What do you hope to gain from your experience at 15-LOVE? I hope to gain leadership and communication skills.
5. Tell us something that you think many people may not know about you, or you want people to know about you? An interesting experience, memory etc. I started playing tennis when I was 4 years old.
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Josiah Spivey - Tennis Instructor
1. Where are you from? Schenectady,NY
2. Where do you go to school? And what are you studying? Hudson Valley Community College. I am studying Construction

3. What do you want to do with your degree? Build residential homes
4. What do you hope to gain from your experience at 15-LOVE? Experience as a worker, teaching kids skills that I’m learning.
5. Tell us something that you think many people may not know about you, or you want people to know about you? An interesting experience, memory etc. Growing up in 15-LOVE helped make me the person I am today.
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JJ Dalzel - Tennis Instructor | Connor Macky-Lovely - Tennis Instructor | Mohammed Saeed Shahabuddeen - Tennis Instructor | |
Thank you for considering a gift to 15-LOVE! 15-LOVE (Capital Region Youth Tennis Foundation, Inc) is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization. All purchases made from this list for the organization are tax deductible to the extent permissible by law. | | | | |
