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ListenOn May 23, I attended a retirement symposium in honor of Karen VanderVen, Professor University of Pittsburgh. It was a very moving event attended by her family, Pittsburgh faculty, and many of her colleagues from across several fields, who spoke about the impact her work had on them and their work with children, youth, and families. Her impact has been enormous. Fortunately, as Karen put it, “I am retiring but I am not quitting.”
I have known her since the 1970s, and like many others consider her a contemporary pioneer and leader in the development of Child and Youth Care practice and the profession of Child and Youth Care. She is truly a big name in the field, but she has never acted like a big name.
She has always been there to lead and work with us side by side. An optimist, her glass is always more than half full.
For those few readers of CYC-Online who do not know Karen, she is not only one of our most prolific writers but one of our best. In her column here in the online magazine and her other academic and informal writing she has constantly challenged, encouraged, and evoked us to take a fresh look at the work.
An activist, from her “soapbox,” she has spoken out in favor of activities and life span care and against the stifling nature of point and level systems. In numerous articles and books she has shown us new ways to look at developmental and relational Child and Youth Care. She was one of the first to encourage us to look at postmodernism and chaos theory applications to practice. Karen was also an instrumental member of the team to develop competencies for certification in Child and Youth Care work in the US and Canada. She has spoken at too many conferences to name, represented the US in international arenas, edited Child and Youth Care journals, and in general been present with her positive spirit wherever she has been needed. No one has done more for the field. (Google her and see all the riches she has given us.)
I always think of her as our brilliant, playful academic. When it comes to activities, she walks the talk. She plays basketball, scuba dives, and collects shells to name just a few of her favorite leisure time activities. Often when I see her we toss the ball around, physically, and metaphorically in our conversations about the field.
When I was asked to write a poem to present at the symposium, I had these and many other images of Karen and her work in my mind. One of the most memorable was her story about her childhood and how she became a Child and Youth Care worker. It was called My Origins in Child and Youth Care: The 4 C’s Pathway, which was published in the 1992 edition of The Journal of Child and Youth Care Work. In the article she spoke about how she knew at an early age she wanted to do something like Child and Youth Care. I remembered several parts of the story including the books and magazines her parents left around the house that spoke to a life in human services, a ball she through over a building, and the way she stood up for others in school. Thus with these and many other images in mind this poem more or less came out in free verse:
Poem for Karen
A ball flies over a roof and a
a Child and Youth Care worker
lands on the other side
A tiger and staunch defender
of playmates and scapegoats
From books around the house
and magazines on a table
to journals on a desk
a bounce pass
turning
on itself behind the back
between the legs
and into
the hoop swish
A dervish of
ideas and play
Twisting, doing, becoming
what is done, ever
changing
From a soapbox to a workshop,
shells
beneath
the sea like pearls of wisdom
uncovered in the fresh
water
of a fluid mind
Steps and strokes forward,
not back against the injustice
and swell of
point and level systems
Firsts, then and now,
a pen
to paper
the hand that threw the ball
and separated the water
Careers in a field where
you can you play
and get
paid for it
An ear that hears it deep
always there
listening
to move together beyond
basics in new contexts
The unknown in plain language
always developmental
always activity Chaos
and postmodernism
takes two to play
the
more the merrier
Opens the door, invites
come in get wet
learn
to swim in the waters
of curiosity be in the
game of
hoop dreams
with Karen
Play with the
the girl
who knew
back then what she
wanted to be
And
remember
it’s only halftime
in life span care
the break ends
as soon as this
event is over
Thank you Karen for sharing your words, voice, friendship, play, and life with us.
