MEXICO – Youths and adults decided about a year ago that teens needed someplace safe to go to have fun or just hang out with friends.
The Youth Resource Team, together with a group of young people anxious to help make something happen, got together and created a teen center.
That center, now known as the Teen Scene, opened last month in the former cafeteria of the Mexico Recreation Center.
Heather Williams, a senior at Mountain Valley High School, was one of a small group of teens who put her actions behind her desire for someplace to go. She spent many hours cleaning and painting the old cafeteria.
“We needed a place,” she said Friday night as she prepared to shoot a game of pool. “Maybe the more we’re open, the more people will come.”
The center is open from 5 to 8 p.m. every Friday, thanks to volunteers from the resource team. If more interest is shown and volunteers step forward, the center will be open longer hours.
The project was launched with a grant from the Maine Office of Substance Abuse to the River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition, said Stephanie Thompson, the youth coordinator for healthy communities.
Furniture, a pool table, a Ping-Pong table, a variety of games, a television and many other items were donated by individuals for use by the young people. And soon, said Melissa Wakefield, a youth team volunteer, two computers will be set up for the teens to use to write papers or do other homework. She said walls must be built so the computers can be locked up when no one is there.
Brianna Shaw, a freshman at Mountain Valley High School, started coming when her cousin invited her.
“I’m not into extra-curriculum activities, so this is pretty fun,” she said as she stepped onto a dance mat and tried to keep up with the directions coming from a dance tape.
David Gerrish, a junior at the high school, made his first visit Friday night.
“It’s something to do,” he said.
The town of Mexico allows the group to use the space rent-free, said Thompson.
“We want them to have a safe and fun environment,” she said.
The center is open to all River Valley young people ages 14 to 18.
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