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***image1***The location is definitely prime real estate, but it’s not everything for the new teen center on Vogelweh.
It opened June 8 to a crowd of teenagers anxious to see their new
space, located conveniently next to the Vogelweh Community Center. The
old one was located on Vogelweh Housing, far away from the teens’
school and workplace.
“I think it’s cool,” said Guillermo Lopez, 16, from Kaiserslautern
American High School. “They got a lot of cool stuff, and it looks very
interesting.”
Tristan Dunson, 13, from Wichita Falls, Texas, is spending his second
summer here visiting his dad, Tech. Sgt. Norm Dunson, from U.S. Air
Forces in Europe.
“This year is going to be better,” he said. “It’s bigger space. It
looks better. There’s an internet room. There are games. There’s
everything.”
Everything is not too much of an exaggeration. Jacki Proctor, the 431st
Services youth program director, can easily rattle off what the new
center has to offer.
“There’s a kitchen, homework, socializing, gaming, arts and crafts,
dancing and garage band areas,” she said. “This will be a base;
activities will not just take place here.”
That’s where it gets close to everything because it depends on the teens.
“They (the teens) really drive the direction of this teen center,” said Ms.
Proctor. “We’re at a good threshold where we are just open for about
anything.” Anything includes programs and activities carried over from
Vogelweh Housing such as Teen Cuisine, Garage Band 101, a monthly event
at Skate Express and field trips. Again, it depends on what the teens
want, said Ms. Proctor.
They do this through the Keystone Club, which Ms. Proctor described as
a teen advisory committee where they help decide the direction of their
facility. And, the center is still a member organization with the 4-H
Club, and Boys and Girls Clubs of America, which means the teens can
enjoy all the activities and programs that come with those affiliations.
“We will have all kinds of recreational, adventure, career and development, and educational programs,” said Ms. Proctor.
