Abby Nadeau
Community Editor

Where do Forest Lake teens go if they don’t participate in organized school sports? What if neither the speech team nor mock trial interests them?

Where to do Forest Lake teens go if they just want to hang out with their friends, maybe do some homework, play video games, pool or ping pong?

Where do they go?

For years, Independent School District 831 community and youth development Director Kathy Bystrom had been asking herself those questions, but with no real answers.

But in 2002 Bystrom found the perfect idea to appeal to students who were either not interested, or could not afford, after-school-sponsored activities.

Bystrom, along with other school officials, created the Forest Lake Teen Center.

The center was designed for students who wanted more options when it came to after school activities, beyond volleyball, basketball, drumline or debate.

And over the last five years the Teen Center has seen hundreds of area teens pass through its doors; in the 2007 season alone, over 300 teens passed through its doors.

However, the center that has made a home for several Forest Lake teens is threatening closure if at least $13,000 is not raised in the next month.

Teen Center hopes

In early July 2002 ISD 831, in a 6-0 vote, gave the Teen Center a green light.

The idea of the Teen Center, created by Dan Poepard, director of community services at the time, and Bystrom, was to focus on the time right after school, from 3 to 6 p.m. when most students are left alone at home.

Bystrom said many parents do not get home until 5 or 6 p.m. even though their children are coming home between 2:30 and 3 p.m.

“Research points to the time period between three and six in the evening when kids are most at risk,” Bystrom said. “Our idea was to create options for those who weren’t interested in the organized sports or activities.”

Therefore, the Teen Center was designed as an after school program that runs from 3 to 6 p.m. for students in grades seven to nine.

To make it even easier, students don’t pay a nickle to attend the center, nor do they need transportation.

Students take a bus from their designated school, whether they are at Century or Southwest Jr. High, the high school, North Lakes Academy or the Alternative Learning Center, and are bused from their school to the Central Learning Center for free.

No parents or guardians are needed to drive the students, which makes the program more accessible.

While at the Teen Center students have many different options on how to spend their time. Students can just relax, talk, play pool, air hockey, Xbox or any games.

If students want to be more active there is an open gym available to play a pick-up game of basketball or volleyball.

Or, students can simply work on homework with their friends. The options are open and endless.

Gary Goolsbee, a mental health therapist at Human Services Inc., said the Teen Center “provides a structure where kids can succeed.”

He said that the Teen Center appeals to kids who are not involved in school activities and sports.

“For some it’s a place they’ve made friends that they haven’t found anywhere else,” Goolsbee said. “It’s for a segment of kids where [the center] is the sole place, out of their home, that they can go.”

Goolsbee said that parents are attracted to the Teen Center because they “find it to be a safe place because it is supervised.”

“The families I’ve worked with have seen the benefits of attending the Teen Center,” Goolsbee said.

However, as much as the parents and students may value the Teen Center, it doesn’t change the fact that the center is failing financially.

Financial

Insecurities

When the Teen Center first opened funding for the center was to be supported by funding from all the youth programs together.

Bystrom said some youth programs bring in more revenue than others and those programs’ revenue stream brings in enough to support other programs that may be lacking.

But in the last couple years the method of funding for youth programs has changed and now the Teen Center must be able to support itself; a task that has proven daunting, especially since the center does not charge the students who attend.

At least $20,000 is needed annually to keep the Teen Center up and running on a weekly basis during the school year.

“The $20,000 supports the ‘day to day’ costs of running the Teen Center,” Bystrom said. “It doesn’t allow for new equipment and it doesn’t allow us to get equipment repaired.”

Bystrom said that approximately $7500 has been raised throughout the year, but has not seen the additional $13,000 that would be needed just to keep it open.

“I’ve had a stronger mandate this year to make sure the revenue is there,” Bystrom said. “If the revenue is not found, the Teen Center will close.”

While the option to charge students is there, Bystrom believes charging the students even a $1 is counter productive.

Kody Angell, a sophomore at the Forest Lake High School, attended the Teen Center when he was in Jr. high and is now working as a volunteer for the center.

“Money is extremely tight in my house and I would not be able to come [if they started charging],” Angell said.

Bystrom said that by charging the students, a clerical position would be created. She said someone would have to track the revenue and keep up with all the paper work that goes along with it.

“I am whole-heartedly opposed to start charging students,” Bystrom said. “We wouldn’t be helping those kids in that environment if we did.”

Bystrom is now looking to the community to support a Teen Center that has become a home for so many teens. And in the past, the community has come through.

Community

Support

In 2005 the Upperdeck Bar and Grill spearheaded an effort to raise at least $10,000 to keep the Teen Center open. The effort made by the Upperdeck, and then owner Bo Bogotty, raised over $22,000 for the center.

The following year, the effort raised roughly $8300.

Bystrom said the Teen Center has always depended on community support, whether financial or not, but she recognizes that times are tough for everyone.

“If they [community] has a rough year there is a trickle down effect,” Bystrom said.

Like some local businesses who have had to change their method of donations, so has the Teen Center changed to try and cut costs.

The Teen Center, which first operated Monday through Friday, has made significant changes to save costs.

Originally, the center was to be kept open from September to the end of May, five days a week from 2:30 to 6 p.m. To cut costs the Center doesn’t open until October and closes in the middle of May. The hours have been cut to 3-5:30 p.m. and the center is only open Monday through Thursday.

The Teen Center once offered dances that included a DJ to MC the evening. Since there has been a decline in revenue the number of dances offered has declined.

Bystrom also said that although the center has not been able to add staff, volunteers have stepped up to help with supervising.

But through all the trials of the Teen Center, one thing has remained the same.

Students are still attending the center and more are joining every year.

Changing futures

According the Teen Center Supervisor Chad Ruter and participants, the need for a center in the community is evident.

Josie Barron, a junior at FLHS, said simply “there is no where else to go.”

She said that with the bowling alley closed and with movies being expensive, there is really no place for teens to hang out.

Barron, who has been with the Teen Center since it opened, first started attending after friends encouraged her to come. Now she volunteers her time to help students the way she was helped.

“It [the center] has helped me mature and has pushed me in the direction I want to take in the future,” Barron said.

Barron has plans to work with children and teens in the future, much like the position Ruter holds with the youth programs.

Smiling she said she would love to “take over Chad’s job or something.”

Angell echoed Barron saying, “the center has given me lots of experience and has helped me grow. I realized the world doesn’t revolve around me. It has been a big part of my life.”

Bystrom said both teens have changed over the years they have attended the Teen Center and she has enjoyed watching them grow.

Angell added, “being here isn’t about the food and games, it’s about the people. Some people don’t like to go home.”

To learn how to help the Teen Center contact Youth Development Coordinator Kathy Bystrom at 651-982-8391 or Teen Center Supervisor Chat Ruter at 651-982-8328.

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