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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-08-10-CCTF-rpt Site Visit Community Center Task Force Visit Date: August 10,2011 Site Visited North Andover Youth Center 33 Johnson St, N Andover Members in Betty Borghesam, People Visited Rick Gorman, Executive Attendance: Laura Hussong Director Web site for Youth Center: http•//www nayouth coin/loseph-n -hermann-youth-center html Exterior Tour We began our visit with a tour outside The building itself consists of what looks like a brown barn connected to a white farmhouse, and contains 18,000 sq ft of program space, built on four acres of land (Betty do you remember the story of the land acquisition?) is in what has become the center of town It is within walking distance of the middle school and three elementary schools, but it is about a mile to the high school The town runs and pays for a shuttle bus five days per week that goes to and from schools/library/Youth Center/YMCA from 2-6pm Middle schoolers come every day, as if it is their club High schoolers come for a particular purpose, such as weight lifting or leadership Friday is the biggest use day, staff think every middle schooler comes to hang out until 6pm typically Two Fridays each month there is a middle school dance, and the kids will be there until 9pm The grounds are lovely, built into a hill and having a basketball court with lights, a supervised skate park, beach volleyball, and a town-owned children's public playground that the Center helps to maintain There are bathrooms outside and accessible The basketball courts and skate park cost $25,000 to build and were donated by a local contractor Money for the lights came from CPA funds, but that would no longer be an acceptable use of CPA money since the laws have changed Site Visit Community Center Task Force Cost to build The building cost $2 5 million to build in 2000, and an additional $250,000 to outfit with computers, weight room, furniture etc Of that total, $975,000 came from the town The town defeated two debt exclusions before they passed it on the third try In 1988 Rick ran the Youth Services Department He had a vision for a youth center, and spent seven years raising money The current town financial contribution to the operating budget is to cover the cost of full time staff, heat and electricity for the building This comes to $275,000 right now Employees During the summer there are 113 paid employees From September to May, there are 32 high school aged employees working between 6 and 26 hours per week They give kids in North Andover jobs! Interior Tour— First Floor Building tour Reception area checks in members (you must be a member to just hang out) Events are open to members and non-members alike, with members paying a higher fee Every room has surveillance cameras on 24 hours / day Members check in with their bar code fob, so the Center know when every kid arrives, though not when he/she leaves The reception area is the only one where they can have food There is a kitchen, and they hold cookmg classes, and a small sales operation that the high school kids run called "Grandstand" This is very popular with everyone, and it functions as a paying job for the HS kids There are also two vending machines Pepsi has a contract and so there are sugary sodas for sale The other machine sells things like chips It's not ideal, but through that relationship Pepsi has paid for backstops and other gym equipment On this same floor there is a game room that should be bigger, and is being renovated right now Continuing on this floor we pass the restrooms, right across from the beautiful gym They decided not to put lockers and showers in these bathrooms because kids don't like to shower in front of each other at this age, but the bathroom stalls are big enough for them to change into their gym clothes The weight/fitness room is always supervised There are 4-5 HS kids whose job is this supervision It is open to kids 14 and over, so 8th grade and up Site Visit Community Center Task Force The gym is inside the barn building The inner wall is all glass, and allows complete supervision of activities in it There is a climbing wall at one end (Cost $12,000) They play volleyball and basketball, have dances and the annual fund raiser For dances, they have carpets that are rolled out to protect the wood floors Carpets are inspected annually There is no air conditioning m the gym, though the big barn doors at either end can open up The rest of the facility is air conditioned Interior Tour. Second Floor There are 4 offices on the upper level, and a conference room for private meetings or groups There is a lounge area with couches and beanbag chairs and a big screen tv There is also a table with chairs in the back of that space, originally for tutoring/homework, but they find that kids don't come there to do their homework They are reevaluating this space The lounge overlooks the basketball court There is a supervised computer room that has brand new XBox/Playstation equipment. There are 3 gaming units and 10 computers for doing homework. The computer use rules are. no facebook, twitter, email. Gaming or homework are the only permissible activities, infractions get a kid banned from the room, so they don't happen often. Employee liason to schools There is a FT employee (Michelle) who does informal counseling with MS girls She works very closely with the schools, and next year will spend 75% of her time in the schools She is a liason to town counseling services Rick described a "triangle effort" of the Chief of Police, Rick and the Superintendent of Schools The last room is a "multi-purpose" room with a wood floor and mirrors There is a Wii and they have zoomba classes and sometimes a band for a dance This room is sometimes rented out because of its versatility. Rick notes that "kids are fickle" and change their minds a lot about what they want to do He and his staff meet with them and let them come up with programs they would like There are 3300 kids serviced winter and summer. In the summer there are 700 kids in the summer program for grades 1-5. Site Visit Community Center Task Force There are 1100 kids who come as non-members, even when it would be cheaper for them to join! The population of North Andover is 30,000 with about 4,500— 5,000 kids Rick was a DSS social worker in 1988, but then there were two 7th grade suicides in 1998 He started working with school guidance counselors, and he wanted to do more outreach In 1988 all the youth programs were spread out all over town in 19 different buildings Now all programs are in only 3 buildings, and more kids are attending Many kids attend on an everyday basis because they think of the Center as their home Other The town of North Andover provides basic custodial services daily, but the Center staff keep it clean themselves All program staff (and these are often high school students) are expected to clean up after their programs by vacuuming and dusting Everyone takes pride in the building, and they feel it is their job to keep it clean. There are two major non-profit institutions in North Andover that contribute directly to the well being of the town Merrimack College bought a bus for the town, and Brooks School donates ice time and bought a police cruiser They are also contributors to the Center The Center meets regularly with other service providers in town. There is a YMCA, but they don't provide adolescent services, and so do not overlap with the Center. There is a commitment to collaboration that Rick says keeps the relationship productive. For instance, the Y recently held a youth 3-on-3 basketball tournament. Rick recommends that we talk to Bill Fahey, the director of Youth Services in Andover, about youth programming Other uses of space The Center is closed on Sundays, and it is often rented out for basketball tournaments in the gym From October through April mornings, there is a free walking club for seniors in the gym For adults, there are morning women's fitness and yoga classes in the multipurpose room.