Dozens of community members gathered at Centennial Park in Paso Robles on Saturday to celebrate the opening of the city’s new Teen Center, part of a city goal to improve after-school support for local students.
The Center will officially open to students on Monday.
“I’m really excited to see how this place has a positive impact on the community,” said Praise Namuleme, City of Paso Robles Youth Commission Chairperson.
It will be open Monday through Thursday after school until 5 p.m.
“Our primary goal was to reactivate our Youth Commission and then provide services for teens,” said Lynda Plescia, City of Paso Robles Recreation Services Manager.
The Teen Center has video games, air hockey, board games, and more. It will be monitored by staff at all times.
“We knew that we wanted to provide services for teens and then when we started interviewing our youth commissioners, they all identified after-school teen programming as a high priority,” Plescia said.
Namuleme is the city’s Youth Commission Chairperson and a senior at Mission Prep High School.
She says she knows what it’s like to want a place to hang out after school.
“I was kind of left on my own. It was always my friends and I trying to coordinate things but we never really had a place to hang out,” Namuleme said.
She says the opening of the Teen Center means a lot to her.
“I wish I had a greater chance to participate with other teenagers outside of a school environment,” Namuleme said.
She says this is a good opportunity to be more engaged with her peers in the community.
“To learn from them, to share new ideas and to debate freely,” she continued.
Funding came from the Paso Robles Recreation Foundation, Justin Vineyards & Winery, and Townsend Public Affairs.
“The budget for the project so far is a little over $30,000,” Plescia said.
Many are excited for what is to come.
“Now we have a great place to invite others to start great ideas to inspire community services,” Namuleme said.
If you want to support the new Teen Center you can reach out to the City of Paso Robles Recreation Services.
Donations for the Teen Center can be made on the Paso Robles Recreation Foundation’s website.
