In the Fall of 2006 I began putting feet to the vision I had when I arrived at Wellspring Community Church in Ohio. You see upon my first visit to Ohio I happened upon this place called Rave movie theatre and saw what must have been about 100 to 200 youth just hanging out. I thought to myself, "There has to be a better place for them to hang out?” Upon accepting the position at Wellspring I encountered a place called the Underground which was a wildly successful teen hot spot off of 275, I pondered why more students did not go there to hang out and found through a very non-scientific focus group that teens thought it was to far away, that it seemed to be place to be on the weekends but not weekdays. Most teens said they’d only gone because they liked the bands that were playing. I also visited an up and coming teen center in Springboro called, The Garage. Seth was very transparent with me and shared, the good, bad and the ugly of teen center life. One thing was apparent after that meeting… it was making an impact.
I was also rattled that school year as a young lady attempted to take her life at Lakota East High School. I realized that our teens are not immune to tragedy, hurts and depression just because we live in the suburbs of middle America. Ten years later we now know what mass tragedies were on the horizon for Americas schools. Teens can escape face to face conversations through social media, cell phones and video games. I wanted to create a space where they would encounter people that would listen to their needs, concerns, problems and dreams without fear of being judged or ridiculed. Don’t get me wrong teachers, administrators and counselors are there but they can only do so much! This drove me to rally other adults to create a space where teens and adults could connect in creative ways and share their lives together. A place where adults could give their lives to impacting teens, a generational center where a life from one generation meets the new generation.
So in September of 2006 I put together a proposal for our leadership at Wellspring explaining the necessity of a teen center in Liberty Township. Upon evaluating and discussing this proposal I was tasked to do further research. So for the next year I interviewed, visited and discussed teen centers with anyone who had anything to do with one throughout the nation. I discovered three prevailing tendencies of a successful teen center. It had to:
- be within walking distance of the school
- have huge support and communication between the teen center director and school administration.
- have a teen voice who help make decisions about activities and programs within the center.
So loaded with these prevailing factors and a plethora of other info I presented this info at our annual senior leader retreat and was warmly welcomed and approved to be part of a fundraising effort at the end of 2007.
Our vision was to provide high school students with a diverse, youth-driven teen center dedicated to creating life-on-life mentoring, relationship with caring adults through community service, social activities, counseling, tutoring, and life skills development.
Upon raising the money for EDGE through generous donations time, money and resources. Axis Teen Centers was established as a not for profit 501(c)(3) and would oversee the Edge and future teen center locations within walking distance of area schools focused on empowering students to impact the world through interaction with caring adults, social activities, life skills courses, counseling services and community service program. Over the 18 months much was accomplished, including:
- Creating a Teen Center Advisory Group that meet from January through June to create the framework for Axis and Edge Teen Center. The group consisted of Wellspring members, student, and local community leaders;
- Organized a focus group comprised of teenagers to gain insight and name the first center;
- Organizational infrastructure was developed and implemented including, mission and vision statements, project plan, capital, cash flow and operating budgets, program charters, policy and procedures program;
- A Board of Directors was established comprised of Wellspring and local community leaders;
- Developed and launched a funding campaign comprised of corporate, individual, foundation and grant funding raising over $40,000 in funding;
- Created alliances with Butler County United Way and West Chester Liberty Community Foundation to advocate for the teen center and supply resources to assist in early development;
- Designed and selected Edge Teen Center site located in between Lakota East High School and Freshman Campus providing easy access for students;
- Gained support from Lakota School District especially from Mike Taylor, Superintendent and Dr. Keith Kline, LEHS Principal.
- Designed and completed an assessment of LEHS student needs through a survey given to over 2,000 LEHS students;
- Began build out of the first teen center through financial, in-kind donations and many volunteers both within Wellspring and from our community;
- Created community interest and support through public relations and media information opportunities.
- Analyzed the survey conducted at LEHS to determine how will use the information in developing programs, communicating the results to the community and grant writing;
- Aggressively pursued funding through corporate, individual, foundation and grant venues;
- Finalized the design and implementation plan for the programs that will be offered to the teens;
- Finalized operating policy and procedures;
- Generated curiosity and interest by local teens;
- Recruit and secure volunteers to help run the teen center;
- Design Opening Day campaign and publicize to the teens and community
On March 7, 2009 Edge opened it’s doors to the community and over 500 teens and adults came to check it out. We were finally up and running!
Over the years we have had thousands of students come through the doors, tens of thousands complete community service hours. We have had many board members come and go, numerous teen center managers come and go, my apologies for not naming you all. I don’t even volunteer there as much as I use to and have even since stopped going as frequently, However I’m always proud of the way our little community made this happen. All thanks should actually go to a few couples, the Yablonsky’s and Ricca’s! They put a lot of sweat equity and money into this place. They along with Annie Droege and the small board they had at the time, brought about funding, fundraisers, community involvement, programming, grants, partnerships, Americorp and many other programs. It absolutely blows me away! It is no longer JUST a safe place for students to hang out… it’s a place where high school students encounter a diverse, youth-driven teen center dedicated to creating life-on-life mentoring, relationship with caring adults through community service, social activities, counseling, tutoring, and life skills development!
At yesterdays 10th birthday, when a surgeon walked up to Brenda and I and said, “I’m interested in mentoring students." I fought to hold back my emotions. WE (volunteers, board members, staff, community leaders and business men and woman, past and present) have truly created a place where teens are being equipped to impact the world! For that I am proud!
The next 10 years are going to be amazing! I’m not even sure that Lakota West and Hamilton High School know what resources are about to be used for the benefit of their students! It will impact them in a great way!
I know I have not named many of you at all... but ALL of you played a part in making edge happen, I do not take that lightly or for granted! Thanks for making a dream a reality!
