By Mike LaBella
Staff Writer
February 05, 2008 07:17 am HAVERHILL — It was hardly the kind of scene you'd expect to see at school. Music was pounding as teenagers danced. Some played video games on a big-screen television. Others chatted while relaxing on comfortable living room furniture that sat on wall-to-wall carpeting. The location: a former storage room in the lower level of Haverhill High School. It is now an after-school teen center offering students creative outlets, help with schoolwork and simply just a place to relax. Several years in the making, the center is now open to students for several hours each weekday afternoon. It offers homework help, Internet-connected computers, musical instruments — such as an electric piano, a Nintendo video game console connected to a plasma television, a dance floor, comfortable furniture for relaxation and conversation, art supplies for students who like to draw, and a sound system for mixing, recording and playing music. "This is where kids can go after school instead of getting into trouble on the streets," said Haverhill High senior Jose Padilla, 18. "It's a place where they can feel safe. There aren't many of those places around." Students wanting to use the center must sign up in advance and agree to follow certain rules, such as keeping their grades up. They also must maintain a positive attitude while using the center. "You can't come here with a negative attitude or you'll create a negative environment," Padilla said. About 80 students gathered at the center last week and cheered when it opened. "When growing up, I never had a place where I could express myself and be accepted for who I am," said senior Chelsea Perez. The high school's Violence Intervention Prevention Team, a group of students who push messages of peace and tolerance for other students, helped create the center. "The kids on the VIP Team want this center to be a place for all students," Perez said. "Kids who come here can also learn about the VIP Team and what we are all about." Julie Brander, 18, a first-year student at Bard College, was a founding member of the VIP Team. She returned to Haverhill High to be part of the dedication and ribbon cutting for the room, called the Carol Ireland Center after the woman who advises the VIP Team along with health teacher Lori Curry. They worked with the Haverhill Police Department to secure a grant that funded the center. "Other towns like Lawrence and Methuen have teen centers," Brander said. "Haverhill needed a place for kids to go after school too." The center will be staffed by adult employees of Haverhill Community Violence Coalition Inc., a nonprofit agency based in Haverhill, along with selected high school students. Funding for the center came from a $220,000 Charles E. Shannon anti-violence grant that was awarded to the coalition, the Haverhill and Methuen police departments, and Methuen Arlington Neighborhood Inc. In Haverhill, the grant pays for staffing the teen center, stipends for students who mentor other students, a Friday night basketball program at the high school, training and retreats for students on the VIP Team, an extra police officer for Haverhill's anti-gang unit, anti-violence publicity and community events, as well as completely furnishing the teen center. "I can see a lot of kids using this center," said Haverhill High senior Benjamin Drayton, 17. "It means a lot to me to have a center like this. It's an alternative for kids who might otherwise get into trouble after school." You could call it a center for peace, as the anti-violence efforts and messages of Haverhill High's VIP Team fill the room. Messages such as "Tolerance" are posted on a wall. One side wall is covered in photographs of VIP Team members. ><p>
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PG1 BOX What the center offers teenagers r Homework help Internet-connected computers r Musical instruments, such as an electric piano r A Nintendo video game console connected to a plasma television r A dance floor r Furniture for relaxation and conversation r Art supplies r A sound system for mixing, recording and playing music
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