?Alana Redmond thinks photojournalism’s the coolest way to go. She says there’s a certain grass-roots nobility to the field. And in any event, the Correia Junior High School seventh-grander added, “I can take really good pictures.”
Not only is the career issue settled; Redmond’s found a place to launch it. She might even start a newsletter for the fledgling Ocean Beach Teen Center, which caters to kids of like interests and mindsets. It doesn’t matter that Redmond is a year ahead of the curve (she’s 12) – that has no bearing on the center’s climate of exploration and discovery, one that in Redmond’s words renders its patrons “comfortable and at ease.”
But while the center’s clay sculpture and sewing classes, painting workshops and open mics are all well and good, they’re only as valuable as the long-term lessons they teach. Center director Amelia Roache said the venue’s real value lies in the intangibles that she feels those activities can generate.
“One of the great sadnesses,” she explained, “is that there really aren’t any facilities that are about providing such a space for any group of people. We have recreation centers, but … they’re nothing more than some supervision with a few random [activities]. I find that quite pathetic. This space is much more intimate. There’s a real interaction between myself and anyone who comes here. It’s more about me providing safety and exploration in dialogue and creative expression rather than making sure they’re doing their homework.
“There are no have-tos here. It’s really about caring and awareness and participating in harmlessness. That’s pretty much the only thing I really insist on.”
It’s hoped that the center, which opened in September, can eventually look to community outreach as a routine activity – and it already seeks those inroads amid an emphasis on nonviolent communication (call the number below for information on workshops) and ecological sustainability. The nonprofit venue is run in cooperation with the Ecological Life Systems Institute, Inc., a San Diego firm whose stated mission is “to show how the human family can live and make a living on our planet in ways that are economically and ecologically sustainable through the use of free-market forces and the democratic process.”
Jim Webb, institute director and an internationally recognized figure in ecological design, acknowledges that those words might ring a little lofty in youthful ears. In any case, he said, he’s optimistic that their meaning touches a part of the community that shows a willingness to follow the center’s lead.
“I just got off the phone with [a garden store] that was calling about the teen center,” Webb explained. “They have a botany workshop that they do for kids. I said, ‘Well, why don’t you ask Amelia about doing it here?’ [The center’s growth] kind of happens that way. It’s been very organic.
“I think about the center in terms of the children,” Webb continued, “because I think about [ecological sustainability] in terms of the children. This is really about them. I’m not expecting the world to completely fall apart in the next 10 years, but … I know how much pollution there is, and I know how dangerous our dependence on imported energy is. When I see them, my heart goes out to them.”
The center, located at 4862 Voltaire St., sits on a 5,000-square-foot lot and is an easy distance from Point Loma High School, Correia Junior High and Dana Middle School. Roache said kids are filtering in accordingly, not unlike the way Redmond stumbled onto the place. She was walking with a friend and noticed the sign – now she’s a regular, lapping up the excitement of “doing the projects on your own, something you work for independently.”
And that’s the point, Roache said.
“This is a place,” she concluded, “where they will find out for themselves what their concerns and cares are and be able to call upon other people in the community to participate in addressing those cares and concerns.”
Weekday hours are from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., with the exception of Wednesdays, when the center is closed. Roache also offers a non-violent communication practice group for kids, parents and community members every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Further information on the center is available at (619) 758-9029.