Great Falls Teen Center Finds a New Home

The Great Falls Teen Center, once located at NJCDC’s headquarters at 32 Spruce Street in Paterson, has found a new home at International High School. The new state of the art facility has four times the amount of space as the old facility with many new features to improve the quality of programming.

Equipped with a smart board, a study-area, and a new menu of social activities, the new Teen Center provides an extended day of positive youth development for Paterson teens.  Emilio S., a first year student at Garret Morgan Academy (GMA) expressed what he liked best about the teen center “I like the activities like football and basketball. I also like how the teachers talk to us outside of the traditional classroom setting.”

While sports are the highlight for the majority of the students, many students enjoy the workshops offered by the Teen Center Director Ashiri Lopez and the AmeriCorps staff members.

Justin N., GMA first year explained why the workshops were so valuable, “I really like the workshops. They give us life lessons on topics like gang violence and how to stay away from negative things in our community.”

Extra-curricular activities and sports are enough for any high school student to get involved, however they are not the only reasons for the surge of students at the Teen Center. “When we’re here, we can come to them [Teen Center staff] for any problem that we have. We can be comfortable here, we can be ourselves. The Teen Center is a place where we are all treated as equals.” Says Darlyn M. a sophomore at International High School.

The students of GMA and International High School are extremely excited about the new Teen Center, and NJCDC is looking forward to documenting the successes of the program as the academic year continues.

For more information on how to get involved with the Great Falls Teen Center, please contact Ashiri Lopez at ALopez@njcdc.org.