After school hang-out is named ‘The Spot’ for teens
The Spot teen center is where it’s at for students in Voorhees Township.
The Spot teen center was started as an alternative space for Eastern Regional High School students to hang out, get additional academic assistance and provide extra space for school clubs to hold meetings and activities.
The venue, located on the second floor of the Voorhees Town Center, opened in 2008 with funding from the township for students in the Eastern Regional High School, but is not directly affiliated with the district.
This year, the free center will be open to students attending sixth through twelfth grade in Voorhees.
The middle school students are welcome on Mondays from 6 to 9 p.m., and high school students are encouraged to attend on Wednesdays from 6 to 9 p.m. The Spot also holds special events once or twice a month on weekends in addition to the open-session hours during the week.
Homework help and general academic assistance is offered on Mondays and Wednesdays. Certified teachers and volunteer, college-level tutors work with the middle-and high-school students on homework help.
Director of The Spot Niki Williams is a certified teacher, who chaperones and offers tutoring assistance to students at the center.
“It gives the teens a safe space to hang out with their friends, other than at home, and a spot to see friends who may live on the opposite side of town. It also helps student groups within the school have a meeting space available in case the school is too full,” Williams said.
Inside The Spot are large-screen televisions, Wii gaming systems, an air hockey and ping-pong table, a DVD player and a small stage area used for open-mic nights or special speakers for students.
The Spot also features student artwork on the venue’s open wall space and a café area in the front with tables, chairs and a coffee bar where students can buy snacks. Most activities and materials in the space were donated and worked on by local businesses.
This year a new addition to the center will be laptop computers and Internet access to help with the center’s tutoring capabilities.
On a typical week, anywhere between five to 25 teens show up at the center. This year, Williams plans to hold movie nights, ping-pong tournaments and open-mic nights.
Williams will facilitate a student advisory board at the start of the school year to plan what activities the teens would like to participate with for the year.
“We want to get the teens involved in the planning process in order to make sure the activities are well attended,” Williams said.
To advertise the center, Williams is contacting school officials about the opportunity and sending out information to students in schools.
The center was created primarily through a $20,000 startup grant from Voorhees Township.
Township administrator Lawrence Spellman said the township provided the center with startup capital and helped them write grants to get the project off the ground.
“It is our hope that the center becomes self-sufficient through grants and corporate sponsorships,” Spellman said.
According to Spellman, township officials discussed the center at length and decided, because the township puts funding into athletic facilities for student development, they would create the center for the students who don’t play sports.
“We thought this would be a good way to support all students,” he said.
The Spot teen center was started as an alternative space for Eastern Regional High School students to hang out, get additional academic assistance and provide extra space for school clubs to hold meetings and activities.
The venue, located on the second floor of the Voorhees Town Center, opened in 2008 with funding from the township for students in the Eastern Regional High School, but is not directly affiliated with the district.
This year, the free center will be open to students attending sixth through twelfth grade in Voorhees.
The middle school students are welcome on Mondays from 6 to 9 p.m., and high school students are encouraged to attend on Wednesdays from 6 to 9 p.m. The Spot also holds special events once or twice a month on weekends in addition to the open-session hours during the week.
Homework help and general academic assistance is offered on Mondays and Wednesdays. Certified teachers and volunteer, college-level tutors work with the middle-and high-school students on homework help.
Director of The Spot Niki Williams is a certified teacher, who chaperones and offers tutoring assistance to students at the center.
“It gives the teens a safe space to hang out with their friends, other than at home, and a spot to see friends who may live on the opposite side of town. It also helps student groups within the school have a meeting space available in case the school is too full,” Williams said.
Inside The Spot are large-screen televisions, Wii gaming systems, an air hockey and ping-pong table, a DVD player and a small stage area used for open-mic nights or special speakers for students.
The Spot also features student artwork on the venue’s open wall space and a café area in the front with tables, chairs and a coffee bar where students can buy snacks. Most activities and materials in the space were donated and worked on by local businesses.
This year a new addition to the center will be laptop computers and Internet access to help with the center’s tutoring capabilities.
On a typical week, anywhere between five to 25 teens show up at the center. This year, Williams plans to hold movie nights, ping-pong tournaments and open-mic nights.
Williams will facilitate a student advisory board at the start of the school year to plan what activities the teens would like to participate with for the year.
“We want to get the teens involved in the planning process in order to make sure the activities are well attended,” Williams said.
To advertise the center, Williams is contacting school officials about the opportunity and sending out information to students in schools.
The center was created primarily through a $20,000 startup grant from Voorhees Township.
Township administrator Lawrence Spellman said the township provided the center with startup capital and helped them write grants to get the project off the ground.
“It is our hope that the center becomes self-sufficient through grants and corporate sponsorships,” Spellman said.
According to Spellman, township officials discussed the center at length and decided, because the township puts funding into athletic facilities for student development, they would create the center for the students who don’t play sports.
“We thought this would be a good way to support all students,” he said.
