Heart BEAT

A Place For Teens In The Summer

DAYTON - During the summertime, there is a group where teens can participate in fun activities and step outside their comfort zones while making new friends.

The group is called Teen Scene, and it is run by Peggy Gutierrez, a prevention specialist with Blue Mountain Counseling. Gutierrez works with local kids to choose weekly activities and finds volunteers who can help chaperone.

"It's designed to bring kids together during the summer and to provide recreation activities," she said.

The volunteers also help run a summer recreation program for younger students, but Teen Scene is only for those aged 12 to 18. The teens who participate are mostly from Dayton, but there are some Waitsburg teens as well. Gutierrez said there were 89 teens registered to participate in Teen Scene last summer and this summer will mark the third year of the program. It was originally started by Columbia Cares and Americorps volunteers.

Once a week, the group heads to the Dayton city pool for Flick & Float, where they get to watch a movie from the pool on a big screen from 8 to 10 p.m. In addition to Flick & Float, the group participates in fun activities like bowling, attending a Walla Walla Sweets baseball game, flying high on a ropes course, splashing in the Clarkston water park and even playing in a mud pit.

"We want to give students the opportunity to stay connected in healthy and fun activities," Gutierrez said.

The teens do have to pay to participate in some of the activities, but grant money from local nonprofit Blue Mountain Action Council helps to keep the costs low, Gutierrez said.

Teens don't have to register to join the fun at Flick & Float, but they need to fill out paperwork for the other activities. To do so, parents can register teens at Blue Mountain Counseling on East Washington Avenue in Dayton.

In addition to just being fun, the activities provide a place for teens to go during the summer and is a way to pass the time for those who don't have jobs, Gutierrez said.

And the group builds relationships between teens and adults. She said positive teen-adult relationships are important for teens because they can help teens make healthy and positive choices if they have a great role model and support. She added parents often discount how much influence they have over teens' decisions.

Adults who help chaperone Teen Scene events are all background checked, Gutierrez added. Some are hired by Blue Mountain Action Council, some are affiliated with Young Life and some are simply local volunteers who want to help teens.

Kyndell Tiedemann, a 2011 Dayton High School graduate, was a volunteer for Teen Scene last summer. She loved the baseball game, the water park and throwing water balloons.

"It helps (the teens) communicate with other people they usually don't hang out with," Tiedemann said. "I enjoy working with kids and it helps them realize there are fun activities to do."

What is interesting to watch is what teens in the group stand up and become leaders and how they all can work as a team, Gutierrez said. Or it's interesting to watch teens and adults relate to one another.

Gutierrez said she knows how much the teens appreciate the program through positive comments. And she loves watching them complete the ropes course victorious over the challenge.

"Kids will often say, 'Wow. I never thought I could do that,'" Gutierrez said.