Teens, tweens take advantage of Florence's summer programs

FLORENCE — The new school year is just around the corner, but many local teens have spent much of their summer in class.

Driver Education, Drafting, Culinary Prep, Cosmetology, Introduction to Dance, Karate, Fitness and Nutrition, Sports and Recreation and Career Development were just a few of the six-week courses offered this summer through the city of Florence’s summer teen programs at the Barnes Street Activity Center and neighborhood centers at Maple, Levy and Northwest parks.

The programs culminated this week in several different events that allowed the teens to show what they've learned including a Spa Day for Seniors Wednesday at the Barnes Street center. Students of the cosmetology course exhibited the skills they’ve learned this summer by pampering their grandmothers and other members of the community with facials, pedicures and manicures.

“I learned how to push cuticles and polish correctly — always wear gloves — and the process of how to do manicures and pedicures,” Zadia Davis, 12, of Florence said while working on Maggie Williams’ nails. “I like the designs of pedicures. There’s a certain way you have to do it, but you can express yourself.”

Zadia also took the culinary and drafting classes this summer and said she feels like she put her summer to good use.

“If I didn’t have these classes, I probably would have been sitting home not doing much but watching TV,” she said.

Giving youngsters a place to go and something to do is exactly what the programs were designed for, activities instructor Pheobe Clark said.

“It keeps them off the streets and out of trouble, but it also exposes them to a career path,” Clark said. “If they find something they’re interested in, it gives them something to explore further and a possible career track down the road.”

The courses already are paying off for some of the students. Last summer, Angel Dukes took several of the program’s classes. This summer, she taught one.

“I taught the culinary class,” Dukes, 16, said. “By being in the program last year, now I work here at the activity center. I guess they saw I was responsible and I love to cook, so that’s how it happened. I’ve been cooking since I was 7. My aunt sort of taught me the basics at first, and then I started teaching myself, just blending different spices and ingredients together.”

Like Zadia, Dukes said she’s enjoyed the programs at the Barnes Street center. She especially has enjoyed the many field trips the teens have taken to places such as Skateland USA, a state park and the beach.

“It’s an awesome experience for teens,” she said. “Summer’s when you see a lot of teens on the street and getting into trouble. This gives them something positive to do.”

Dukes’ culinary class was quite a hit with her peers, program coordinator David Caldwell said. He said Dukes not only taught the children how to cook but also preparation, cleanup, safety and nutrition.

“She really went all out,” Caldwell said. “She talked to them about diabetes and how we need to eat healthy. When they cooked chicken, she taught them how to clean it properly and talked to them about Salmonella. It really was more than a cooking class.”

Caldwell said he hopes Dukes’ class and others sparked something in the teens that will last long after their time at the activity center is done.

“I’ve seen a lot of enthusiasm in some of these kids,” Caldwell said. “We’ve had a great summer — no incidents, no trouble. The kids were really excited about the program. They were learning while having fun, and hopefully some of these courses will give them the tools they need to be successful in life.”

After Wednesday’s Spa Day, senior citizens were asked to return to the center for a senior prom put on by the teens. Afterward, the teens celebrated all their hard work and the end of the summer with their own dance at the Barnes Street center.

“A lot of people don’t realize how strong a program we have,” Florence Director of Public Works Drew Griffin said. “The staff and volunteers here truly have the interest of the child at heart, and I think that shows in the quality of our program.”