Teen Center puts on a gala and other events to raise money for their program. You are probably wondering what is the gala? The gala is an event that raises money for teen center. Here is what it is about directly from teen center: $500 addresses the basic need of food. Before we can effectively work with a student, their bellies must be full. Food and water are so essential to the brain and the learning process and often accessibility is a warm and healthy evening meal, but need is high. Our food programs are extensive as it includes ‘missed’ meal bags,food pantry, after school snacks, food exposure class,chopped cooking class and much more.
$250 assists with the graduation party hosted every spring at the teen center. Each senior is celebrated in style. They each have a table to decorate and an individual and personalized cake. We have a program complete with a senior speaker end of the year video, scholarships and an opportunity to give each senior a gift for their next step in life. The gift is typically a bundle of basic needs such as bedding, towels, school supplies, and much more to aidwith their next steps.
$100 provides essential programming supplies – filament for the 3D printer, canvases for art class, yoga mats for meditation and controllers for our unified esports team.All of our students choose to spend their time with us – as high schoolers that is a huge statement . Our programming is vast and diverse – from skateboarding to ‘drop the mic’ – we cover all!
$1000 will fund students through our driver’s education program. This includes the typical driver’s education class as well as behind the wheel with a certified organization.Additional experiences include a trip to the DMV, car maintenance basics, insurance and liability 101, what to do in a traffic stop, immersion exercise about driving impaired and much more. This is a critical life skill that our students need to be successful in their next stage of life.
The Teen Center’s relationship with Nebraska Methodist college has allowed for growth and collaboration over the years. Current president of the college is Deb Carlson. Deb has just finished her term as the board president of the teen center and believes strongly in the mission.
History of teen center:
Abbey Jackson became our president
Moved to 51C3 in 2021
Invited to move inside Burke in 2022. Our first reaction was – no way; kids want to leave the building after the school day.
Moved into Burke High School
Now we have learned, kids will go where there are trusted adults, high quality programming structure, expectations, and love.
