[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 102 (Wednesday, September 6, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1407]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   A TRIBUTE TO KIRKLAND TEEN CENTER

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JAY INSLEE

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 6, 2000

  Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, we hear so much these days about the 
problems plaguing today's young people that sometimes the positives are 
drowned out. Therefore, I rise today to publicly recognize the Kirkland 
Teen Center. I will be attending the center's groundbreaking ceremony 
this Saturday, and I want to take a moment to make my colleagues aware 
of this extraordinary center, created by our youth for our youth.
  The center's operating partner, Friends of Youth, is a local non-
profit agency with nineteen locations throughout King and Snohomish 
Counties. The Friends of Youth's mission is to: develop, provide and 
advocate services for children, youth, their families and communities 
that encourage individual growth and promote constructive 
relationships.
  Mr. Speaker, that mission will be the guiding force behind this drug-
free and alcohol-free youth center. The center will include a coffee 
shop with a teen manager, provide poetry classes, as well as provide a 
state of the art recording studio, a modem photography lab, and a 
graphic art/animation technology station. Moreover, the center is being 
built from the ground up and will connect with the Kirkland Senior 
Center, allowing for intergenerational programs and events. The center 
allows teens to develop positive relationships with peers and adults, 
and parents to have the security in knowing their child is spending 
time at a safe place.
  I hosted three informative town meetings in my district last year 
about the need for after-school programs. I strongly believe that 
after-school programs are an excellent, well-proven way to keep teens 
from engaging in criminal activities. The time between school bells and 
dinner bells presents the most risk to our young people, and in an age 
when most parents are unable to stay home with their children, we must 
provide safe and productive activities for our youth. The Kirkland Teen 
Center is a perfect example of a safe, after-school center, and I 
believe Congress would do well to promote more centers like this one 
around the country.
  All of the youth that volunteered their time to plan, or serve on 
this center's Board of Directors and Advisory Board, deserve our praise 
for their hard work and selfless dedication to their community as a 
whole. I ask all of my colleagues to join me in congratulating everyone 
involved in the Kirkland Teen Center for a job well done.

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