From ping pong to video games, Palo Alto teens can look forward to a new teen center following its soft launch two weeks ago in downtown Palo Alto.
Just five minutes from Palo Alto High School, The Rise at 429 Bryant St. is free of charge and open to students ages 10-18 from 3-6 p.m. on Wednesdays to Fridays. This new teen center is modern and spacious, operating with the Mitchell Park location, which is popular with middle school students.
According to Bradley Smith, recreation leader at the center, the main motivation for opening the new location was to cater to the nearby high school students.
“We have a teen center for middle schoolers — The Drop teen center by Mitchell Park — and that has been very successful,” Smith said. “This space is a little bit more central to the high school, so we want more of a space for high school students to come and enjoy the video games, board games and crafts we have here.”
With easily accessible bike locks outside, the teen center aims to be a place where teens can bike or walk to and relax after school. According to recreation leader Hailey Malia Sarmiento, who worked with Smith on opening The Rise, the greatest difference between The Rise and The Drop is the study space the new facility provides students who need that third space.
“For the middle schoolers, we constantly find ourselves setting out activities for them, like art activities or fun worksheets,” Sarmiento said. “For here, we also have video games, and we have a foosball and ping pong table, but it’s more so a study space. There’s a lot more seating here, and it’s just meant to be a comfortable and more tranquil space.”
According to Camille Chu, a junior at The Nueva School living in Palo Alto and outreach specialist for the Palo Alto Youth Council, The Rise can serve as a crucial space for students to build community.
“This [The Rise] would be a really incredible way to develop greater teen connections, as many students living or attending school in downtown Palo Alto don’t currently have these spaces close by,” Chu said.
According to Sarmiento, The Rise is considering connecting to small businesses in the area to build relationships with the larger community.
“We’re hoping to collaborate with small businesses,” Sarmiento said. “I know that boba is really popular with the kiddos and we just hope that they are able to sponsor us in some kind of way, or we can give something back to them in exchange for getting a lot of business and getting a lot of traction for this new teen center.”
Smith said the team has put major efforts into furnishing the space to be welcoming for teens.
“We had to build all the shelves and carry up the ping pong table — everything,” Smith said “It was a lot of heavy lifting, but once everything was in place, it looked really great, and it’s now up to the teens to take advantage of this space.”
