Teenagers who live in the Gum Springs area don’t have to worry about not having enough to do this summer. Claudia Morales, assistant director and teen coordinator, is making sure of that. She has put together a full program of activities for the teens so that they have something to look forward to every day.
All of the activities are held at the Gum Springs Community Center, which is located at 8100 Fordson Road. The center is open for teens from 4:30-10 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1-10 p.m. on Saturday.
During the summer, teens have been able to take advantage of classes in modeling and cosmetology. Different field trips are taken to bowling alleys and shopping malls on Thursdays. The next field trip will be on Aug. 12 to Hershey Park. Basketball, pool and ping pong are always available activities.
Morales said that there will be a college presentation on Aug. 19. A Back to School dance is scheduled for Aug. 28.
“We want to make it more open to Fairfax County residents,” Morales said. “My idea is to open the center to other communities that don’t know about it. We need to serve more people.”
Evelyn Kershaw, who taught the modeling class, spent part of the time on discussion and the rest of time on technique. During a recent class, the girls spent part of the class talking about what makes a person beautiful. They decided that inside beauty came from going to church, studying, reading, learning and listening. To achieve inside beauty, they discussed getting enough sleep, exercising, eating health, drinking water and maintaining proper hygiene.
After this discussion, the girls got up and practiced walking properly. Kershaw had already instructed them in the correct way of how to carry themselves and they continued to practice.