Mix it Up: A Variety of Activities and Attendees at Safe Summer Deerfield Run

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Fourteen-year-old Dejhaun Edwards has been going there on weekends for three years, because it’s more fun than sitting at home. Eleven-year-old Lillian Peters started going August 5, because she is shy and wanted a way to step outside the box. Fifteen-year-old Devonte Cook goes so he can hang out with his group of friends, and 16-year-old Tiffany Padgett goes there simply because it’s open late, and she’s still awake. What is this place, where all of these teens go from 10 p.m. to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays? Actually, it’s Deerfield Run Community Center, where they can enjoy all that the Xtreme Teens Safe Summer program has to offer. “We try to expose them to some different things…give them options so they can have a fun experience,” said Deerfield Run Safe Summer staff member Kevin Smack. Some of the late night events this summer have included movie nights, campfires, visits from guest artists, and even a frog dissection. Along with activities like these that vary each week, the teens always have access to basketball, Nintendo Wii, and a lounge with billiards, foosball and sports television. By catering to older kids and teens, Smack said that Deerfield has created a unique program, to which many participants return every week, creating a mix of young and older teens. August 13 will be the last night of Safe Summer at all Prince George’s County centers, until Summer 2012.