Junior Makayla Jones-Klausing met with the board focused on establishing a teen center and strategized about a new study location to create in St. Louis Park.

Jones-Klausing said she feels a great amount of enthusiasm in initiating a place where students can spend time after school.

“I think it’s really cool that adults are thinking about what students want and it’s great to be a part of something that will be convenient to high school students,” Jones-Klausing said.

According to Julia Schmelzer, a parent volunteer for the teen center, she and City Council member Thom Miller came up with the idea of a youth hangout center when thinking about how to address anxiety in teens.

“The idea stemmed from creating a space to relieve stress that would be a cool place to hang out,” Schmelzer said.

Jones-Klausing said Schmelzer introduced her to the idea of a Depot spin-off cafe at a Natural Helpers meeting in early November.

“They came into our meeting to spread the word and see if there was any interest,” Klausing said. “It sounded really interesting and something I would want to take part in.”

According to Klausing, her interest in the teen hangout center caught Schmelzer’s eye. She said Schmelzer contacted her and nominated her to the board.

“They liked my initiative and enthusiasm so they came up to me and asked if I wanted to be a part of (the planning),” Klausing said.  

Junior Anna Gleason, a member of the teen center board, said the committee brainstormed details about the cafe at its first meeting Jan. 24.

“The meeting was kind of an ideation session,” Gleason said. “We put some ideas together for what we want the space to look like, what we want the name to be and what we want the mood to be like.”

Gleason said she believes having a student cafe will provide students with an easy, accessible place to get homework done and hang out with friends. The location remains undecided.  

“I think it’s important to have a place where students can go to get work done,” Gleason said. “It will be somewhere that is close so they have more options than Park Yogurt and McDonald’s.”

Schmelzer said she believes student involvement in the plan will draw more attention to the need for a teen hangout spot.

“I think that (the center) should be something that the students come forward with in order for it to be successful,” Schmelzer said.

According to Schmelzer, she estimates the project will take two to three years to be funded and enacted by City Council. In the meantime, she asks students to spread the word about the project and take part in future meetings.