Community center at former Pratt Elementary keeps kids off the streets

A pair of middle-school girls felt drawn to the newly opened Edgecliff Neighborhood Community Center to see their former school.

Once down memory lane, though, both said they plan to return to the volunteer-run community site to do homework, use the computers and play games. They briefly visited the former Pratt Elementary School last week, when by 4:45 p.m., volunteers had checked in about 20 kids.

“Yes, we’ll come back to do homework,” said Cydni McEuen, 13. “We actually went to school here two years ago.”

Her friend Kaylee Pachernegg, 14, admitted they stopped for the memories but liked what they saw. “We thought we’d come in and look around,” Pachernegg said. “I would love to have this as a community center.”

After Spokane Public Schools closed Pratt last year as a cost-cutting move, Edgecliff residents sought to keep at least a portion of the building open for community use. The city of Spokane Valley and a private donor came up with the $30,000 rent, and some basic community programs started two weeks ago.

Spokane Valley Partners, a nonprofit provider of community services including a food bank, is acting as a fiscal agent for the center’s creation and supporting Edgecliff organizers’ plans to offer programs benefiting residents from schoolchildren to seniors.

A first step – creation of a hub for after-school programs with a computer study center – started Feb. 19. The center is open from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Volunteers offer games and crafts on Mondays and Wednesdays and sports activities on Tuesdays and Thursdays. A movie night is set for every other Friday. On Wednesday evenings, Bill and Myrna Gothmann teach adult computer classes.

For the after-school sessions, children ages 7 to 14 sign in with volunteers and confirm they have permission slips. Some kids do their homework while others find an activity. Thirteen-year-old Amber Braun played a Club Penguin computer math game last week and, when asked about the center, she said the site is good for kids.

“Then they don’t have to stay home and do nothing,” said Braun, who visited three days last week.

Volunteer Vi Temple, a center coordinator, showed off the areas now in use – about half of the building on the east side – including the gymnasium and a resource room with five computers and several desks. A kitchen is also available for future use.

“Presently, we have 18 adult volunteers who were all run through security checks with the Sheriff’s Office,” Temple said. “We need more volunteers, of course, and donations. We’ll have a library, and we hope to have things in the future for seniors.”

Back in the gym, volunteer Bob Moore watched the kids playing hoops. The 77-year-old lives close by. “Most of the kids come here by school bus from Lincoln Heights and Sheridan (elementary schools),” Moore said, as about eight children arrived. “We just let the kids pick out what they want to do.”

All of his children and a grandchild attended Pratt. “I hate all this to go to waste,” he said. “It gets the kids off the streets.”

Temple, 74, sees many ways that the center can help people.

“Right now, this is mostly for the children to provide them with a safe place to do their homework, play and stay out of trouble,” said Temple, an area resident for 54 years. “If I find anyone interested, we could also probably have a Scout group here.”

“One afternoon, we had a mom come in with her son and she helped him go on the computer and do a document for school,” Temple said. “The kids really like to do crafts here. They just have a lot of fun.”

Edgecliff, on the western edge of Spokane Valley, got a 2004 U.S. Department of Justice grant to help reduce crime and draw beneficial programs. Dubbed “Weed and Seed” money, the funds included roughly $1 million by the time eligibility ended September 2007. It helped pay for neighborhood cleanup and previously organized after-school and community activities at Pratt, designated a Weed and Seed safe haven.

One long-term goal was to create a community center. Organizers estimate it will take about $30,000 a year to pay for heat, lighting and maintenance costs. Ken Briggs, Spokane Valley Partners director, said his organization and Valley Meals on Wheels hope eventually to offer some senior meals and emergency food distribution on site.

The $30,000 received to open the center will carry it through the next 12 to 18 months, Briggs added, and by then, “we’ll need to have more grant money.”

Organizers also hope to get the word out to more families about the after-school options, and any cash donations would help pay for supplies.