The Scarsdale Inquirer – Hometown newspaper of Scarsdale, New York 10583

January 7, 2011

New teen center director wants to expand center’s horizons

By Carrie Gilpin

Kendra Charisse Porter has come back home to Hartsdale after living and working for many years in Massachusetts and for a shorter time in Ghana, West Africa, to lead the Scarsdale Teen Center as its new executive director. In her new post, Porter wants to increase student participation at the teen center, and expand its reach to include community service projects in Scarsdale and outside communities. Porter started her position in October, taking over from programming director Tashica Clarke, who served as interim director after Jessica Edelman left.

“For me, the goal is first to come in and to evaluate how the teen

SCARSDALE INQUIRER/JIM MACLEAN

Teen Center executive director Kendra Porter

center is run. Then, it’s all about increasing student participation and partnering with outside organizations,” said Porter.

Porter graduated from Ursuline Academy in New Rochelle, went to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, for her B.A., and received her M.S. in hospitality and tourism management, also from UMass, in 2005. Her professional experience includes work with the American Heart Association as corporate relations director, and a decade of work at the University of Massachusetts as assistant director of alumni programs and an adjunct faculty member.

Most recently, Porter worked as an administration consultant increasing school enrollment and developing and implementing personnel and operational policies at the Youth Institute of Science and Technology in Ghana. She served as interim headmistress of the school, formerly called the Girls Institute of Science and Technology, where she directed activities, managed staff and volunteers, increased enrollment and worked with the board of directors.

Porter has certificates in fundraising and board development from Purchase College and is a graduate of the Public Relations Institute at New York University.

At the teen center, Porter is increasing participation with a new eighth-grade student board, which currently has four members. She plans to expand the teen board, which is for students in ninth-12th grade and now has 10 members.

“I am looking for more students, and adults to serve on the teen and adult boards,” said Porter. Those interested can contact her at 722-8358 or through the teen center’s websites at info@scarsdaleteencenter.com or www.scarsdaleteencenter.com.

Porter is planning a clothing drive this spring and would like to start a lecture series with speakers from the community. “There are so many notable people in town, and I would like to have some of them come to talk with the kids,” she said. “One of my goals is to start strategic partnerships, from a business to resident standpoint as well as business to business. There are many adults who would like to see more things happen with teens reaching out to the community, even globally. We are looking for volunteers” to implement several good ideas, Porter said.

Porter said the teen center is available for rentals, either for birthday parties or for student organizations looking for space to meet.

She is continuing the teen center’s drop-in hours for high schoolers and for eighth-graders at separate times, and says there are many students who use the center to buy a sandwich at the local delis and come eat and talk with their friends, in addition to the regular nighttime band nights and other events.

“We also have a DJ booth and DJ classes, video games, pool table and foosball,” said Porter.

Porter says this month there will be an American Red Cross babysitting class as well as an Internet safety course for students ages 5 and up and parents. “There will be three sessions, all age-appropriate,” she said. The center holds college test preparation classes, art shows and classes, and many other courses for all ages.

Future plans

The teen center is housed in the basement of 862 Scarsdale Ave. The adult board began talks with Scarsdale village trustees last spring in an effort to find alternate, and less expensive, space. Board president Margarita Meyer said discussions are still ongoing.

“We are talking with the village to see if a building near the supply field is an option. We will need to move somewhere in order to continue operating,” she said. The teen center lost funding from the County Board of Legislators last year, and funding was cut from the school district, from $87,500 to $55,000 plus a one-time grant of $20,000.

School budget talks begin next week with the Scarsdale Board of Education and the community. The teen center and its funding will likely be discussed at several points during the regular budget process throughout February and March.

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