YOUNGSTOWN Aiming high, youths improve neighborhood

The group built a pavilion and last year put in playground equipment.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- It can get hot playing in the sun and eating lunch outside in the grassy area next to the Boys and Girls Club of Youngstown.
LaKendra Evans never forgot how hot.
Evans is 18 now, a Chaney High School graduate headed to Kettering University in Flint, Mich., this fall to study electrical engineering.
Her fond memories of the club and the steamy summer she spent there when she was in elementary school, however, are a main reason the 120 kids who come to the South Side club every day now have a shady spot outside.
Evans was among a dozen youths from around the Valley who recently built a pavilion next to the club on Oak Hill Avenue. They took the idea from concept to construction.
The youths were part of the AIM High program, run by General Motors Lordstown and United Autoworkers Local 1714. AIM stands for An Investment in Me. The students were high school seniors enrolled at career technical centers in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
Hands-on experience
The 10-week program brings the students together three days a week for three hours with GM workers for hands-on trade experience.
The students designed and built the wood and shingle pavilion. The shelter covers about 400 square feet and is about 15 feet high. The club soon will add a concrete pad and picnic tables.
Kids now can play outside and cool off in the shade when they get hot or eat lunch without the sun's glare. That doesn't sound like a big deal, Evans said, but it is.
"The little kids play out in all that sun," she said.
Community service involving math, design and mechanical skills is part of AIM's curriculum.
Community help
Last year, a different set of AIM students installed playground equipment in the grassy area at the same Boys and Girls Club. Small children now have swings, slides and climbing bars to use. The spot is an old city playground that is on the club's grounds but had no equipment.
"Our kids loved that. They really, really loved that," said Richard Allen, club executive director.
This year, Evans recalled her summer at the club and suggested a pavilion among the many ideas that her peers were mulling over.
"She just said 'It gets so darn hot when you eat your lunch, you get burned,'" said Sofia Gray, a GM spokeswoman who volunteers with AIM.
Evans didn't expect them to pick the project since the group helped the club previously.
The students decided to focus on helping children, Evans said. They researched possible projects and narrowed the list to two.
The club won, despite receiving help the previous year because so many more children go there and will use the pavilion compared to the other choices, Evans said.
"We wanted [the project] to be for the whole community," she said.
Future plans
The pavilion and last year's playground equipment will help the club bring more activities outside, said Allen, the executive director. Other plans include installing a baseball diamond and basketball court nearby.
The revived outdoor play area will help keep the club as a safe place for kids and as an anchor in the neighborhood, Allen said.
"It's another piece of a bigger puzzle," he said. "It will really be an asset to the neighborhood."
rgsmith@vindy.com