At Teen Tech Center, Dallas-area students build robots and bonds

Shauretta Robertson was looking at a computer screen in the Hampton-Illinois branch library when she found out about the Best Buy Teen Tech Center near Fair Park. After she and her son Carlton Robertson Jr. met with program directors, he began attending the center on Fridays after school at the age of 12.

Shauretta Robertson, a retired teacher and career counselor, said the first visit marked the start of a “love affair” with the center.

“They showed him how to do different things at the Teen Tech Center,” she said. “From then on he began to be more interested in technology, music production, visual arts, architecture.”

Located in a building next to the Juanita J. Craft Recreation Center is the Teen Tech Center, a space for young people ages 12-17 to learn videography, programming, music production, robotics making, and more. Launched in 2016, the center is a collaboration between Best Buy, the Clubhouse Network, Dallas Park and Recreation, and the Dallas Parks Foundation.

The children’s technology program in the annex building at the Juanita J. Craft Recreation Center in Dallas on Thursday, June 10, 2021.(Lola Gomez / photographer)

The Clubhouse Network, a nonprofit that provides after-school opportunities to disadvantaged young people, and Best Buy operate technology centers for teenagers in dozens of cities across the United States. Executives at the Dallas site say the center helps bring students from different schools in the area together and support their journey to college or to work after graduation.

In the summer, Carlton Robertson Jr., a sophomore at David W. Carter High School, will be doing an internship with Cyber-Seniors, a nonprofit and Best Buy partner that provides free technology support and training for the elderly. He is grateful for the skills the program has taught him.

“I came in and didn’t know anything about photography,” said the 16-year-old. “But they really helped me.”

Deonanna Perry, who runs a career program at the center that runs workshops and field trips, teaches students how to write cover letters and prepares them for interviews, said the center enables students to “better serve the community”.

According to council leader Lorenzo Reid-Deloatche, students have the opportunity to become part of the Youth Leadership Council, which meets monthly to develop projects and plans to support the community.

Reid-Deloatche, a recovery assistant at the center, said the council created care packages for homeless residents and participated in park cleanups.

Perry has also led the technology program since former coordinator Amanda Mukhin moved to her role as interim park marketing and relations specialist at Dallas Park and Recreation.

The pandemic caused the center to cut capacity for a program that typically serves 200 students a year.

Another innovation is the presence of younger faces.

Mukhin and Perry said the center hosts children ages 7 to 12 who have the opportunity to build robots and take part in other activities. These students enter the center after attending camp at the Juanita J. Craft Recreation Center.

Lorenzo Reid-Deloatche will be working in the annex of the Juanita J. Craft Recreation Center in Dallas at Jadin Torres on Thursday June 10, 2021 as part of the Children's Technology Program.Lorenzo Reid-Deloatche will be working in the annex of the Juanita J. Craft Recreation Center in Dallas at Jadin Torres on Thursday June 10, 2021 as part of the Children’s Technology Program.(Lola Gomez / photographer)

The teens will return to the center on June 21 after the final week of the Dallas Independent School District school year, Perry said.

In addition to photography, said Carlton Robertson, Jr., at the center he developed an interest in video editing and music production.

Students have access to Adobe software to edit photos and videos through the program. Reid-Deloatche, a rap artist, helps students produce their own music in a studio behind glass windows in a corner room.

“You come here and you can just express yourself through music,” said Reid-Deloatche. “We’re hosting the Dallas Teen Tech Fest, which was a real personal concert before COVID, and they brought out family and friends and their supporters.”

Nick DiCarlo, treasurer of the Dallas Parks Foundation, said the group is receiving donations on behalf of the city to help fund the program. The foundation and Dallas Park and Recreation worked to submit a grant application to the Clubhouse Network prior to its initial formation, Mukhin said.

“Best Buy is donating a significant amount of money through this facility called the Clubhouse Network. The Dallas Parks Foundation is getting that money, ”DiCarlo said. “And then the Teen Tech Center uses that money to buy technology.”

Shauretta Robertson said the time her son spent at the center has left an indelible mark, largely because of the staff who take great care of their students.

“They are hard workers. They were ready to take him to where he was and expose him to the various arenas they have at the Teen Tech Center, ”she said. “It is not limited to one technology area.”

Children work in groups on Solar Robot Creation Kits as part of the Children's Technology Program at the Juanita J. Craft Recreation Center Annex in Dallas on Thursday, June 10, 2021. (Lola Gomez / The Dallas Morning News)Children work in groups on Solar Robot Creation Kits as part of the Children’s Technology Program at the Juanita J. Craft Recreation Center Annex in Dallas on Thursday, June 10, 2021. (Lola Gomez / The Dallas Morning News)(Lola Gomez / photographer)

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