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Workshop gets teens off streets, teaches important lessons

Posted at 11:34 AM, Jul 16, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-16 12:34:45-04

As Kansas City continues to deal with rising homicides and violent crimes this year, a workshop event on Saturday night aimed to give teenagers a safe and fun event to keep them off the streets.

The "Adulting 101" event was held at the Kansas City Public Library in the Plaza.

With workshops featuring subjects like jobs, life after school, healthy lifestyles, and self-defense, teenagers could learn a variety of useful topics.

"I'm having fun, making friends and getting all the information that I need to learn about the future," explained 18-year-old Charles Lewis.

Lewis graduated from Central High School earlier this year.

Unfortunately, he knows all too well about violence in his neighborhood.

"It's where bad things happen, where people get shot," he told 41 Action News.

Instead of being out on the streets on Saturday night, Lewis joined dozens of others teens at the library for the workshop event.

As he continues working as an intern for the Aviation Department's Police Division, he hoped the things he learned this weekend could help him moving forward.

"I want to make some money and have a good career life," he explained. "My life is for my family and I'm doing this to protect them." 

The event on Saturday was partly organized and hosted by fellow teenagers, including Alan Bodie.

After showing 41 Action News around the space and describing the different workshops, Bodie said he hoped the lessons would go a long way.

"We hope they use their youth, their education and what they learned from here to their advantage," he explained. "I hope what they walk away with is that they are inspired and go out there and change their future and to use it in school this fall." 

By the end of the event on Saturday night, Lewis said the lessons could help him achieve a goal close to his heart.

"I want to go to college," he explained. "One day, I might help my family move out."

The "Adulting 101" was part of a series of events put on with Club KC grants to provide city teenagers with a safe and fun atmosphere on the weekends.