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The first Teen Tech Center in North Carolina is operating at Best Buy. The opening ceremony was held Tuesday in northwest Charlotte. The facility has a variety of equipment including computers, a recording studio and 3D printers to help bridge the digital divide in society.
A large crowd gathered for the launch of the center at the McCrory Family YMCA on Beatty Ford Road. The space is about 1,600 square feet with space for drawing tablets for animation and green screen photography outside the recording studio.
Standing out from the crowd in the recording with the big speakers next to him was 18-year-old Jerome Tompkins. He was being trained in how to make music beats – which he had been doing for a few years.
I think this helps a lot as there are many professional tools available. So it increases my quality. Tompkins said.
Tompkins, who lives about nine minutes from downtown in the Sugar Creek area, said being here brings a different side.
“It’s connecting me to a lot of people,” Tompkins said. “It’s made me more social because, you know, I’m kind of antisocial, so it’s helping me with that,” Tompkins said. “I think anyone who wants to make music and explore creativity should definitely come here.”
In the middle of the center, there are many computers. According to the Center for Digital Equity, more than 14% of households in Mecklenburg do not have internet access. That’s about 56,000 homes. Shatori Jones is the Best Buy Teen Tech Center Coordinator and has worked with the YMCA for ten years. The center will help in solving this problem, she said.
“We’re definitely breaking barriers. They can come here for free. They can come and do their homework. They can come and create things. They can use the Internet,” Jones said. We’re giving them all the tools they need to be successful.
Andrea Wood is vice president of social impact at Best Buy; He said the center aims to help middle and high school students navigate through a critical period in their lives.
“They’re trying to figure themselves out, what they like to do, they’re trying to figure out who they are. And a lot of them, frankly, don’t have a place to go after school,” Wood said. Giving them an opportunity to develop technology skills.”
A key objective of the center is to enable teenagers to explore their interests.
“We hope that most of them will pursue post-secondary education,” Wood said. “We also have scholarship programs and our goal for emerging technology centers is to ensure that every teenager graduates from high school with a very clear plan and access to the resources and support they need.”
Charlotte is the 52nd Best Buy Teen Tech Center location in the country. The center, located on Beatty Ford Road, is made possible by partnerships that include Atrium Health and the McCrory Family YMCA. Stan Lowe, president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Charlotte, said the center provides essential resources for teenagers to flourish.
“It’s about accessibility, giving kids the opportunity to use tools they don’t have at home and allowing them to dream about what they want career-long,” Law says. “That’s really the digital divide, people with access can dream; those without access are limited,” he said.
Prior registration Required before using the Best Buy Teen Tech Center, which can hold up to 80 people ages 13 to 18. The center is open Monday to Thursday from 2pm to 1am.
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