Junior Optimist Club Started at Langley
High School
First Project: Create a Teen Center for Great Falls
With the help of the Great Falls Optimist Club, Langley students launched a Junior Optimist Octagon International
(JOOI) Club in 2005. President T.R. Cook, was instrumental in helping the teens
go through the necessary paperwork. The GFOC also provided the seed money needed
to get the JOOI Club up and running. Allison Cohen, the original teacher
sponsor, did a great job helping the kids get their club established, but she
had to leave the position due to medical concerns, so the students are now
looking for a new teacher sponsor. Click here to visit the JOOI Club's blog:
www.spreadthejoi.blogspot.com
The first project the Junior Optimists decided to tackle was the establishment of a teen center in Great
Falls, to give students a local place to hang out and have fun in a safe
environment. While the idea of a teen center was not new and has been tried or
started many times, GFOC member Linda Thompson encouraged us and JOOI to try it
one more time. And this time it would be different; most importantly, this time
it would be designed and run by students from the Langley High School Junior
Optimist Club (JOOI). The founding JOOI members Julia
Smart, current president Lipi Gupta, vice president Tanvi Avasthi, and Treasurer
Ariana Pike, stepped up to the plate to take on this enormous project. Evan
Braff from the Fairfax County Recreation Department was instrumental in
addressing the many important details such as securing a place for the teen
center, providing security for the events, and moving the process along in the
County. Other local officials who have been instrumental in bringing the teen
center to fruition include Supervisor, Joan Dubois and her assistant, Casey
Hanes; Jackie Taylor of the Great Falls Citizens Association; Sheri Berman of
the Safe Community Coalition; John Berman of the Great Falls Park Authority; and
Pat Stevens of Fairfax County Human Services Dept. ). “Our focus is mainly on
community service, so the teen center is going to be our big, year-long
project,” said Tanvi Avasthi, in an article in the Great Falls Connection.
Located at Forestville
Elementary School, the teen center operated for one year, hosting monthly events including movie
nights; dances with music by local bands; art and music workshops. The
first event “Great Falls Rocks!” on September 22, 2006, was a dance for students
in grades 7 to 10. It featured a D.J. and JOOI members sold snacks and sodas to
dozens of attendees. We learned from that first year's experience that
older students were not interested in attending if the center is located in an
elementary school, so the search is on for another venue.
