The Kids Are Alright

The Ann Arbor establishment that may very well be the premier cultivator of future leaders isn’t a public school in the city’s esteemed district nor is it one of the private schools that draw families from miles away. It isn't even the top-ranked departments at the University of Michigan. Instead, what’s garnered attention as a innovative youth primer is the bright, eclectic Neutral Zone.

Soon to enter its tenth year, this unique teen center finds strength — and enthusiastic attendance — through teen-driven programming and input.

"It’s a cool place when you think about it," says Emma Tolman, a sophomore dual-enrolled at Community and Pioneer high schools and a facilitator on the Neutral Zone’s teen advisory council. "If you came here and looked at all of this you wouldn’t know (there were adults involved)."

The Neutral Zone sets itself apart from similar organizations by its structure. Aside from the teen advisory council
--which leads fundraising efforts and determines the organization’s grant recipients-- concepts for the Neutral Zone’s programming are teen-driven with a board of directors that can include as much as 50% teens (a policy instituted when the center first started).

Lisa Dengiz, her daughter and a number of friends in the community came up with the NZ concept out of need. "There weren’t really inexpensive, cool places for kids to go," says Dengiz, the center's first executive director. "Lots of kids in Ann Arbor, when they grow up here, go to the frats and sororities. There just wasn't a place for them to hang."

A place both cost and substance-free — and still cool — was the ideal. At the time, few centers existed in the United States (much less in Michigan) that fit the planners' views. During preliminary planning, Dengiz says, the group researched The Loft in Madison, WI and Ground Zero in Seattle, two of the strongest teen centers in the country at the time.

In January 1998, a group of teens presented the Neutral Zone proposal to the community. But even with site selection and public relations underway, there was still the question of teen attendance. Young people, after all, are notoriously skeptical of anything that  smells vaguely institutional.

Ultimately, the thing that first drew teens to the Neutral Zone, and has kept them coming, is the music. "When you think about being a teenager, music is such a part of who you are socially," says Ingrid Racine, the director of music programs. "[The music] is one of the things that make the Neutral Zone hip."

Racine first came to the center in high school. Looking for another venue to host fundraising concerts leading up to Community High School's "Comstock," she was introduced to the relatively new Neutral Zone. Shows have been held there ever since, with different concerts each weekend.

Racine came back to the Neutral Zone as a staffer two years ago.

"When I walked back into the NZ it astonished me how much it had grown in the past five years," she says. In 2001, program director Chris Wiltsee started a self-sustainable program where teens could record, produce and promote their music: Youth Owned Records.

The music programs allow teens to express themselves creatively, but it also builds business practicality. Different teens collaborate so the final product can be completed — whether that's a new record or a weekend concert. From recording and performing to setting up the venue and promoting an event, the teens do it all.

"We've really made our own little music world," Racine says.

Another programming doyen is Volume, the poetry group led by Pioneer High School teacher Jeff Kass.

"Volume is actually where I found my voice," says Toniesha Jones, a Pioneer senior who will attend the New School this fall. "It really changed my life." Considering that the Pioneer senior is also part of six other Neutral Zone programs, it's a considerable admission.

The Neutral Zone's current programming inspires achievers like Jones through growth aspects intrinsic in creative expression, but the staff would also like to see academic talent cultivated more specifically.

"It’s kind of difficult … getting the education program to thrive [and] getting kids to come to the Neutral Zone for tutoring because it’s traditionally known as a teen center," says program director Ron Dickerson, who started out as a NZ volunteer while attending the University of Michigan. 

Dickerson says his concentration plans to further emphasize the tutoring, having tutors available during the drop-in hours immediately after school, when most kids usually stop by to hang out. And a strengthened partnership with Kaplan is key. The statewide scholarship exam once known as the Michigan Educational Assessment Program is now the Michigan Merit Exam. Passing the MME qualifies students for the Michigan Promise scholarship of $4,000 over a period of four years, which encourages kids to attend in-state colleges and technical schools. Joined with Kaplan, the Neutral Zone plans to make test prep for the MME available and affordable for their teens.

But what the Neutral Zone has done thus far, and the pro-teen credo it's long stood by, has already gotten plenty of positive attention. There's a reason why former attendees and volunteers like Dickerson and Racine come back to join the
Neutral Zone family --and Ann Arbor.

Ann Arbor city councilmen Stephen Kunselman related the Neutral Zone's potential impact with Ann Arbor's part in the Michigan Cool Cities Initiative. He believes that while it's important to attract innovative talent we must also keep our future young professionals in Southeast Michigan. It's much easier to keep an old customer than lure a new one and with almost 20,000 citizens under the age of 18 (about 17% of Ann Arbor's population according to the latest census), that's a lot of business.

"Once you're a teenager and you're done growing up, will you want to stay in Ann Arbor?" Kunselman asks. "The state of Michigan is losing its [young people] to greener pastures around the country."

And how do we keep people here? Keep 'em happy. Quality of life applies to all ages — and to ensure that families, kids and teens (and the adults they turn out to be) satisfied, Michigan must appeal to everyone. Centers like the Neutral Zone increase the chance that Ann Arbor will be a place people stay in or return to in the future.

"When you get older you realize how important this is in a community," says Nick Ayers, the turntablist and music technology coordinator. "It gives teens a voice … There's so many opportunities here, alternatives to what they're [being offered in school]." Ayers says that schools have taken heed of the center's innovative programming and are adding similar offerings.

While The Loft and Ground Zero were once the hip teen centers, the Neutral Zone now finds others following its lead. Dickerson points out Youthville, a teen center in Detroit whose organizers visited the Neutral Zone for ideas before it launched a year and a half ago. At 75,000 square feet, the center boasts a recording studio and dance studio, cyber café and Neutral Zone-style mentoring and tutoring. 

Dengiz says it took some time for the Neutral Zone to establish a good name in the community. "It really took us five years — that's really interesting because it takes a business five years," she says.
 
Dengiz believes a teen-driven center would work in any community, but the focus would have to be different. Currently, she is working on establishing a youth enterprise center in Ypsilanti with an emphasis on jobs and education.

"I'm helping to write grants right now to create a youth enterprise project, since education and jobs are a vital interest [there]," Dengiz says. The project would teach them how to make money and emphasize high school and higher education. While that potential center may have space devoted to creative pursuits, it will focus on jobs and tutoring first. Ultimately, educating young people on ways to keep and make money will encourage the Ypsilanti economy.

Dengiz admits that these are lofty goals. But the idea of a teen-driven center in Ann Arbor was a dream once, too. 

"You can't change things unless you change things."

Photographs by Alex Dziadosz - All Rights Reserved

Neutral Zone's first Executive Director Lisa Dengiz

Students in the Neutral Zone's Riot Youth program play "Sumo"

A Neutral Zone student sits in the sound recording booth at the Neutral Zone

Student Allison Correll shows her photography to Visual Arts Coordinator Trevor Stone. The visual arts program often uses peer critiques to help students improve their work.

Program Director Ron Dickerson at the Neutral Zone

Exterior of the Neutral Zone