By Ashley St. Michel
Staff Writer
    Amid the blaring radio and the pop of pool sticks hitting eight balls, Matthew Duplisea, programmer and Kennebunk Teen Center supervisor, sits with a smile on a sticker-covered bench. The shouts across the room tell the story of a couple of kids playing their hearts out on the latest football video game. In a darkened room across from that, kids stare quietly in anticipation to be the next challenger in the Halo 3 tournament.
    “Is it winner moves on?” Jeremy Roussette, a freshman, asks.
    “Yes, it is,” Duplisea says and turns his attention to a young boy who is looking for the phone. “You are going to have to page it buddy, I don’t know where it is,” Duplisea says.
    When the thought of the Teen Center first developed, the Park Street building was unoccupied. Duplisea said the idea was to try to get kids off the corner after school and give them a place to congregate and hang out until their parents come home or until they want to go home. Duplisea said parents still come to the center to get their kids at night, some of them even walk to the center from their homes down the street.
    Now in his second year as the supervisor of the teen center, Duplisea said he averages more than 50 kids a night and usually more than 75 kids on Friday nights. He said the number of kids coming in has increased significantly in the last year.
    “When I first started here I only had about five or six solid kids coming in everyday,” Duplisea said. “Now they are all comfortable coming in and just being themselves and hanging out.”
    The Teen Center is open from Halloween until the Friday before April vacation. Kids in grades six through 12 can come to the center and play pool, ping pong, watch the T.V. and VCR equipped with a Sony DVD surround sound system, play Xbox, dome hockey, Playstation and use the karaoke machine. The kids also have their choice of snack and soda machines with prices as inexpensive as .50 cents, a lounge area, study area, computer and a kitchen. Kids must contact Duplisea about coming to the center on a regular basis and sign a contract which outlines rules they must follow while on the premises. The rules include no drugs and alcohol and no loitering, although the kids can leave the building.
    Nate Myers, a ninth grade student, said he enjoys the activities at the center.
    “I like coming here because I can play pool, I can arm wrestle, or I can just hang out,” Myers said. “And you can go outside and get some air if you want.”
    Duplisea said he allows the kids to go outside for fresh air and to go to a store down the road if they are hungry, but they aren’t allowed to hang around outside the building.
    Another activity Duplisea said he gets a great response from is the movie night he hosts every Friday. Since the center is open from 2:30 to 9 p.m. on Fridays he starts a movie at 7 p.m. The center is open from 2:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday with the exception of holidays.
    The kids can also participate in numerous pool tournaments, game tournaments and a Madden football challenge. The challenge consists of a group of kids playing Madden football on the center's Play Station against each other with winner moves on rules. Duplisea said the kids are awarded prizes for different places in the tournaments.
    But it isn’t all about the prizes and the games, Duplisea said.
    “This place gives these kids a place to come and meet other kids their age and hang out with their friends,” he said. “It provides a safe environment within these four walls. And it’s a fun place too.”
    Duplisea said he enjoys the work he does because it allows him to work with what he calls “the forgotten group.”
    He said teenagers are lost in the shuffle because adults take care of themselves and small children must be looked after, leaving the teens to take care of themselves. Duplisea uses the kids as an advisory board to discuss ideas about what they might want to do for future activities.
    “I like it here because it’s fun, you can do a lot of different things,” Liana Myers, an eighth grade student, said.
    Duplisea said another reason the center is filled with teens almost every night is because of their hours.
    “We are open a lot later than most other teen centers,” he said. He said one thing he is proud of is the reputation the center has built so quickly in the community. He said the center is dedicated to making sure that kids aren’t engaging in activities they shouldn’t be.
    Megan Davis, a sophomore, said she enjoys the activities just as much as she enjoys the space where she can just hang out with her friends.
    Duplisea said he does see a drop off in kids who continue to come to the center after they get their license.
    “This is really a good place for non-licensed kids who are looking to get out of the house,” he said. “And it’s a safe place to hang.”
    Duplisea said although he hasn’t taken the kids out for any field trips, he hopes that sometime soon the center can arrange something
    “I’d really like to take them whitewater rafting,” he said. “But they are the plugged in generation and they have their Xbox 360 here.”