SHELL LAKE — From here on out, Washburn County youth will have a longtime space to participate in activities and hang out together at The Oak WashCo Youth Center in Spooner.
The new youth center, located at 402 Oak St., was given to the Health & Human Services (HHS) Department for youth programming by the County Board in 2023. The building originally housed the Spooner Senior Center, which moved to the former Annex building in Spooner and is now the Washburn County Wellness Center 50+. HHS Director Marie Schrankel asked the board if they could use it for their youth programs, as they needed more space, and the center has a kitchen.
The board granted HHS use on a one-year trial basis and they would reassess it after a year.
The Oak officially opened in April and has been hosting many events, along with leadership opportunities and activities for youth ages 11-17. It has a kitchen, ping pong and foosball tables, large televisions with seating areas, board games, books, darts, crafts and more.
At the County Board’s Tuesday, June 18 meeting, Schrankel gave an update on the center. She said HHS had identified some changes that would be needed, but in order to make them, the board would have to approve ongoing use of the center, so she brought this request forth sooner than the one-year mark so she could work with HHS’ budget.
Prevention Coordinator Chet Hurt gave a background on the youth programs. The HHS Prevention Unit was initiated in 2018 and has more than 17 active programs, the majority of which serve youth in Washburn County. The unit was awarded a grant of $375,000 per year over five years, with the possibly of renewal. In fall 2023, the board granted HHS temporary use of the center.
“Our dream of having a youth center started to grow,” Hurt said.
Since The Oak opened, it has offered skill-building programs that include, but are not limited to, babysitting clinics, yoga, fishing, cooking, job readiness, gardening, spring clean-up, garden box building and more. This week, they will be starting a wellness model with Northwest Passage. Now that it is summer, the center is open six days a week and open 48 hours.
Youth program specialist Jacquie Buchmann said they average six youth a day in the mornings now that it is summer.
“We’re pretty busy in the afternoon … and evening,” she said. “Cooking seems to be one of the very interested skills that youth like to learn.”
Other popular activities included the Friendsgiving.
“They cooked, I feel, for like five or six hours (from scratch),” Buchmann said.
Recently, they hosted Knockerball, in which kids were inside large blown-up balloons and bounced off each other. Buchmann said about 25 youth came to that event.
The Oak partners with 14 local agencies which have invested in 37 hours of volunteer time.
Since their soft opening in October 2023, “the door has swung open 613 times,” said Hurt.
He said so far, 113 youth have used the building. There have been 33 items donated by community members or businesses, and $4,748 has been donated to The Oak to date.
The average age of visitors is 12- to 13-year-olds. Hurt said they expect the decline after those years because students get their driver’s licenses or jobs.
“There’s a lot of years in there that they can be engaged in positive programming,” he said, adding that the grant was written for grades six through 12.
Buchmann said they do outreach in the schools and Lakeland Family Resource Center, as well as through social media and flyers around town. When asked, she said homeschooled youth do attend, as well as those in charter schools.
The capacity of the building will be reassessed later, though Buchmann said, “We haven’t reached a point where it is too many.”
The Spooner Memorial Library is right down the street, so if there is a larger group, there is space there, she added.
Schankel said they budgeted $10,000 a year to maintain the building, and the utilities have been very reasonable so far.
Supervisor Stephen Smith said he was impressed with the youth getting CPR-certified, since practicing on infants and young children is difficult, “so kudos.”
First Vice Chair Dave Wilson said they had a great-looking facility.
“Thank you for what you’re doing up there,” he said.
Supervisor Brian Melton loved that in the video they showed of youth speaking to their experiences, many said they felt it was a safe environment. Schrankel said that one youth has been there 75 times.
“That space is a safe place for that person to be,” she said. “We just want to continue to grow and see where that leads us. We want to serve as many kids as possible.”
Angie Bodzislaw, Shell Lake, spoke on behalf of the Spooner Memorial Library in support of the center. The library has partnered with the Prevention Unit for years.
“That it’s (The Oak) been a reality is incredible,” Bodzislaw said. “The Oak is there to support all teens.”
She added that she has seen incredible growth since the center opened, showing teens are choosing to make healthy decisions.
Two of the youth who visit the center also spoke, saying it is an asset to the community and helps those who may otherwise have fallen into harmful patterns.
When it came time for discussion on the resolution, Supervisor Cristina Masterjohn asked if allowing The Oak to have ongoing use would mean it wouldn’t be put back on the market in October. Second Vice Chair Linda Featherly said there may be a reevaluation when the grant expires.
Schrankel said their intent was for use to be ongoing and a permanent fixture. She said they didn’t have separate insurance, but any improvements made will come out of the grant money.
“No tax levy dollars for any improvements” have been used, she said.
The resolution passed unanimously.
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