It’s a minor miracle of sorts.

Teens aren’t spending hours tapping  away on small screens or looking at videos posted by social media influencers seeking clicks for advertising money.

Instead of being submerged in the world of artificial intelligence, they spend their time in the real world connecting with friends and making new ones.

The minor miracle is being made possible by the Thomas Toy Community Teen Center.

How did they do they do it?

*They gathered teens together to see what they wanted if they had a place to drop into.

*They then remodeled an existing building around those “wants.”

*They then enlisted adult volunteers willing to share their skills and hobbies with interested teens or just to volunteer to cover tasks needed to open a teen center five days a week.

It also helps that in exchange for “locking up” their cell phones in a specially designed storage area when they enter the center they earn points toward buying food in the cafe.

After being open for several months on the southeast corner of Yosemite and Fremont avenues on the eastern edge of downtown Manteca, they were averaging 82 students in the seventh through 12th grade dropping in to take advantage of the offerings.

Those offerings include:

*A cafe designed for conversation, board games, and food

*A teen cave with everything from oversized couches to pool and foosball.

*Access to a podcast recording studio.

*An art room.

*Outdoor patio.

*Programming for martial arts, dance and more with a weight room being added.

“The key to it all is mentoring,” Interim Executive Director Tim Kemptner  told the Manteca Rotary Club Thursday.

The volunteers help assure that teens have a safe place to hang out. They also play a pivotal role in helping teens learn skills. And, equally important, they learn to interact with adults in a positive manner.

The center’s summer hours are 1 to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

They are always looking for volunteers to share their skills, even something as basic as changing oil on a car.

Kemptner said the center is looking at adding counseling services in space adjoining the center.

When school starts up again, they also hope to have a “parent coaching” program where parents can share challenges and how they deal with them.

It dovetails into the goal to strengthen not just teens in terms of developing skills and benefiting from one-on-one interactions with peers in a safe setting, but to help strengthen families.

It is why they are partnering with the Second Harvest Food Bank to have a flood closet on site.

“There is no end to what we can do with (the center),” Kemptner said.

The club is open to all seventh through high school students throughout Manteca.

The bulk of its members are now from Manteca High and Lincoln School due to the close proximity to both campuses.

That said, they have a small but growing number of East Union and Sierra high school students.

Manteca Transit has added a bus stop in front of the teen center to make it easier for youth to access it.

Upcoming events at two center dependent on grants and donations, is “The Tommies”.

It will double as a teen talent showcase and fundraiser with categories such as art, music, and podcasts.

For more information, go to thomastoycc.org

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com