The new KCteen Center, now celebrating its second month, is a unique space in Greater Kansas City for Jewish teenagers to spend time together.
“When we started KCteen just over a year ago, we really wanted to take a serious approach to teen programming,” said Rabbi Avremi Baron, founder and director of KCteen. “We knew we had to reimagine Jewish teen programming completely, part [of which included] a physical space specifically for teens.”
Rabbi Baron said that donors helped fund the new center. After six months of searching for a location and three months of construction, the center opened in the Aspiria Campus (formerly belonging to Sprint), less than a mile from The J KC and Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy.
After the ribbon cutting at its opening in February, the center’s inaugural event was a challah bake for teenagers. Amenities for teens to engage with include games (including air hockey, a pool table, a ping pong table, and board games), instruments (a piano and electric guitar), snacks, coffee, Jewish books, and a PlayStation 5 video game console.
“[KCteen’s] vision is to create a community of empowered local Jewish teens,” Rabbi Baron said. “...To put it simply, we want to help Kansas City Jewish teens live their best Jewish life story at their pace and in a nonjudgmental way. We hope the [KCteen Center] will become a second home for the teens, a place where they feel comfortable and a place they can grow in their Judaism.”
Jewish high school students do not need to sign up to come to the teen center. Rabbi Baron said his favorite time is on Thursday nights when “we open for a few hours, we serve dinner, and teens just hangout. There is no program; people are coming and going. Some teens do homework, others play video games, some are playing music — it’s a real vibe.”
College-accredited Cteen U classes are also now hosted at the center.
KCteen is an organization of young Kansas City Jews who find fun ways to explore their heritage while giving back to the larger community. It welcomes all teens, grades 9 through 12, regardless of their background or affiliation.
Those with questions or wishing to get involved can email and follow @KCteen on Instagram.