Teen Tech Center offers ‘limitless possibilities’
The new Best Buy Teen Tech Center on the campus of Wallace Community College – Selma celebrated its grand opening on Tuesday night at a ceremony held in the WCCS Gymnasium.

The center has finally opened its doors after a year of planning between Best Buy, WCCS and the MJ 93-90 Foundation.

Thanks to the fanfare surrounding the opening, Teen Tech Center Coordinator Adam Pettway says that the community has shown great interest in the facility.

“We’ve definitely had an influx of people coming in asking questions,” said Pettway. “It’s always great to see people pop up, because that means they heard about it somewhere. You can just see the excitement in their faces, and to me, that’s the best part.”

Pettway said he’s been busy showing interested members of the community all of the different technology the center has to offer.

The first thing visitors are likely to see in the center is the huge table in the center of the room. Even within the brightly colored space the table stands out especially with a pile of Legos in the middle of it to encourage creativity and break the ice among the students.

“This is our gathering space,” said Pettway as he gestured toward the table. “It’s a place where kids can just come together and decompress before they get started here at the Teen Tech Center.”

Surrounding the gathering space in the middle of the room are different computer station’s, each specialized for a different function.

There’s one that features software for drawing and designing, another for 3-D printing, another for video editing and another just for home work.

The center also features a heat press where students can apply their very own graphics that they’ve designed onto things like T shirts, baseball caps and stainless steel travel cups.

In a room off to the side of all of the computer stations lies a recording studio where the students can record and produce their own music.
“That’s the strong suit of the center,” said Pettway. “It’s not just one thing. It’s not just a computer lab or a music studio, it’s a whole idea. It’s a whole process where kids can come in and do anything. The possibilities are limitless.”

As coordinator for the center, it will be Pettway’s job to guide the children toward their passions, so that they may discover a niche they can fall into.

“My hope is that every kid who walks in here has a life changing experience,” said Pettway.

Pettway knows enough about all of the technology at the center to at least get the kids started but hopes to drawn in members of the community experienced in technology to host workshops so students can receive further instruction from someone with more experience.

“If a student finds something they love, we’ll get them what they need to be an expert in it.”

The Best Buy Teen Tech Center is open Monday – Thursday from 2 – 7 p.m. and on Fridays from 8:30 a.m. – noon.