Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Lauren Merriman, Saratoga's new recreation program coordinator, supervises the daily activities, such as pool, at the city's teen center, the Warner Hutton House.
For new teen coordinator, recreation is true calling
By Kara Chalmers
It is 3:35 p.m. School has been out for a while and the sun is finally peeking through the clouds. A group of girls crowd around the entrance to the Warner Hutton House, Saratoga's after-school free teen center, taking advantage of the respite in the day's rain.
When asked about the house's new coordinator, Lauren Merriman, who has replaced the popular Greg Milano the girls agree readily that Merriman is a warm and outgoing addition to the house.
"She's not shy," said Elisha Paul, 12.
"She's been friendly to everyone," added Laura McGowan, also 12.
Some remarked at how Merriman, who began work on March 1, has managed to remember all their names after only a few days on the job.
Milano, who had been at the house for two years, took a job with the city of Burlingame in December, since the position was closer to his home in San Francisco. When he left, the city installed an interim coordinator until Merriman was hired.
"We miss Greg," McGowan said. "But, if we were going to pick someone to take his place, she would be it."
Merriman, 23, is a graduate of California State University, Chico, and has worked for recreation departments in Austin, Texas, Santa Clara and Mountain View. She grew up in North Lake Tahoe, and now lives in downtown San Jose with a roommate.
What the girls said is apparently true--Merriman projects warmth, has a ready smile, and conveys an open and easygoing nature. She speaks fondly of her former positions in the other cities, and says that she has never had a job she didn't like. She already likes working in Saratoga, she said.
Merriman's primary role is to run the Warner Hutton House, which is open to middle school students in Saratoga Monday through Friday, from after school until 5:30 p.m. Four to five other coordinators work at the house every day with the 80 to 90 teens that come to do arts and crafts, sports, cooking, or just to hang out or talk.
Merriman will also run the men's softball league, offered by the recreation department this spring, teen camps over the summer and youth basketball in the winter. She will work closely with the city's youth commission and will help the commission out with ski trips, sporting events, middle school concerts for local bands and dances. Merriman spends her free time playing golf, and is also part of a softball league in Mountain View.
Merriman, who said she always thought she would be a teacher, found that her true calling is recreation. "You're being a teacher, but it's in the most fun setting," she said. She also said that she especially enjoys working with teens during a crucial stage of their lives.
"Our job as professionals is to really hang on to them, to give them guidance and to be role models," she said.
Merriman knows she has some big shoes to fill in replacing Milano, but she's confident she will succeed. "Greg was here for so long, he really knew the kids," she said.
She said she hopes to establish a bit more structure at the center in the afternoons, since, for the last few months between the time Milano left and the time she was hired, things at the center have been a bit hectic. She said she might offer more set activities at the house each day for those who want to participate. She also recognizes that it is sometimes wise not to plan too much.
"You really have to play it by ear," she said. "But if you have ideas to throw out there for them."
Beverly Tucker, Merriman's supervisor in the recreation department, said that she really liked Merriman's enthusiasm and strong recreation background. Tucker said Merriman came very highly recommended by her former employers.
"She also took a lot of interest in our program beforehand," Tucker said.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
