In fact, Adam Henig, the city recreation coordinator who runs day-to-day operations at this house that offers an after-school program for students, hears it all the time.

When people walk through the front door of Warner Hutton House, they enter a cozy living room, complete with couches and a big TV with plenty of movies to watch. Actor Matthew Broderick's slacker-icon character Ferris Bueller greets visitors from the wall with the phrase "Leisure Rules," which seems to fit the vibe of this after-school hangout spot well, Henig says. Many other posters also decorate the walls, such as ones from the movie The Matrix and of hip-hop group Outkast. One adjoining room has pool tables, and another has foosball and air hockey, as well as a kitchen where students can fix snacks that the house sells at low prices. A backyard has a gazebo where students can hang out in the fresh air. Yet another room, which Henig calls the study room, has tables and chairs where students can do their homework—the door is always shut to give them peace and quiet. All this is encased in a large, classic Victorian house.

The Warner Hutton House is an after-school program, primarily for middle school-aged students, and is free to local families. In order for a child to come to participate after school, parents need only fill out a registration form for their child, and without notice, their child has the freedom to come to the house on any weekday the child chooses. Hours are typically from 3 to 5:30 p.m. each weekday, except on Wednesdays, when it opens at 2 p.m. for Redwood Middle School's early-out day, or on district minimum days, when it opens at 12:45 p.m.

"Kids can come here whenever they want. It varies day to day, but I would say we have a core group of about 25 kids who come regularly, every day after school," Henig says.

Since the program is free for families, some may wonder how the house survives financially. Henig says the program is funded from two main sources—the city of Saratoga and private donations.

Henig says Warner Hutton, the house's namesake, was a farmer in Saratoga in the 19th century. He built the house and donated it to the city in 1896. Its original location was on Sousa Avenue. Much later, the house was moved to its current location on Fruitvale Avenue and was restored. The house was named a heritage landmark and was rededicated in 1995, and a commemorative plaque was put on display in front of the house.

Henig graduated from Chico State University with a degree in political science and previously worked part time for the city of Pleasanton running after-school programs and summer camps for teens. When he graduated, he interviewed for the recreation coordinator position with the city of Saratoga. He says he was overjoyed when they wanted to bring him on full time to run Warner Hutton. He has now been there 10 months, and the house has seen quite a few positive changes since he came on board.

Before Henig took the job, he says, the house had gone through three coordinators in just two years. Henig says the constant changing of adult supervisors and the fact that those who did come on board did not mesh well with the teens prompted the teens to get out of control frequently, giving the house a bad reputation.

"A big part of this job is getting along with the kids," he says. "There's every kind of kid here—poor, rich, middle class. I have dealt with kids from all of these kinds of backgrounds before, and so I can handle them all."

Henig says when he first came on board, he could see that the rest of the staff had never been properly trained, and therefore they couldn't handle the teenagers, and the teens would take advantage of that fact and act up much of the time. So, Henig decided he needed to whip the house into shape and set some serious ground rules, such as that teens will be kicked out if they get out of control. Those staff members who didn't like Henig's new policies quit. Henig then hired new staff members who he says were better trained and more cooperative, which he says is working out a lot better now. The fact that Henig is on-site full time every day also helps, he says.

Henig has also revitalized the live concerts at Warner Hutton, which were previously held at the house but fizzled out when a previous coordinator couldn't keep them together and had trouble booking bands when the house didn't have its own PA system to amplify the music, says Henig. Henig got together with the city's youth commissioner and secured a grant that covered the cost of purchasing a PA for the house. Now, the concerts are in full swing again. About twice a month, he invites a local band to come and play a free show for high school students at the house. The concerts' popularity has grown so much Henig says he is now regularly contacted by bands from all over the West Coast who want to come and perform at Warner Hutton House—as well as bands from as far away as New York and Minnesota. However, he tries to keep with the local theme as much as possible, featuring mostly younger bands from Saratoga, Los Gatos and Campbell.

Now, with school just starting up again and news of the Saratoga Library reducing its hours to save costs, Henig is eager to attract more students to the house.

"We certainly can handle more kids if we need to," he says.

For more information about Warner Hutton House and its programs, call Adam Henig at 408.868.1272. The house is located at 13777-A Fruitvale Ave. in Saratoga.