As part of the youth mentoring programs initiated by Fairfax County Police officers out of the Franconia District Station, Officer Abe Gelabert combined forces with the Seaport Foundation in Alexandria, building boats and providing leadership for some Springfield teen-agers.
Gelabert is proud of his boat-building team, which consists of teens from Key Middle School and Lee High School, both in Springfield.
"We were supposed to only build one boat but we started another. We were able to almost complete two boats in about eight hours. We hope to pick it up in the next couple of weeks. We may chose to launch them at Accotink," Gelabert said.
Gelabert made a name for himself working with the Franconia Community Center on Commerce Street, incorporating several programs for teens. He was approached by the Seaport Foundation about the boat-building program and Gelabert joined forces with Masoud Husseini to round up 15 youths they thought were ideal for the program.
Husseini, a Springfield resident, is associated with the community center where he initiates soccer and clean-up activities with the youths.
"Most of these guys are involved with soccer," he said.
It is a mentoring program of sorts for teens that don't have the guidance at home.
"These parents have to work long hours, they have little time to take part in these activities themselves. They depend on us to help guide their children," he said.
Hussini's worked with the same group of teen-agers on other events as well.
"We did some clean-up activities at South Run and Pohick Library. They were excited to do community work and get some pizza also," he said.
BEFORE THE SNIPER shootings in October, they started building the 12-foot rowboats with just wood, tools, nails and glue. The shootings halted the activity while the police efforts were concentrated elsewhere. The boats were 85 percent complete and remained at the foundation in Alexandria.
"They started out with panels. The Seaport Foundation has been tremendously understanding," Gelabert said.
Joe Youcha, executive director at the Seaport Foundation, looks at the program as a neutral start for the officers and the youths. It's an antagonistic approach aimed at erasing the boundaries between the officers and the teens.
"With the police, their becoming aware of a different way to act. All of a sudden, they're like peers. They're on the same level when it comes to building boats," Youcha said.
They incorporate team-building skills, environmental lessons, rowing and water-safety instructions. Jennifer McDowell is the Seaport's environmental education expert. She instructs from a 42-foot boat that was constructed at the foundation.
"We use the boats that we build for our education program. I gave them a short talk on the importance of keeping the water clean," she said.
"It's not just a one-shot deal, it's much more to have an ongoing activity," Youcha said.
THE SEAPORT FOUNDATION coined the boat-building program 11-years ago and now it is used by different organizations nationwide. Youcha estimated they built between 800-1,000 boats so far all over the Metropolitan-Washington D.C. area.
"We're building practically every night in D.C.," he said.
A spin-off of the boat-building exercise was family-boat building, which promoted family togetherness as well as boats. In 1998, they had a contest where 50 families built and launched boats in one weekend.