
DATE: Saturday, July 12, 1997               TAG: 9707120313

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   88 lines

YOUTHS CLEAN UP POLICE STATION, TEAR DOWN SOME OLD STEREOTYPES

Kennette Winstead wants to chip away the mutual suspicions that strain relations between Park Place teen-agers and police.

So on Friday, she and nine other teens chipped away old paint from the walls of the police mini-station at 3305 Colley Ave.

By day's end, the teens also had repainted the building's exterior and planted a flower bed. They expect to finish the trim today.

``We're showing them not all teen-agers are bad,'' said Winstead, 17, who came up with the idea to involve teens in fixing up the mini-station. ``This is the first step in breaking down the stereotypes.''

Actually, Winstead first had to coax some of her friends to join in. It wasn't always easy.

``I'd probably be still asleep,'' said Carey Hickson, 18. ``But this is the right thing to do, helping the community out.''

Still, Hickson couldn't quite believe he was involved. And, he wondered aloud what four of his uncles would think; they are police officers in New Jersey and North Carolina.

``They wouldn't ever believe it,'' Hickson said, as he chuckled. ``They think my mind would be on other things besides doing the right thing. Not bad things, but I wouldn't be doing this.''

Motorists and pedestrians wheeled their heads in surprise as they passed the mini-station. Some shouted words of congratulations and encouragement to the teens.

Several adults participated, including William G. Sykes, president of the Park Place Property Owners and Police Association, and Rodney Jordan, vice president of the 35th Street Merchants Association and youth-committee chairman of the Park Place Civic League.

The mini-station is a product of partnerships among merchants, the civic league, landlords, police and group of downtown lawyers who led a fund-raising drive in 1992. The facility is known as the Judge Joe Jordan Precinct, named for the late Norfolk jurist and civil-rights leader.

Anna Jordan Brinkley, a sister of Joe Jordan, said the participation of the teens reminded her of her brother's work with inner-city youngsters in the early 1960s. Jordan set aside a community room in his law-office building and hosted weekly activities for a youth group he called Jordan's Rangers.

``He would have been extremely pleased that someone has interested today's teens in keeping the community upgraded,'' Brinkley said.

And Rodney Jordan, a nephew of Joe Jordan, said the leadership shown by the teens could reinvigorate the community partnership.

``For Park Place to continue to grow and be the community that everybody wants it to be,'' he said, ``then each of us has to recognize that we all have a stake and we all have to be understanding and (be) respectful of each other's stake.''

The renovated mini-station will have a paid staff person for the first time. She'll be another teen, Konita Kelly, 16, a rising freshman at Maury High School.

Her summer salary of $1,500 will be covered by donations from Jordan Enterprises and the nonprofit Park Place Academy, Rodney Jordan said.

On Friday, Kelly joined the other youngsters working on the building.

On Monday, she'll start her 32-hour-a-week paid job inside the building she helped renovate. Kelly will be answering phone calls and greeting visitors - but she admitted to being nervous.

While the teens moaned a bit about working outdoors under a sweltering sun on Friday, most said they would like to continue doing volunteer projects for the Park Place neighborhood.

Even Sterling Waters, 18, who said it was the first time he had ever volunteered. ``Most people feel, `If you're not paid, why do it?' '' he said.

Why?

For most of the teens, it was because Kennette Winstead talked them into it.

Winstead, who has a 3-year-old son, said she's learned the importance of helping her community over the past few years. In 1995, she began in a summer jobs program which taught her how to work with other people, inspire her to develop business skills and take on more responsibility.

She now manages 78 apartment units for George Vincent, a Park Place landlord and owner of Colonial Hardware. In the fall, she'll begin taking business courses at Tidewater Community College.

``Sometimes I'd be shocked in the morning when I wake up,'' she said. ``I've done all this already. I'm proud of myself.'' ILLUSTRATION: IAN MARTIN photos/The Virginian-Pilot

Bed may have seemed like a better place to be Friday morning, but

Carey Hickson, standing, said helping was the right thing. Konita

Kelly, left, and Shawn Bryant joined the painting party at the Park

Place police mini-station.

The Judge Joe Jordan Precinct at 3305 Colley Ave. is named for the

late Norfolk jurist and civil-rights leader.

Rodney Jordan, a nephew of Joe Jordan, said the leadership shown by

the teens could reinvigorate the community partnership.