ROSEMEAD - Not all kids have a place to go after school. But, luckily, for many kids in the Garvey School District, there is the Rosemead Youth Leadership Center.

"Everything we do we try to base it around educational programs," Executive Director Keno Deary said. "This summer we have 250 kids in the summer program. In the fall program we have about 120 students."

Many who give their time working at the center went there as kids, Deary said.

"The volunteers are former students and live here in Rosemead," Deary said. "They come back because they liked it. It's great to see them come back and help the community. That's what we definitely need."

Deary added the center is for kids ages 5 to 14 or grades kindergarten through eighth grade.

One of the main things, Deary said, the center tries to do is teach multi-cultural activities, such as the Chinese lion dance, Chinese language classes and Spanish language classes.

"We try to do things that are culturally involved," he said. "We try to merge the two cultures together. A lot of time they don't get to have an opportunity to mingle."

Also, Deary said students rotate from time to time between the disciplines that the center is teaching.

Vicky Chang, a teacher of Chinese for the center, said she loves the program's philosophy and loves working there.

"I absolutely love it," Chang said of working at the center. "Teaching is my passion. I want kids to really learn this language that is becoming popular in the world. Also, this place is important as parents are giving their children a chance to learn to speak a second language."

Janet Chin, who started the foundation 10 years ago, said it was a dream of hers to do this.

"I've always wanted to found a youth foundation," Chin said. "We had the opportunity to do this. This has been the most fulfilling thing I've ever done. Absolutely no regrets! We're educating the next generation of community leaders and that's by offering the programs that promote leadership.

"We've adopted the ‘Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.' Basically, it gives them a foundation for leadership. We want to develop leaders and tell them where the leadership roles are."

(Shel Segal can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .)