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Top of the class
Place to find a lot to do
Some 80 youngsters stay busy during winter break by going back to school for the PLACE program.
By MICHELE MILLER
Published January 11, 2006
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[Times photo: Lance Aram Rothstein]
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Tyler Ahrens, 11, left, helps Zach Ritchie, 10, build a birdhouse in the PLACE program at Fox Hollow Elementary in Port Richey last week during their winter break.
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PORT RICHEY - When it comes to building birdhouses, it seems that 11-year-old Tyler Ahrens is the "go-to guy."
At least that was the case last week at Fox Hollow Elementary's PLACE (Pasco Learning and Activity Centers of Enrichment) program, where about 80 kids spent time during their winter break.
"I told you I wouldn't hit your hand," Tyler told a relieved Devin Masters after he finished hammering in a tiny nail the 7-year-old had been instructed to hold steady for him.
While others in the group opted for other arts and crafts activities - weaving potholders, creating "stain-glass" masterpieces or pasting pictures in the PLACE program's scrapbook - Tyler, a kid who knows well the smell of sawdust, went for the building project.
Time after time, the kids around him asked Tyler to help them out.
"Me and my dad build things every day - rabbit stands, shelves, benches," Tyler explained as he did a little more hammering for 10-year-old Zach Ritchie. "Anybody can do it."
[Last modified January 11, 2006, 01:17:29]
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