my name is shada, and i'm in sixth grade, and i have been a member of the san francisco boys and girls club in the tenderloin for six years. i love to read and watch harry potter, and i also love to swim. i lived in the tenderloin for seven years, and in that time, i have really enjoyed going to bodecker park, because it has swings, i climb the web, and it is a place to have fun. i am excited to have this park, because i want to see how people enjoy the new structures. whenever there's a new park, i try to go on everything there. if there's a new slide or monkey bars, i go on them. i am excited to try everything this park has to offer. i think parks are important because they are a place where kids learn to play with other kids, and they help us to be active. also, parks are entertaining. to me, a park is where teams, kids and eve adults can gather up and play. they can share laughs, games, and most importantly friendship. also, what if there were no such things as parks? where would kids gather and hangout? for those reasons, i think parks are important. thank you [applause]. >> weren

now, you're going to hear from my customers: three youth, pauli pauline, charlie, and shada, three members of the boys and girls club who hangout at bodecker and will now have the opportunity to hangout at city center. we have an elementary school student, a middle school student, and a high school student. we're so pleased to bring them up to say a few words. >> all right. before i begin, the fact that everyone here today, everyone's smile made my heart feel warm and tingly inside to fight the cold weather. i believe that playgrounds are important because it provides a safe place for children. i remember the park before the renovation. i remember as a child that this area was a danger zone that i should avoid. i remember finding myself repulsed by the smell emitting from the park, and then, it got renovated. i was amazed by how much the park changed. the streets were cleaner than they had been since i was a child. i genuinely fell in love with the beauty of this playground, and how well it's been maintained. i also believe that playgrounds are important because of the influence they have