The Riekes Center for Human Enhancement

It’s a sunny Wednesday afternoon in East Menlo Park,and the Riekes Center for Human Enhancement is filling up with its usual after-school crowd. Kids of varying ages, ethnicities, and abilities are heading in for a pickup game of basketball on the courts. In the adjacent "Film Barn," a few students edit video projects on the computers, and down a carpeted hallway, music lessons are in full swing. Off-key piano notes echo up the stairs to the center’s photo lab.

Though it’s a scene that bustles with a diversity of activities and faces, each student is here at this multi-educational center for the same exact purpose- to accomplish his or her personal goals. "Our mission," says a track-suit clad Gary Riekes, the center's founder and namesake, "is to provide each student with the best opportunity to achieve his or her goals. We write a curriculum specifically for the individual." As he strolls past the center's snack-filled kitchen and toward the gym, Riekes explains that for some, this means using the center's state-of-the-art equipment to train for the Olympics, while for others it means getting to play the guitar in a band or learning how to track wildlife. The staff, which is made up of many locals who grew up spending time at the center, sport t-shirts that capture this mission. They read, "Goals, goals, goals. Bringing them into focus one student at a time."

But what seems to set the Riekes Center apart from other community centers is the atmosphere and attitude that surrounds goal-achievement here. As the center's welcome materials state, they strive to provide an "environment of non-judgment and mutual respect" for all their students, some of whom are NFL athletes and some of whom have a variety of special needs.

"Here, what we want to do is learn to be better in a place where you can learn and fail at your own pace, never compared to anyone else," Riekes explains. "The exploration of various interests, combined with everyone being in the same facility, leads to a natural emphasis on everyone being equal." He pauses to look around at the numerous activities happening in the center. "We're not clinically helping people," he says. "They come here for joy."

On any given day, Riekes can be found strolling through the facility as he is this afternoon. He pats kids on the back as they pass, issuing smiles and high fives, and is a whiz at remembering names. He's no stranger to the place or its students, having spent nearly every day here since the center moved from his own Redwood City backyard to its current warehouse location in 1997, nearly 20 years after its inception.

In many ways, the center began because of a back injury- Riekes was hurt while playing football for Stanford in the mid '70s. The accident left him disabled for close to a decade and forced him to reassess his own dreams for the future. "I wanted to be a pro football player and a rock star," he recalls with a laugh. "But this was a beautiful job that was laid upon me." With an acute awareness of athletic training techniques and a passion for preventing injuries in others, Riekes began coaching individual athletes in his backyard. Soon, he was offering guitar and drum lessons in his home as well.

While his students succeeded athletically and musically, Riekes got a crash course in teaching. "What I saw when I started teaching the traditional way was that it wasn't comfortable for them," he says. "I knew I had to start teaching based on their joy and excitement. I saw that if kids own the progress and own the process through which it's made, it's such a developmental tool for them. What started to evolve was a new teaching methodology."

That methodology uses peer interaction and self-reliance as a way for students to grow and learn. When a student has mastered a skill, Riekes encourages them to begin mentoring others who are still learning.Then, he explains, that student becomes a teacher, makes friends, and learns leadership skills. "The center has always been what it is now- a multi-educational center with a mentoring side," he says. "We're a place that creates mentors who can then go and spread these values and this teaching methodology wherever they go."

The overwhelmingly positive feedback Riekes got from the athletes and neighborhood kids who spent time at his house in the '70s helped him dream up the educational center that thousands of students enjoy today. "What I thought would be one of the most beautiful blessings would be to have a place where everyone is humane, where there's no judgment, and there's never a question of whether you're good enough," he says as he strolls through the gym. "Some teens are so self-absorbed, so cruel. I thought, 'wouldn’t it be great to have a place where they can practice decency?'" That center, which grew at Riekes' home and in his backyard for two decades, has enjoyed 11 years in its current location. Riekes' original front door was taken from the old Redwood City house and now stands in the middle of a hallway in the East Menlo Park warehouse, serving as a reminder that many great things have humble beginnings.

Passing through that exact door and into the weight room on this afternoon, Riekes pauses to observe two boys lifting dumbbells. The taller and more athletic of the two is patiently instructing the smaller boy how to stand and curl his arms properly. "That right there, that's the beauty of this place," he says as the boys see him across the room and wave. "There could never be anything better than that. It's people from all backgrounds and abilities interfacing in a real way. It's caring and receiving in a vacuum."

These types of interactions between students are carried out in all of the Riekes Center's programs, which are as diverse as their clientele. Athletes of any skill level can train on state- of-the-art equipment, working out alongside NFL players and Olympians. And those who are recovering from an injury, whom Riekes himself is particularly attentive to because of his own long recovery, can receive physical therapy at the center. Students who love music can participate in a monthly "jam session" talent exhibition, performing alongside peers of all abilities, and nature-lovers can head out on group trips or hikes to learn tracking and survival skills. And on top of it all, the center works with local schools to offer programs that complement academic studies.

Amidst all of this, what seems most important to Riekes and his staff is that they maintain the ability to serve anyone and everyone,especially those who have trouble affording such extracurricular activities. "Sensitivity to others is an admission requirement," Riekes points out, "but for tuition, we have scholarships and work-trade, and nobody knows who’s who,so there’s no judgment." Those who choose to do work-trade help out around the center doing chores, straightening up equipment, or even decorating the walls with photos. "We don't want to turn anyone away," Riekes adds, "but we're actively seeking support. This has always been a boot-strap, shoestring organization."

This summer, the Sequoia Healthcare District offered the center a $95,000 grant, recognizing the importance of their after-school fitness programs. Riekes says he hopes that similar funding continues, as it's crucial right now to keep financially disadvantaged students at the center. Nearly 25 percent of the center's students require financial help. As their Communications Committee Chair John Maroney wrote, "The Riekes Center needs ongoing funding from the broad community it serves in order to continue its mission of individual transformations." Meanwhile, the learning continues daily at the Riekes Center, from morning till evening six days a week, and new faces walk through the double glass doors to begin their journey toward human enhancement each day. "Here,each student can be his or her own hero," says Riekes, adding, "There isn’t another center like this one." And it seems that the 30,000-plus heroes who have spent time at the center since it began would likely all agree.

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