The school set aside a special "chill room" as the center of the budding after-school program. Decorated with urban art and murals depicting the likes of Bob Marley, Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi, it's where kids gather for an after-school snack, video games, homework help, to play air hockey, all thanks to donations.

The agencies staff and supply the program.

It cost about $60,000 to start it up, said Tammy Champo, Salt Lake County Youth Services spokeswoman. Agencies are seeking grants to start a similar program at Kennedy Junior High next fall.

"What I think is neat about it though, is the community all came together to solve a problem and helped create something for the kids ... (who) really need it," Barber said.

Seventy percent of the students there qualify for federally subsidized school lunch, and often lack opportunities to participate in club sports or private lessons after school, Barber said.

The after-school program gives them new learning opportunities. It has bridged ethnic communities, said Kelly Riding, a youth services recreational therapist who oversees the program. And students say the program's focus on leadership, unity, respect and empowerment has helped build up their community — and themselves.

'"This has changed me a lot in how I act around people. I used to be really shy," said ninth-grader Brian Johnson, one of the lead characters in "Switch." " I felt more a part (of school), more welcomed. They made me feel more comfortable."

As seventh-grader Jaqueline Olivas puts it: "It's not like we're friends anymore; it's like we're family."

If you go

• The Kearns Junior High after-school program will perform its original production, "Switch," at the Capitol Theatre Saturday at 7 p.m. The show, written and performed by the students, includes art, poetry and dance including salsa and hip-hop, and tells the story of the program's creation.

• "Many of the youth involved have never had the opportunity to be inside Capitol Theatre to watch a show, let alone be in one," program director Nicholina Womack said in a prepared statement. "This has never been done before, for after-school programs, for Center for the Arts, for Capitol Theatre. This is a new venture."

• Tickets are available by calling 355-ARTS or at www.arttix.org.

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E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com