Teen Observer Archive

Tenleytown offers a variety of fitness options, from a typical gym environment to the latest yoga trends. Sport & Health is the local gym, Orangetheory Fitness is a fitness class specializing in high-intensity interval training and CorePower Yoga is a contemporary yoga studio.

Sport & Health opened in 1998 and have expanded since, by introducing new classes. They offer anything from gentle yoga to intense classes focused on a total body workout. It is a family-friendly workout space as it has a kids club that supervises children as parents enjoy their workout. Their busiest time is in the evening after work usually from 5-7 p.m., according to the manager, Alex Switzky. Over the years Sport & Health has altered their layout to accommodate more customers and the evolving fitness industry.

Orangetheory Fitness has been in business since 2010, but they expanded to the Tenleytown area in 2017. The studio has revolutionized how technology is used in workouts. According to its website, Orangetheory’s mission is to provide an effective full body workout in 60 minutes to adapt to people’s daily schedules. 

Customers do not have to stick to one type of exercise. Orangetheory offers multiple modes of exercise for people to modify their workout to their interests. According to Andrea Medinaceli, an Orangetheory sales manager, customers have their own heart monitor to record their heart rate and calories burned. This allows the instructor to make sure everyone is not overworking or underworking. 

Orangetheory gives customers heart monitors to gain “splat points,” which shows how many minutes customers pushed their bodies to their maximum. Medinaceli said the more splat points gained, the more calories customers burn even after their workout into the following day.

In contrast to Sport & Health, Orangtheory’s busiest time is from 5-7 a.m. when parents and others come in before work or school.  Local resident Ali Epstein said Orangetheory is “getting better and has been a great addition to the fitness community in Tenley.” 

Next to Orangetheory is CorePower Yoga. It opened in December 2018 and complements the intense full-body workout next door. They offer four different yoga classes for people of all levels and interests.

For example, their beginner classes focus on an introduction to yoga. If customers want something more challenging, they can take their Yoga Sculpt class. This class combines yoga with cardio and weights to increase strength and overall fitness.

Customer Kyle Li’s favorite aspects of the studio are its “clean facilities and nice and attentive instructors.”

CorePower Yoga has many high school and college student customers. They have a unique program called the Student Experience that makes their classes more affordable to students. They can exchange one hour of working in the studio for a discounted membership. Students are also paid for their work.

Lauren Sangara, now the studio assistant, was first involved with the studio through this program. Located nearby to both Wilson Highschool and American University, many students take advantage of this opportunity and stay active easily. 

Kyle Li, Tenley resident and returning customer at Orangetheory said she used to drive 30 minutes to the gym.

“Now I have a great facility right next to me,” she said.

Residents of Tenleytown, in Washington, D.C., say they are concerned about the homeless population there, citing drug addition problems — specifically the synthetic drug known as K2.

Clarence Beverly III, a sleep specialist at the Mattress Warehouse, said he has lived in Tenleytown for 21 years and has gotten to know several homeless people. He said the people he met have been dying lately due to K2, a lethal synthetic form of marijuana that can be smoked, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. It does not mix well with alcohol, but unfortunately, a lot of users don’t know that. 

People experiencing homelessness center around Tenleytown because of the multitude of public transportation options, according to an employee at the Tenleytown-Friendship Neighborhood Library, Russell, who declined to share his last name. A District Taco restaurant employee, Ana, who also declined her last name, said she sees most of these people around the metro area because of the food options. She also said some Tenleytown restaurants offer their leftover food and resources to those in need.

The Tenleytown-Friendship Neighborhood Library offers a variety of programs to benefit the homeless population, like help in making resumes, cover letters and finding a job. The library also promotes other programs such as the Downtown Day Services Center, a company that connects the homeless with supportive services to get them off the streets and into homes, and the DC Free Summer Meals Program for kids and teenagers. Russell said the Tenleytown-Friendship Neighborhood Library also offers their temperature-controlled facility, with computers and books, to the local homeless people.

Ana, who has lived in Tenleytown for the majority of her life, said she has not seen the situation improve. Although local businesses give their aid to the homeless, it is not beneficial for businesses to house or aid the homeless while also serving families from the area, she said. 

According to Street Sense Media, 71% of the homeless population in D.C. is African American. Russell said single men, specifically, are the main demographic living on the streets of Tenleytown. 

As reported by locals in the area, a common resource for homeless people in Tenleytown is the Friendship Place. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to providing shelter and support to homeless people in the area, according to its website. However, the shelter is closed on weekends, along with many other shelters in the area, leaving many homeless people stranded on the weekends.

Not only is homelessness an issue in Tenleytown, but it is present across all of D.C. Martha’s Table is a food pantry and clothing store in the city. They have several locations throughout the D.C. area where people, usually families, can come and get free food and extremely discounted clothing. An employee from Martha’s Table, who did not want to share her name because her views might differ from her company, said they rarely have to turn anyone away thanks to their large amount of resources.

Back at the mattress store, Beverly said he’s known many homeless people and is concerned about them.

“People should understand that these are real people.”

By: Emma DeLaRosa and Olivia Marcino

WASHINGTON D.C. — When walking down Wisconsin Avenue in Tenleytown, the love for music in Middle C Music Store is hard to miss — whether it’s the colorful, hand-painted cartoons on the storefront windows, the dedicated staff or the summer rock band camps that give the store a fun-loving (and loud) distinction. Even the bathroom in Middle C projects musical enthusiasm, with sheet music wallpaper and a guitar lamp next to the sink.

Middle C offers lessons, sheet music, instruments, repairs, and accessories  — the only music store in Washington, D.C., to offer all of these things. The staff especially pushes involvement in music education and aims to keep live music afloat in a time of electronic instruments.

Middle C Music has been a pioneer of music and education, with the accomplishments to show it. The owner of the store, Myrna Sislen, began in 2002 when she took over and transformed Middle C Music from a struggling business to an established local music store. 

Widespread music education is one of Sislen’s highest priorities, which is why she has partnered with the Landfill Harmonic. The Landfill Harmonic is a group of children from the lower-income neighborhoods of Paraguay who formed an orchestra with instruments made from things found in the landfill. Sislen was the first to donate real instruments, giving them 39 band and orchestra instruments so the group could make more traditional music. Sislen said she finds it important to uphold global music education. “In order to survive and to be successful, we cannot be only within these walls,” Sislen said.

Sislen is also proud of her political accomplishments regarding music education and outreach. “She has connections to the mayor of D.C. in making sure that people are being elected that are going to be funding music programs,” Missy Curl, outreach representative of the store said. “She is really well-connected in that community.” 

With three resolutions passed in Middle C’s honor and three proclamations signed by the mayor, the political impact of Middle C Music is hard to ignore. In addition, the store promotes music outreach and education by hosting events such as their Make Music Day back in June, regular recitals and programs such as a children’s rock band summer camp. 

Recently, the store has focused on reaching out to schools to enhance their music education. “I’ve been focusing on schools and contacting teachers to make sure that we’re providing them with everything that they need,” Curl said. “They’re sending their students here to take private lessons and we can help them with instrument-repairs.” Although music outreach can be a challenge because it is “difficult to get the word out,” according to Curl, Middle C Music Store continuously finds ways to push for it.

When thinking of cities that pertain to music and entertainment, the nation’s capital may not immediately come to mind. Middle C recognizes this, and pushes the involvement in music throughout the area. Curl says that the classical music community in D.C. is still alive and thriving. But Curl said she believes that the popularity of jazz music is declining and electronic music is becoming more prominent.

Because of the inevitable shift in trending music styles, Middle C aims to keep live music a celebrated factor in Washington, D.C., by selling instruments and offering instrument repairs. “We try to stay optimistic that people will continue to play live music and that’s something that’s important to us at the store: selling actual instruments,” Curl said. Despite these changes, Curl and the rest of the team at Middle C believe the music community has grown and continues to flourish. 

Places like Middle C Music Store are often underappreciated but are important to the community. Their outreach programs such as the summer rock camps allow for elementary school students to pick up instruments at a young age, expanding the music community as a whole. 

Myrna Sislen, Missy Curl and the rest of the team at Middle C constantly work on reaching out to music-driven kids, whether in neighboring schools through education funding or in foreign countries through projects like Landfill Harmonic. Although Washington D.C. is fast-moving, Middle C Music takes pride in the store’s “welcome to the family” atmosphere. 

“Hopefully the live music scene will remain alive and well, and withstand the test of time,” Curl said.