CLOSE-UP : NOT KIDDING AROUND

Hanging out with a bunch of children after school when you could be shopping, gossiping, flirting, watching TV or (hah hah hah) studying sounds like a 17-year-olds nightmare, but here we are at the Drop-In Center at the Escondido Salvation Army office and Adriana Barrera is surrounded by kids- 30 of them today but as many as 60 on other days ages 5 to 16, helping them with homework, arts and crafts projects and other activities to keep them off the streets.

Adriana, 17, a junior at San Pasqual High School, is not just some teacherrquote s aide: The Drop-In Center is her brainchild, a way to help latchkey, homeless and just plain poor kids. “There was nothing available for these kids after school,” she says, soshe made a pitch to the Salvation Army, which agreed to fund the center. “ Adriana is a natural-born leader; kids follow her,” says Capt. Gerald Pigeon of the Salvation Army. It’s a sort of payback for Adriana, who has fond memories of her own days in Salvation Army programs. “ She’s been participating in programs here sinceshe was 5,” says Pigeon. “ And she’s worked with children here since she was 14.”

The center has three rooms at the Salvation Army facility, but activities are not all indoors. Barrera also organizes plays, soccer matches andpicnics, as well as field trips in the Salvation Army van.

” I’ve always worked with kids,” says Adriana, who is one of five children of an Escondido immigrant family, “ so I’ve been in training to do something like this. At first I thought everybody wentout to help the community, to change the world. But I found that wasn’t the case. I hope I’ m an inspiration to other teen-agers to get involved.”