Nearing 10 years in existence, the Recycled Youth program is one of the most beloved offerings of the Mateel Community Center. Developing out of the Mateel Youth Arts Project, this teenage theater program annually offers a rotating collective of students the opportunity to work under the tutelage of professional artists, Joani Rose, Barbara Penny, and Susan Alexander to create an original theatrical piece focusing on issues important to them.

Over the course of the intensive 13-week program, participants are involved in every aspect of producing their own theatrical work, from generating the ideas and writing the scripts, to building the sets, designing the costumes, acting in the vignettes, and working as their own production team. The program culminates with four public performances of the play, which are always met with great critical acclaim. Previous works include, It's A Dirty Subject, Other Voices, Through Our Looking Glass, De-Evolution, It's All Greek To Me andOh My Gods! Thanks to the North Coast Cultural Trust, Mel & Grace McLean Foundation, Healthy Start, and to the many local business sponsors and individual donors who help to underwrite the program annually. Plays show annually on the first weekend of December.