After many years of working with teens, Whitney Hartzell has been named assistant director for programs and volunteers at The Funhouse.

“I want to encourage teens to see The Funhouse as a blank canvas for what they would like in their community,” Hartzell said. “I want them to use us as a resource.”

Hartzell, who started Nov. 1, will be responsible for staffing, front house management, programming, finding instructors and the volunteer program at The Funhouse, which provides recreational programs for children ages 7 to 18.

Hartzell hopes to develop more of a community-wide education effort on sustainability and bilingual education.

“An emphasis on bilingual education will make The Funhouse accessible to a larger community,” she said.

Hartzell was the program director of the summer-long Farm Education and Sustainability for Teens sponsored by the Orcas Island Recreation Program.

She graduated from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore., with a bachelor of arts degree in Environmental Sociology and Cultural Anthropology.

She also attended the Sierra Institute at the University of Santa Cruz where she studied bioregionalism, permaculture and appropriate energy.

Her experience before coming to Orcas Island includes working as a wilderness instructor in Larkspur, Calif., and for Outward Bound in Mexico.

On Orcas, Hartzell has worked as a physical education instructor at the Salmonberry School, as an ESL instructor at Skagit Valley College, as a kayak guide for Shearwater and as a wilderness leader for Camp Orkila.

The Funhouse is the short name for The Funhouse Discovery Center of Orcas Island, Washington. It is a not-for-profit community center that fosters fun and learning with science exhibits, a computer lab, complete A/V production studios and a library of educational films and documentaries.

Hartzell succeeds Darlene Pohl, who died unexpectedly this past summer.