What is a Boys & Girls Club?
Boys & Girls Clubs are community generated "grass roots" entities that provide a safe environment where local children and youth can participate in a variety of developmental programs, gain skills, develop positive relationships and experience new opportunities.
Boys & Girls Clubs provide more than a safe place for children to go after school to participate in fun activities; they provide a wide range of programs and services based on the unique needs and interests of the children and youth in each community.
Four key characteristics define the essence of a Boys & Girls Club. All are critical in exerting positive impact on the life of a child:
1. Dedicated Youth Facility
The Boys & Girls Club is a place - an actual neighborhood-based building - for youth programs and activities.
2. Open Daily
Clubs are open every weekday after school, when kids have free time and need positive, productive outlets.
3. Professional Staff
Every Club has full-time, trained youth development professionals, providing positive role models and mentors. Volunteers provide key supplementary support.
4. Available/Affordable to All Youth
BGCCW reaches out to kids who cannot afford, or may lack access to, other community programs. Annual membership dues are low at $10 per year with a minimal monthly fee. No child with an inability to pay is turned away.
- A safe place to learn and grow...
- Ongoing relationships with caring, adult professionals...
- Life-enhancing programs and character development experiences...
We also develop these five core program areas: (Click on tab for more information)
Helping youth become responsible, caring citizens and acquire skills for participating in the democratic process is the main thrust of these programs. They also develop leadership skills and provide opportunities for planning, decision-making, contributing to Club and community and celebrating our national heritage.
Keystone Clubs
Keystone Clubs are chartered small-group character and leadership clubs for teens ages 14-18. The program engages teens providing an opportunity to connect with others while meeting many of their developmental needs.
Teens run their own meetings, elect officers, and plan and implement their own activities and community service projects. Leadership activities may include: team building, teen-run workshops on ethical leadership, public speaking, debate training and more.
Youth of the Year
Sponsored by the Reader's Digest Foundation. The National Youth of the Year Program is designed to promote and recognize service to Club and community, academic performance and contributions to family and spiritual life.
Competition begins with BGCCW selecting a Youth of the Year who receives a certificate, plaque and a $1,000 Steven Champlain education award, then enters state competition.
Wyoming State Youth of the Year winners receive a plaque, tuition and fees education award supplemented by the Hathaway Scholarship for up to 6 years at the University of Wyoming and a $1,000 Reader's Digest scholarship, then enters the regional competition.
Each of the five regional winners receives a $10,000 Reader's Digest scholarship and enters the national competition held in Washington, DC.
The National Youth of the Year receives an additional $15,000 Reader's Digest scholarship, totaling $26,000 in Reader's Digest scholarships, and is installed by the President of the United States.
Learn more about these outstanding Youth of the Year winners. (link to Youth of the Year page)
Torch Club
This small-group leadership development program is targeted to youth ages 11 to 13. Within some 1,300 Torch Clubs across the country, members elect officers and plan and implement their own activities and community service projects. Each Torch Club receives an official charter from Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
These programs help youth create aspirations for the future, providing opportunities for career exploration and educational enhancement
CLUBService
This program, the result of a partnership between Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the Corporation for National Service (AmeriCorps), provides education awards to Club members ages 17 and 18 and Club alumni ages 19-24 who serve their Clubs and communities. CLUBService recognizes young people's service, helps them access higher education opportunities and encourages them to pursue future careers as Club professionals. Funded by AmeriCorps.
Junior Staff: Cultivating Tomorrow's Club Professionals Today
Junior Staff is a program that assists Club members ages 13 to 18 explore a career in youth or human services, particularly Boys & Girls Club work. Young people prepare for future roles as human services professionals by participating in career development activities, discovering the importance of community service, building customer service skills and completing a Club apprenticeship.
Money Matters: Make It Count
Created with the Charles Schwab Foundation, this financial literacy program was designed specifically to help teens (ages 13 to18) expand their knowledge of money management and learn the skills that lead to financial independence and well-being.
The Money Matters: Make It Count program uses interactive activities and exercises to educate teens, ages 13 to 18, on the various aspects of financial literacy, including managing a checking account, budgeting, saving, investing and paying for college.
Power Hour: Making Minutes Count
A comprehensive homework help and tutoring program, POWER HOUR is designed to raise the academic proficiency of Club members ages 6 to12.
Project Learn
Project Learn reinforces and enhances the skills and knowledge young people learn at school through "high-yield" learning activities at the Club and in the home. Based on Dr. Reginald Clark's research that shows fun, but academically beneficial activities increase academic performance, these activities include leisure reading, writing activities, homework help and games like Scrabble® which develop youth's cognitive skills. Project Learn emphasizes collaborations between Club staff, parents and school personnel. Formally evaluated by Columbia University, Project Learn has been proven to boost the academic performance of Club members.
Club Tech's Skill Tech Programs
Through the support of founding partner Microsoft and Best Buy Children's Foundation, BGCA offers the Skill Tech: Basic Training and Skill Tech II programs to members of all ages and technical abilities.
In Skill Tech: Basic Training members learn how to use various Microsoft software programs, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Publisher and Digital Image Pro through animated lessons and instructor-led group activities.
Skill Tech II features three modules for beginner, intermediate and advanced skill levels. Participants learn about hardware identification and installation, networking and technology-related careers. The Skill Tech programs, available at www.myclubmylife.com, are apart of Club Tech's mission to prepare America's youth for success in school and the 21st Century workforce.
These initiatives help youth achieve and maintain healthy, active lifestyles.
Healthy Habits
Designed for ages 6 to 15, the program aims to incorporate healthy living and active learning in every part of the Club experience, Healthy Habits, which is also the "Mind" component of Triple Play: A Game for the Mind, Body and Soul, emphasizes good nutrition, regular physical activity and improving overall well-being.
NetSmartz
NetSmartz teaches Internet safety skills through engaging multimedia activities and offline interaction with Club professionals in three age-appropriate modules: Clicky's Web World (for ages 6 to 7); NetSmartz Rules (for ages 8 to 12); and I-360 (for ages 13 to 18). Topics include personal safety, shopping safety and ethical use of the Internet.
To learn more, youth ages 12 and younger can go directly to www.netsmartzkids.org; while teens, parents and Club staff can learn about Internet safety at www.netsmartz.org. BGCA collaborated with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to develop NetSmartz.
SMART Moves
The SMART Moves (Skills Mastery and Resistance Training) prevention/education program addresses problems such as drug and alcohol use and premature sexual activity. The program uses a team approach involving Club staff, peer leaders, parents and community representatives. More than simply emphasizing a "Say No" message, the program teaches young people ages 6 to15 how to say no by involving them in discussion and role-playing, practicing resistance and refusal skills, developing assertiveness, strengthening decision-making skills and analyzing media and peer influence. The ultimate goal: to promote abstinence from substance abuse and adolescent sexual involvement through the practice of responsible behavior.
SMART Girls
An outgrowth of the popular and effective SMART Moves program, SMART Girls is a health, fitness, prevention/education and self-esteem enhancement program for girls ages 8 to17. The program is designed to encourage healthy attitudes and lifestyles that will enable early adolescent girls to develop to their full potential.
Passport to Manhood
Passport to Manhood promotes and teaches responsibility while reinforcing positive behavior in male Club members ages 11 to14. Passport to Manhood consists of 14 small-group sessions, each of which concentrates on a specific aspect of manhood through highly interactive activities. Each participant is issued his own "Passport" to underscore the idea that he is on a journey of maturation and personal growth.
These initiatives help young people enhance self-expression and creativity, develop multicultural appreciation, provide exposure to and develop skills in crafts and visual, performing and literary arts.
Digital Arts Suite and Festivals
View the Club Tech Digital Arts Festivals Virtual Gallery.
Club Tech's Digital Arts Suite teaches members ages 6 to 18 how to create computer-generated art. In each of the five tutorials (Web Tech, Design Tech, Photo Tech, Music Tech and Movie Tech), members advance through three levels of animated lessons online at www.myclubmylife.com and participate in instructor-led group activities. Club members ages 10 to 18 are invited to submit their artwork to the annual Club Tech Digital Arts Festivals, which celebrate Club members' creativity in Web design, graphic design, photo illustration, music composition and film production/screenplay writing.
VOICES! Choir
VOICES! Choir offers an opportunity for members to explore their musical side. Choir participants learn simple two and three part songs to which they add fun and engaging choreography. The VOICES! Choir has been offered amazing opportunities to perform at club and community functions for audiences of 25 to 1,000 members! Choir programs are currently located at several club sites and are open to all Boys & Girls Club members. This club is free to all members and no experience or audition is needed!! Fun for all!
Drum Circle
This newly formed group allows members of all ages, sizes, and levels to come and make music. Drum circles are all about creativity, community, relationships, and of course, making fun music together! No experience needed, just a desire to "beat on some drums." Several club sites now host drum circles which are free and open to any club members.
National Fine Arts Exhibit
View the National Fine Arts Exhibit Virtual Gallery.
This competition, which encourages creativity through a variety of media, is made up of local, regional and national exhibits. Young people are encouraged to create artwork in any of the following categories: monochromatic drawing, multicolored drawing, pastels, water color, oil or acrylic, print making, mixed media, collage and sculpture. Artwork selected through a national competition is displayed at BGCA's annual National Conference.
Fine Arts
Through this program, members will be exposed to a broad range of arts education activities and continually encouraged to develop new skills and talents, express themselves, and to expand individual creativity. At the same time, these activities will contribute to improved academic performance.
These Club programs help develop fitness, a positive use of leisure time, reduction of stress, appreciation for the environment and social and interpersonal skills.
Triple Play: A Game Plan for the Mind, Body and Soul
Triple Play is a dynamic wellness program currently being offered that demonstrates how eating right, keeping fit and forming positive relationships add up to a healthy lifestyle. The goal of the Triple Play program is to improve Club members' knowledge of healthy habits; increase the number of hours per day they participate in physical activities; and strengthen their ability to interact positively with others and engage in positive relationships.
Program components include:
* Healthy Habits Nutrition Curriculum
* Daily Challenges
* Sports Clubs
* Triple Play Games
* Social Recreation
Our Mission
To inspire and enable all young people, especially those who need us the most, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible, and caring citizens.
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