*School's Out Schedule:

The Club has special School's Out hours (8am-5pm) for younger youth in grades K-4 during the school's break (dates below). Pre-registration and membership ($5) are required along with a $1/hr charge for the K-4 students. The cost is to assist with the added staffing. Please call 532-4113 for details and registration.

Grades K-4                8am-5:15pm
                                 Cost: $5 one-time membership fee plus $1/hr.
                                 Must pre-register. Click here for the membership application.

Grades 5-12               8am-Close
                                 Cost: $5 one-time membership fee plus $1/hr for 8am-noon hrs
                                 Must pre-register for morning hours, 8am-noon

*Current members do not need to pay the $5 one-time membership fee again.

CHARACTER & LEADERSHIP
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 leadership development clubs for young people ages 14-18. Keystoners elect officers, choose their own activities and plan and implement community service projects. A national charter entitles a Keystone Club to participate in regional and national Keystone conferences. The Keystone Club program is sponsored by the Taco Bell Foundation.

National Keystone Conference
Keystone Club members from across the country gather in a different city each year to develop leadership skills, exchange ideas, debate and discuss current issues, and make friends. Each year, Keystoners select a national project for local Keystone Clubs to complete. The combined action of hundreds of local Keystone Clubs throughout the nation results in a project of national significance. The National Keystone Conference is sponsored by the Taco Bell Foundation.

National 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. Clubs select a Youth of the Year who receives a certificate and medallion then enters state competition. State winners receive a plaque and enter the regional competition. Regional winners receive a $5,000 scholarship and enter a national competition held in Washington, DC. The National Youth of the Year receives an additional $10,000 scholarship and is installed by the President of the United States.

Torch Club
This small-group leadership development program, sponsored by Staples, is targeted to youngsters ages 11 to 13. Within some 700 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.

EDUCATION & CAREER
These programs help youth create aspirations for the future, providing opportunities for career exploration and educational enhancement.

Power Hour / Homework Help
A comprehensive homework help and tutoring program, POWER HOUR is designed to raise the academic proficiency of Club members ages 6-12. POWER HOUR is sponsored by The JCPenney Afterschool Fund.

HEALTH & LIFE SKILLS
These initiatives help youth achieve and maintain healthy, active lifestyles.

SMART Moves
The SMART Moves (Skills Mastery and Resistance Training) prevention/education program addresses the problems of drug and alcohol use and premature sexual activity. Based on proven techniques, 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 6-15 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 10-15. The program is designed to encourage healthy attitudes and lifestyles that will enable early adolescent girls to develop to their full potential. The SMART Girls program is sponsored by the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, Inc.

Passport to Manhood
Passport to Manhood promotes and teaches responsibility while reinforcing positive behavior in male Club members ages 11-14. 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. 

THE ARTS
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:

ImageMakers: National Photography Program
View the 2005 ImageMakers National Photography Exhibit Virtual Gallery.
Funded by the Circuit City Foundation, this comprehensive photography program encourages girls and boys to learn and practice photography, expressing themselves in creative and innovative ways. The national initiative delivers a state-of-the-art photography curriculum, provides photographic resources and opportunities for Club members to compete on a national level. ImageMakers provides local, regional and national recognition through an annual photography contest. Winning photos will be displayed nationwide at museums as well as at BGCA's annual National Conference.

The Circuit City Foundation ImageMakers funding is being passed through to 60 Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide to help them implement a photography curriculum. Ten additional sites were selected for grants to strengthen and highlight excellent photography programs in place. All Boys & Girls Clubs across the country receive the ImageMakers resource guide and materials.

National Fine Arts Exhibit
View the 2005 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.

SPECIALIZED PROGRAMS

ClubTech
Through Club Tech, and thanks to a more than $100 million donation from Microsoft, BGCA is providing Clubs with the tools to make Club members and staff effective technology users. 

Clubs receive a comprehensive package of the latest Microsoft products - a combined $88 million software gift. With another $12.3 million in cash, BGCA has developed technology programs that will give members basic computer skills; introduce them to digital movie making, music making, photography, graphic design and Web development; and guide staff in using technology to enhance all program offerings. Club Tech also includes extensive technology training opportunities for Club staff at all professional levels.

These initiatives emphasize community mobilization and family involvement as strategies Clubs can use to better serve more young people and broaden the impact of all Club programs.

View artwork from the 2004-2005 National Digital Arts Festivals. Virtual Gallery

Family Support
Family support activities, programs and events are designed to benefit Club members by promoting family stability, cohesion and connection. Examples include family fun nights, parenting classes, referral services, job skills training programs and single-parent support groups. This program is funded by The Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Youth for Unity
To help educate young people across the country about the importance of tolerance and diversity, Boys & Girls Clubs of America has joined forces with The Allstate Foundation to develop Youth for Unity, a diversity education program designed to combat prejudice, bigotry and discrimination. Youth for Unity is the umbrella title for a comprehensive set of programmatic interventions that will allow Clubs to help members appreciate and understand our society’s diversity, recognize unfairness and take personal leadership in confronting bias. Under this initiative, an additional diversity module will be developed for the Street SMART Program.

Boys & Girls Clubs of America - National Programming

Boys & Girls Clubs of America's national programs have taken members from the Clubhouse to the White House; from the games room to the corporate boardroom; from the high school orchestra to Carnegie Hall.

Boys & Girls Clubs of America has a lineup of tested and proven nationally recognized programs that address today's most pressing youth issues, teaching young people the skills they need to succeed in life.

More than 25 national programs are available in the areas of education, the environment, health, the arts, careers, alcohol/drug and pregnancy prevention, gang prevention, leadership development and athletics. Our local Club already has a Programming Committee hard at work determining the "fit" of each program into our community. Our local Club will launch a combination of national and local programming selections based on our specific needs and interests.

National programming is divided into the following sections. See below for additional information on each.

• Character & Leadership
• Education & Career
• Health & Life Skills
• The Arts
• Sports, Fitness & Recreation
• Specialized Programs

Click here to see the full line-up of
Boys & Girls Club programs offered nationally.
Many of these programs are planned to begin locally
during the 2007-2008 school year! Sign up to join the fun!