Boys And Girls Club Of Transylvania County Inc

Programs: What began more than 18 years ago in a small community center serving less than 50 kids per day has grown into a service that over 400 households in our community rely upon. The cindy platt boys & girls club of transylvania county served over 250 youth each day in 2017 through our afterschool and summer programs in our 25,000 square-foot facility. Founded in 1999 by the late cindy platt, the cindy platt boys & girls club of transylvania county is committed to enabling all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, and responsible citizens. We are a developmental organization serving school-aged youth, ages 5 to 18 years old. We implement after-school and summer programs that focus on three core outcome areas: academic success, healthy lifestyles, and good character & citizenship. As the largest youth development organization in the county, our club was recognized as the nonprofit of the year by the brevard/transylvania chamber of commerce for 2017. The following sampling of data from 2017 shows not only the progress we have made, but the impact we are making through our programs, staff and volunteers. - we served 675 school aged youth. We served 134 7th-12th graders, 10% more than the previous year. On average, 15% more teens attended daily. - awarded over 32,000 in scholarships for 147 youth to attend our programs. Scholarship offerings were more than doubled from the previous year. - provided over 30,000 snacks and nearly 8,500 hot meals through our partnership with transylvania county nutrition services. - 87 volunteers provided over 1,300 hours of service to support our mission. - opened our off-site high school teen center in august 2017 and enrolled 20 high school members. - received boys & girls club nc area council award for excellence within our academic success programming. The unified academic programming includes daily assistance with homework completion, tutoring, reading, and steam programs. Of the members for whom we have parental/guardian consent to review report cards, 76% maintained or improved their average or above average grades; 58% achieved honor roll; 123% more teens maintained their average grades, while 38% of teens achieved honor roll; and the number of youth with hazardous grades decreased 40% from the first to final quarter of the school year. Program overview our club's afterschool and summer programs address the challenges of affordable youth development programs and access to transportation. By offering our programs for a low membership fee of 100 per child for the school year and 150+ per child for our 8-week summer program, we are positioned to serve all youth regardless of their socio-economic status. Scholarships are available for families that are unable to pay the membership and program fees. To further support our club families, we provide transportation to the club from 8 of the 10 schools in the county, extend our weekday hours during the school year to 7pm, and offer early drop off at 7:30am during our summer program. We also provide snack and dinner for youth during the school year, and breakfast and lunch during our summer program. Over 50 youth have a hot dinner with us every night during the school year before they go home. We provide a safe, positive and fun environment; help our members develop supportive relationships with staff, peers, family, etc. ; provide opportunities for growth and teach members about expectations and accountability, while also recognizing and rewarding their efforts and growth. Through our education program, we address the unique needs of our members by providing programs and resources to compliment what they are learning in school. In addition to power hour, (structured time for staff and volunteers to assist members with their homework), we also help members build essential foundational skills through our homework club. During the summer, we provide an educational program that integrates math, science, language arts and history with physical activity to keep the child's mind active and engaged. Our healthy lifestyles focus area includes four very popular programs - healthy habits, harvest project, triple play, and smart girls & boys. These programs promote healthy lifestyles through health and food systems education, physical activity and youth empowerment. Members learn how to cook healthy foods using produce from our quarter-acre garden that they planted, nurtured, and harvested. On a daily basis, club members engage in a minimum of 30 minutes of physical activity through our triple play program. Our smart girls & boys program, which meets weekly for the school year, raises awareness of healthy eating and lifestyles, and equips members with the tools to handle conflict and difficult choices while also preparing the members for competing in a local 5k race. Also included in our healthy lifestyles programs are smart moves and street smart, both short-term programs. Smart moves helps members develop positive decision making and critical thinking skills while also learning how to avoid and/or resist alcohol, tobacco, other drugs, and premature sexual activity. Street smart teaches youth, ages 10-14, about gang and violence prevention while nurturing resiliency skills and covering bullying prevention. Some of our extracurricular programs for all ages include a mentorship program, instructional athletic camps through a collaboration with brevard college, a literacy program provided by pure pets in which members read to dogs, and jam - junior appalachians musicians - a program that teaches youth how to play a string instrument. Additional programs exclusively for our teen population include job readiness and career/college development through our junior staff program as well as small-group leadership clubs such as torch club that promote service and community engagement. While many of these programs continue through the summer, our summer program schedule allows for more adventure field trips - thus providing opportunities for our members to explore the culture and history of transylvania county and beyond.