Academic Success
BGCA has implemented the programmatic strategy Every Member, Every Year, designed so that all Clubs, no matter their size or resources, can partner with youth, parents, schools and other community stakeholders to implement at least one of three approaches: academic enrichment and school engagement; targeted dropout prevention; and intensive intervention and case management. Our aim is to ensure that all Club members graduate from high school on time, ready for a post-secondary education and a 21st-century career.
Junior Staff
Junior Staff is a small-group program that is both practical and user friendly.
It assists Club members ages 13 to 18 in exploring 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. Clubs that implement this program make an investment in the development of Club members’ interpersonal skills, work ethic and sense of community responsibility.
My Future
BGCA is transforming the way we use technology in our Clubs. My.Future is a new technology initiative which will replace the current “Club Tech” suite of programs.The program provides fun and engaging project-based experiences to help youth:
My.Future begins with “Essentials,” a suite of staff-facilitated project-based experiences that provide members of all ability levels with a foundation of technology skills. In addition, members can pursue interest pathways through Extensions, which allow instructional coaches and members to dive into specific topics of interest. Topics of interest may be technical or computer based; including robotics, game design and even online journalism.
Project Learn
Project Learn reinforces the academic enrichment and school engagement of young people during the time they spend at the Club.
This strategy is based on research demonstrating that students do much better in school when they spend their non-school hours engaged in fun, but academically beneficial, activities. Through Project Learn, Club staff use all the areas and programs in the Club to create opportunities for these high-yield learning activities, which include leisure reading, writing activities, discussions with knowledgeable adults, helping others, homework help, tutoring and games (such as Scrabble), that develop young people’s cognitive skills. Project Learn also emphasizes parent involvement and collaboration between Club and school professionals as critical factors in creating the best after-school learning environment for Club members ages 6 to 18.
It assists Club members ages 13 to 18 in exploring 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. Clubs that implement this program make an investment in the development of Club members’ interpersonal skills, work ethic and sense of community responsibility.
Power Hour
Power Hour: Making Minutes Count creates an engaging environment for homework help and tutoring that encourages Club members at every age to become self-directed learners. The Power Hour program provides recognition and incentives for members completing homework on time and excelling in school. The program also focuses on behavior management, the integration of technology and the use of the Internet to positively impact member participation and engagement.
Money Matters
Money Matters promotes financial responsibility and independence among Club members ages 13 to 18. Participants learn how to manage a checking account, create a budget, save and invest, start small businesses and pay for college.
The Money Matters Facilitator’s Guide provides Club staff and volunteers with basic financial information and instructions for the small-group activities that are easy to implement. The fun, attractive Teen Personal Finance Guide contains practical tips and activities to help teens learn to balance a checkbook, create a budget and save and invest for college and retirement. Money Matters helps teens build their money management skills through interactive activities, games and tools such as a savings and financial aid calculator to help them plan for college.
Career Launch
CareerLaunch encourages Club members ages 13 to 18 to assess their skills and interests, explore careers, make sound educational decisions and prepare to join our nation’s work force. Club staff or volunteers use the Career Exploration Quick Reference Guide to work with teens individually or in small groups to build their job-search skills and job readiness. The easy-to-read CareerLaunch Teen Tips is pocket sized and full of practical job-hunting advice for young people. CareerLaunch provides Club teens, staff and volunteers with online career exploration, college and job search information and interactive activities. Mentoring, job shadowing and training opportunities round out the program.
Robo Tech
Robotics may seem daunting, but the Robo Tech program, for members ages 7 to 18, is an easy and fun way to explore science, technology, engineering and math. Using Lego Mindstorms® – a self-contained kit that provides an introduction to robotics – members, working in groups, use the kits and tutorials to build and program a robot that interacts with its environment in numerous ways.
Engineering Is Elementary
The EiE Curriculum is the nation’s leading engineering curriculum for grades 1 – 5. Engaging, hands-on, and project-based engineering activities that integrate with science instruction. The curriculum contains 20 hands-on engineering design challenges. EiE units complement the science topics already taught in school.
EiE integrates with much more than science instruction. EiE supports lessons in English Language Arts, Social Studies, and Mathematics.
Literacy: Each EiE unit starts with a storybook—and the storybook includes resources that help you integrate literacy with your EiE teaching, including comprehension questions, vocabulary handouts, and ideas for how students can practice their writing skills.
Social Studies: Each EiE storybook is set in a different country around the world; the child protagonists in the storybooks come from varied backgrounds and/or have different abilities. So, as the storybooks set the scene for the engineering design challenge, they also make connections to geography and culture, with supporting resources like glossaries and maps.
Mathematics: As your students collect data and work through their engineering design challenge, they use math skills and concepts.
Hands-on, project-based learning is the essence of engineering. As groups of students work together to answer questions like “How large should I make the canopy of this parachute?” or “What material should I use for the blades of my windmill?” they collaborate, think critically and creatively, and communicate with one another.
Brick Lab
Brick Lab is an early introduction to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) for grades K-2. Designed with fun in mind, Brick Lab provides members with an opportunity for creative and innovative thinking while participating in hands-on activities, building brick models, investigating the topics covered in each unit, and learning new vocabulary. A few of the topics covered in the units include: nature & human made tools, building & bridge construction, alternative energy sources, and manufacturing. The units align with Common Core Standards and numerous subject areas our members are studying in school.
