The Boys & Girls Club Story

Celebrating Native American Clubs

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Native American communities working together to serve youth. Today, more than 200 Clubs are on Native American lands. Recent visits to two of them revealed the progress that’s being made.

Ramon Elias (right), CPO, and Jason Jones (left), Unit Director, were excellent hosts during my Arizona trip. Their relationship with the Gila River tribe has been such a tremendous help to this organization and to the community!

Ramon Elias is chief professional officer of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the East Valley in Tempe, Ariz. We drove to the Gila River Indian Community together, site of East Valley’s Komatke unit. About 20 years ago, Ramon used a $75,000 grant to buy an old, vacant school here to serve as the Club. He asked Intel to be a partner. The tech company agreed and sponsored a $250,000 facility renovation. Komatke opened in 1995 as Arizona’s first Boys & Girls Club on Native American land. It was so well received, the community requested a second. This led to the founding of its sister unit, Sacaton.

The Gila River Tribe’s ongoing support has been tremendous. Last year, they contributed $850,000 of the $1.1 million budget for the two units. In 2009, they single-handedly funded the new $6.5 million Clubhouse.

Despite making an impact, challenges remain. This includes a high school dropout rate of 80 percent. The community is working hard to change this. For every teen who earns a high school diploma, for instance, the tribe will cover *all costs* to attend any college for four years. Tuition, room, board, books – the whole nine yards. As a result, the number of young people enrolled in college grew from 30 in 1995 to more than 1,000 in 2011.

Throughout my travels, the kids have been great. Here, in Washington, I relaxed with a game of pool. It's a great way to meet Club members and learn about the Club.

While in the “Valley of the Sun,” I met with CPO Steve Davidson and Board Chairman Rick Baker of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale. We discussed their plans for outcomes and growth, including opening a Club on Hopi tribal lands in 2012.

Interacting with Youth of the Year members is always special for me. So attending the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Phoenix’s annual “Today’s Kids, Tomorrow’s Stars” event and meeting the 12 candidates was awesome. Chloe Johnson was named the organization’s Youth of the Year. She will now vie to be Arizona Youth of the Year. Chloe is a wonderful example of how kids can be transformed as members of the Club.

Time spent with Metro Phoenix staff was also insightful. CPO Amy Gibbons leads a great team that includes Vonn Magnin. As Director of Impact, Vonn’s role is to ensure programs and Clubs are aligned to achieve the priority outcomes of academic success, healthy lifestyles, and good character and citizenship.

Washington State’s Tulalip Boys & Girls Club is also one of the first Clubs on Native American land. It opened in 1997 as part of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Snohomish County, where Bill Tsoukalas is executive director. We visited the Tulalip community and its Club together.

We were welcomed by Mel Sheldon, board chair of the Tulalip Tribe and a Snohomish board volunteer. Mel praised the Tulalip Club for promoting the values of education, good decision-making, and drug and alcohol abstinence to youth. Director Chuck Thacker is the retired principal of the local elementary school. He’s been with the Club since it opened and director for four years now. It’s unusual for a non-tribal member to run a Club, but that’s the kind of trust the community has in Chuck.

I enjoyed meeting the younger Club members as much as the older teen Youth of the Year winners. Here, I am having a serious conversation with two of the youngest at the Tulalip Club. Now if I could find a similar pair of sunglasses, I'd be set.

Also in Tulalip was Mike Tulee, BGCA’s Native American Outreach Coordinator. He’s working with Washington state’s 29 federally recognized tribes to open at least two more Clubs in Native American communities by 2013. They’d be modeled on the Tulalip Club, currently the only Native American Club in the state.

The most intriguing part of the Tulalip visit had to be the “Immersion Center.” This 1,700-square-foot addition is being built for “Immersion Presents,” a program created by oceanographer Robert Ballard to inspire careers in science, math and the environment. Kids will be able to interact live with oceanic research crews worldwide via satellite and internet. What a great way to get kids interested in science and math.

The programs at Komatke, Metro Phoenix and Tulalip are life-changing. A future that includes more Boys & Girls Clubs in Native American communities would be a truly great future for young people.

Pacific Region Round Up

My travels through our regions continued in California. It was a pleasure to meet some of the terrific Club professionals and supporters who make our Pacific Region stronger.

The trip began at the Boys & Girls Club of Whittier, where CPO Samantha Ridout praised our Formula for Impact. Our in-depth conversation included board volunteers, Jim Shepard of BCM Foundation, and Itzel Rodriguez, Whittier’s 2012 Youth of the Year.

I am always impressed when I meet a Youth of the Year winner. Meeting Itzel Rodriguez, Whittier’s 2012 Youth of the Year, left me feeling positive about the future and our nation's youth.

Then it was on to a luncheon in Newport Beach to meet local supporters. Thanks to National Trustees Brian Prinn, Mark Shurtleff and George Young for organizing the event.

Later that day at the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Ana, CPO Robert Santana showed me around the facility. It was clear to see they’ve eagerly adopted the Formula for Impact. In fact, the FFI model is even on their business cards. But Santa Ana’s onsite, no-fee health clinic is what makes it unique.

A partnership with Children’s Hospital of Orange County enabled the full-service clinic to open in 2002. Primary physician Dr. Mark Colon, also a board volunteer, has been there from the start. He said 25-30 Club members and community kids benefit from the clinic’s no-fee services every day. On the way out, I managed to squeeze in a foosball game with three Club kids. It ended with “the other team” winning, but it was fun!

That night, our friends at Taco Bell hosted a reception at their headquarters. It was nice to meet the many Club executives who took the time to be there.

It was great to meet up with Oracle Chairman Jeff Henley the next day. As Governor and Pacific Region chair, his leadership and intellect are invaluable to Boys & Girls Clubs.

At Toyota Financial Services, Vice President and National Trustee Mike Groff introduced me to President/CEO George Borst. We discussed the diverse support and energy Toyota brings to our mission. Our alliance could be a model for how the nonprofit-corporate collaboration can benefit both parties.

Later, a group of volunteers, supporters and professionals gathered at the offices of Trustee Skip Keesal for a great conversation and reception.

Fun is, and always has been, a big part of what we do every day at Boys & Girls Clubs. For me, playing foosball with these sharp kids from our Santa Ana Club reinforced the importance of play and social recreation ... and kept me on my toes!

CPO Mike Lansing welcomed me to the Boys & Girls Club of L.A. Harbor that afternoon. It was filled with kids – including one who beat me at pingpong. Mike introduced teens and staff involved in “College Bound,” their academic success program that helped 98% of Club 244 seniors graduate on time in 2011. All but 10 went on to college. Amazing work, particularly when you consider the 50% graduation rate before the program launched in 1999.

A working lunch with Jay Rasulo, Leslie Goodman and Kevin Callahan of The Walt Disney Company proved to be an excellent get-to-know-you session and discussion of partnership opportunities.

During an afternoon call on the Challengers Boys & Girls Club, CPO Corey Dantzler and I discussed the value of family involvement. At Challengers, parents volunteer five hours a month. It was also great to visit the East L.A. Club, as well as our Anaheim leadership.

The week ended by meeting the CPO and board volunteers of the Watts/Willowbrook Club and an evening reception with several Club professionals at the home of Sally and Allan Young of the Pacific Youth Foundation.

It was an honor to meet so many dedicated Club staff and supporters on this trip and talk with our young people. In coming weeks, I’ll visit several more Clubs. As usual, I’ll bring you the latest details right here. Your comments and feedback are encouraged. 

Movement Mojo in the Midwest

Last week was another special one, being in the Midwest, with several stops in Illinois.

Tuesday began at the Boys & Girls Club of Rockford. Several topics were covered in a meeting with President/CEO Chip Stoner and board volunteers. Regarding outcomes, we discussed how measuring the ways Clubs help kids achieve great futures is critical; we also focused on the “secret sauce” – kids want to be at the Club because it’s fun. The Club staff was impressive. We talked at length about the transformative power they wield through their daily work with kids.

Next stop was the Boys & Girls Club of Elgin. Rose Reinert is chief professional officer of the organization. We visited their 15,000-square-foot Club. It’s built on top of the first Club, a 2,000-square-foot house bought for $1 in 1993. Since re-opening in 2008, they’ve been over-capacity, with membership growing 200 percent in the first year alone. Rose and her board detailed how they’ve re-strategized fundraising to focus on individual giving. As a result, their It Just Takes One campaign has grown at least 50 percent each of the past two years. The staff also discussed the BGCA Advanced Leadership Program and the benefits they’ve derived by participating. A clear and visible outcome-driven agenda and the Formula for Impact were evident in the Club.

The staff members from Boys & Girls Clubs of Elgin were right on track with our Formula for Impact initiative.

At the day’s last stop, Executive Director Curt McReynolds took me through the Perry Elementary School unit of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dundee Township. It serves 175 kids in grades 1-4. And it seemed like every one of them was on hand to welcome me. Fielding their questions was a hoot: What's my favorite thing to do at Boys & Girls Clubs? Do President Obama and I share an office? They even let me slice strawberries for a yogurt parfait, part of a Healthy Habits activity. It was delicious, btw.

That night, more than 80 Club professionals and board volunteers attended a reception at our Midwest office. Some travelled from as far as Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio to be there. It was a warm welcome back for this Midwesterner.

The remainder of the trip was spent primarily in Chicago, a tremendous opportunity to meet with donors, corporate partners and national board volunteers. A reception hosted by Ron Gidwitz, our tireless BGCA Governor and Chairman-Elect, allowed me to meet several top community leaders. I also met with one of our newest Governors, Greg Cappelli of the Apollo Group, as well as Lifetime Governor Ed Liddy. Our meeting with JPMorgan Chase Bank reinforced the significance of our National Youth Outcomes Initiative. The feedback was positive, supportive and encouraging.

I wrapped up the week by attending the Midwest Trustee Planning Meeting. Clearly we have some of the best volunteers, whose passion and commitment to youth shines through.

Thanks to everybody who helped make the week so productive and informative.

Teens Working With Technology, Not Just Using It

A few years ago I was at a family reunion and asked my nephew to borrow his laptop to check email. He said sure but warned me the internet was running really slow. Clicking on the browser, I waited. . . and waited. . . and waited, about 5 minutes total. Finally, his home page came up. What was really strange though was that every other page loaded at a normal speed. I asked him about it and he said they’d taken it in and had to have a lot of viruses removed but that really didn’t help the problem. Doing a little investigation on my own, I found his home page was a very strange site that was bombarding his system with viruses and his anti-virus was holding everything up as it combated his homepage. I changed his homepage and it worked perfectly.

What struck me was his nonchalance at a piece of technology not working right. He LOVED using his computer (at the time he was at that teenage stage where talking to adults is too much trouble) and spent a good deal of time on it at our reunion. But he had no interest or compunction to figure out why it didn’t work the way he knew it should. “That’s just the way it works,” was his reply.

I just returned from the Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC), looking at all the great technology that can help our young people attain academic success. And certainly, technology is important to their education. As more school districts go to electronic textbooks, as more of their teachers use social media and school learning systems to assign homework and assessments, as we as a society become more wired with at-our-fingertips information, it’s a cliché today to say that technology will play an ever increasing role in young people’s lives.

But I reflect back on my experience with my nephew, and I wonder if we are doing a service to our youth if we only use technology to teach them and don’t teach them about technology. If they’re not able to troubleshoot, to bring together different media to create content and to WORK WITH and not just use technology, then they will be no better than those of us who lived with encyclopedias and slide rules. Because they will not have taken charge of their technology environment but will merely react to it.

At Boys & Girls Clubs of America, we believe that youth must not only be in their environment, but must also have influence over it. To that end, BGCA with partners Microsoft and Comcast provides the Club Tech programs, a suite of programs and resources that teach Club youth and teens to not just use technology but work with technology. I was at FETC to be part of a panel on using game design to engage youth in STEM, particularly the “T” in STEM.

Dan Rauzi is BGCA's senior director of Technology Programs.

BGCA, in conjunction with the AMD Changing the Game Foundation, gives Club youth a way to learn about game design with the Game Tech program. In a fun, engaging way, Game Tech teaches youth to program computers. Youth making their own video games are youth who are engaged in technology in a whole new way. But not just that, they learn logical thinking, organization and collaboration skills that are essential to today’s global-focused economy.  With our corporate partners, BGCA is committed to the success of America’s young people. And that means something as simple as teaching them to change their homepage to something as complex as programming a video game.