Youth Development: The Foundation For The Future
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The Boys and Girls Clubs of Marion County provide a wide array of programs and services to its members, their families and the community. Our programs and services fall into five major categories: Education and Career Development, Character and Leadership Development, Health and Life Skills, The Arts, and Family Support. Below you will find a synopsis of each of the major components of our programs.

• Education & Career Development
• Character & Leadership
• Health & Life Skills
• The Arts
• Family Support

Education And Career Development

The following programs help youth create aspirations for the future, providing them with  opportunities for career exploration and educational enhancement:

Making Minutes Count

A comprehensive homework help and tutoring program, POWER HOUR is designed to raise the academic proficiency of Club members ages 6 to18.

Goals For Graduation

Goals for Graduation introduces Club members ages 6 to18 to the concept of academic goal setting. In one-on-one sessions with Club professionals, members set achievable “Know-I-Can” goals, more challenging “Think-I-Can” goals and yearly “Believe-I-Can” goals, then create action plans. The program provides for recognition of members’ achievements at every step of the journey and is funded by Macy’s South and MetLife Foundation.

CLUBService

This program is the result of a partnership between Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the Corporation for National Service (AmeriCorps) which 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. CLUBService is funded by AmeriCorps.

CareerLaunch

CareerLaunchTM is a career exploration and mentoring program for teens ages 13-18. This program includes the CareerLaunch Web site that allows teens to take an interest survey, explore careers, identify training or college requirements, seek out financial aid and play skills-building games. There’s also an easy-to-use Career Exploration Quick Reference Guide with a broad range of career planning and job skills activities that Club staff or volunteers can use with teens. The CareerLaunch Portfolio contains a Teen Tips booklet with helpful interviewing and on-the-spot job tips. CareerLaunch is funded by Gap Foundation.

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.

Character And 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 to18. Keystoners elect officers, choose their own activities and plan and implement their own activities in six areas:

• Service to Club and community,
• Leadership development,
• Education and career exploration,
• Unity,
• Free enterprise and
• Social recreation.

A national charter entitles a Keystone Club to participate in regional and national Keystone conferences. Funded by the Taco Bell Foundation.

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 each Club selecting a Youth of the Year who receives a certificate and medallion then enters state competition. State winners receive a plaque and $1,000 scholarship then enter the regional competition. Each of the five regional winners receives a $10,000 scholarship and enters the national competition held in Washington, DC. The National Youth of the Year receives an additional $15,000 scholarship, totaling $26,000 in scholarships, and is installed by the President of the United States.

Torch Club

This small-group leadership development program, sponsored by Staples, is targeted to youth 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. Torch Club members learn to elect officers and work together to plan and implement activities in four areas:

1. Service to Club and Community
2. Education
3. Health and Fitness
4. Social Recreation

Torch Club Awards are presented annually to Torch Clubs with outstanding programs and activities in the four areas. Each year, Torch Club members from all over the country take part in a service-learning experience through the National Torch Club Project.  The Torch Club program is sponsored by Staples, Inc. and Staples Foundation for Learning, Inc.

Health And Life Skills

These programs develop young people’s capacity to engage in positive behaviors that nurture their own well-being, set personal goals and live successfully as self-sufficient adults.

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. The SMART Girls program is sponsored by Tupperware Brands Corporation.

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

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 2006 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

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.