The Boys and Girls Club enjoys success despite the 50-year old building it inhabits
by Amy Christian
photos jWhite
It’s a little after 4 p.m. on a recent afternoon and two kids, a boy and a girl roughly 10 years old, each place a slice of white bread in a plastic sandwich bag. After adding some soda, they seal up the bags and begin to squish up the contents.
The boy stares at the bag, clearly fascinated by the mush he’s creating. The girl, judging by the look on her face and the noises she’s making, is just disgusted.
By contrast, the other four kids in the room have a much more enviable task. Before them are muffin liners filled with different kinds of food like apples and cereal, which they will take turns eating. But instead of talking about taste, they’ll record the action of their teeth — ripping, grinding or tearing — on a chart they’ve created.
If this sounds a lot like a science experiment, that’s because it is. But instead of being held at a school, this lesson on the digestive process is part of the after-school curriculum at the Boys & Girls Club (BGC) of the CSRA’s E.W. Hagler Club.
Led by a certified teacher (each Boys & Girls Club location has one), this hands-on activity seems a lot more engrossing than the ones kids usually complain about having to do for school. The six kids, including the grossed out girl, are laughing and talking among themselves, but the four tasters are intent on filling out their charts and all are amazed at the bread and soda demonstration of what happens when swallowed food meets stomach acid. Even the teacher seems to be having a great time.
And that, said Boys & Girls Club Operations Director Gary Winferry, is exactly the point.
“A lot of times, kids have been in school all day and they’re reluctant to come in here and go back to class,” he explained. “So we kind of trick them into learning. We know that when kids come in here, they want to have fun.”
Fun is no stranger to the Hagler BGC. Just a couple of steps away from the quiet classroom where this experiment was taking place, more than a hundred other kids are dividing into groups by grade and rotating through different stations at the club: the gym, the homework area, the computer lab among them. They begin arriving at around 3:30, some by bus from their school and others after being picked up by a BGC bus (“The best $100 we ever spent was on that bus,” Winferry laughs).
BGC gets kids from all over Richmond and McDuffie County schools, and though some might think that it’s just a program for poor families, Winferry is quick to point out that they have many members from Davidson and C.T. Walker.
As soon as the kids walk through the door and stow their backpacks, they grab their cards and scan them at the front desk so the staff, including Unit Director Brittany Gregory, knows who’s there. Then, they grab a snack and work on homework for an hour.
Those are the basics. But what visitors won’t see from a glance at the station schedule board are all the extras that BGC members are provided. The club partners with
everyone to provide the kids they serve with as many opportunities as possible.
“The kids participate in every activity that you can imagine or that you would want your 11-year-old to participate in,” said Boys & Girls Club of the CSRA Executive Director Kam Kyzer, who oversees a total of six locations in the area. “We really want to prevent barriers to participation.”
Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts meet at the club, as does Girls on the Run. 5/3 Bank leads a Money Matters course for teens. BGC partners with places like Old Navy and Longhorn Steakhouse on job shadowing programs. Staff from the Jessye Norman School of the Arts leads arts education.
The list of partnerships is long, and Kyzer explains the purpose simply.
“There’s just no point in trying to do these things ourselves when other people are doing them very well already,” she said.
The BGC’s staff and partners work together to fulfill the club’s three-pronged mission: to make sure the kids they serve have academic success, lead healthy lifestyles and are good citizens.
“Last year I think 100 percent of our kids were promoted to the next grade,” Winferry said. “And only two became parents. We’re the best-kept secret around.”
It’s not surprising that the Boys & Girls Club after-school program is somewhat of a secret, at least in the Hagler location’s instance. Tucked off to the side of Broad Street near the Kroc Center, BGC kids have been coming to Hagler since 1962. Of course, it was only boys until 1994.
“We started letting girls participate in 1994,” Kyzer explained. “I’m not proud of this, but we were one of the last clubs in the country to let girls participate.”
The club may have become co-ed, but the building hasn’t changed much at all. The former woodshop is now the art room, thanks in large part to Lowe’s who came in and renovated it. The teen room recently received a makeover as well. But, apart from that, it looks pretty much the same as it has since the early ’60s.
The only location that the BGC of the CSRA owns, Hagler desperately needs a facelift. The acoustical ceiling tiles are stained and sagging in many places, indicative of the location’s most pressing problem: its roof.
“The roof is the worst thing about this place,” Winferry said. “No one does flat tar roofs anymore and whenever we have to resurface it, it costs us $8,000-$10,000.”
It might be the worst aspect of the building, but it’s not the only thing that needs updating. That’s why, on the 25th anniversary of one of the club’s most popular fundraisers, Kyzer and BGC board member Christy Beckham decided to do something a little bit different.
“That building needs a ton of repairs, so we’re about to start a campaign to help that building,” Beckham said. “We do the Steak & Burger Dinner every year and this year we’re changing it a little bit.”
The Steak & Burger Dinner, usually held in March, was a night with BGC participants got together with guests. The kids ate steak, while the adults got burgers. The event has always been a success because members of the community got a chance to see first-hand what a difference the club was making in the kids’ lives.
By normal standards, the amount of money it raised was fine. But this year, with a capital campaign to renovate the Hagler location gearing up, the board decided to do something with a little more fanfare.
So this year, the club is holding a Burger Battle on the grounds of the Hagler location. Restaurants including French Market Grille West, Kitchen 1454, The Rooster’s Beak, Frog Hollow Tavern and TakoSushi will compete for the title of best burger, as decided by popular vote. Beer will be served, Youth of the Year will lead tours of the building and the staff and board will unveil the architect’s renovation plans.
Tickets for the event are $100, and 100 percent of the proceeds go to the club. Those who can’t attend can also volunteer or sponsor just about anything. One kid’s opportunity to go to eight weeks of summer camp, for instance, is $300.
Those who do attend the Burger Battle, however, will learn a lot.
“The main goal is to have people come out and see the club, see the changes,” Beckham said. “We want them to take a tour, see what it is currently, then see the architect’s plans for what it’s going to be. We’d really like to get the community more engaged and get the alumni to come back so people can see how much it benefited them.”
If the list of the local Boys & Girls Club’s partners is long, its list of alumni is even longer. Former members Denzel Washington and Jennifer Lopez are the club’s national spokespeople. In our area, Richmond County Sheriff Ronnie Strength, Windsor Jewelers CEO Donnie Thompson and Superior Court Judge Danny Craig are all alumni, a fact that Kyzer uses to dispel some people’s misguided ideas about the club.
“I think another misconception is that the Boys & Girls Club is for poor kids or just for bad kids and it’s not,” she said. “The kids here are just like my kids.”
And they’re kids who are just entering a phase in their lives where they can begin dreaming of the future, which makes all the sponsorships, partnerships and volunteers and even more critical part of the club’s equation.
“It’s not a static program, it’s a very dynamic program,” Kyzer said. “It’s not just a sports program, it’s not just an academic program. Because you never know which component is going to be the right one.”
Because as much as squishing that bread up in soda grossed her out, that experiment may be what led today’s little girl to become tomorrow’s nutritionist.
Burger Battle
Boys & Girls Club E.W. Hagler location
1903 Division Street
Tuesday, May 1
5:30 p.m.
$100; pre-registration required
706-504-4071
bgcaugusta.orgYou Might Also Like:
Led by a certified teacher (each Boys & Girls Club location has one), this hands-on activity seems a lot more engrossing than the ones kids usually complain about having to do for school. The six kids, including the grossed out girl, are laughing and talking among themselves, but the four tasters are intent on filling out their charts and all are amazed at the bread and soda demonstration of what happens when swallowed food meets stomach acid. Even the teacher seems to be having a great time.
And that, said Boys & Girls Club Operations Director Gary Winferry, is exactly the point.
“A lot of times, kids have been in school all day and they’re reluctant to come in here and go back to class,” he explained. “So we kind of trick them into learning. We know that when kids come in here, they want to have fun.”
Fun is no stranger to the Hagler BGC. Just a couple of steps away from the quiet classroom where this experiment was taking place, more than a hundred other kids are dividing into groups by grade and rotating through different stations at the club: the gym, the homework area, the computer lab among them. They begin arriving at around 3:30, some by bus from their school and others after being picked up by a BGC bus (“The best $100 we ever spent was on that bus,” Winferry laughs).
BGC gets kids from all over Richmond and McDuffie County schools, and though some might think that it’s just a program for poor families, Winferry is quick to point out that they have many members from Davidson and C.T. Walker.
As soon as the kids walk through the door and stow their backpacks, they grab their cards and scan them at the front desk so the staff, including Unit Director Brittany Gregory, knows who’s there. Then, they grab a snack and work on homework for an hour.
Those are the basics. But what visitors won’t see from a glance at the station schedule board are all the extras that BGC members are provided. The club partners with everyone to provide the kids they serve with as many opportunities as possible.
“The kids participate in every activity that you can imagine or that you would want your 11-year-old to participate in,” said Boys & Girls Club of the CSRA Executive Director Kam Kyzer, who oversees a total of six locations in the area. “We really want to prevent barriers to participation.”
Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts meet at the club, as does Girls on the Run. 5/3 Bank leads a Money Matters course for teens. BGC partners with places like Old Navy and Longhorn Steakhouse on job shadowing programs. Staff from the Jessye Norman School of the Arts leads arts education.
The list of partnerships is long, and Kyzer explains the purpose simply.
“There’s just no point in trying to do these things ourselves when other people are doing them very well already,” she said.
The BGC’s staff and partners work together to fulfill the club’s three-pronged mission: to make sure the kids they serve have academic success, lead healthy lifestyles and are good citizens.
“Last year I think 100 percent of our kids were promoted to the next grade,” Winferry said. “And only two became parents. We’re the best-kept secret around.”
It’s not surprising that the Boys & Girls Club after-school program is somewhat of a secret, at least in the Hagler location’s instance. Tucked off to the side of Broad Street near the Kroc Center, BGC kids have been coming to Hagler since 1962. Of course, it was only boys until 1994.
“We started letting girls participate in 1994,” Kyzer explained. “I’m not proud of this, but we were one of the last clubs in the country to let girls participate.”
The club may have become co-ed, but the building hasn’t changed much at all. The former woodshop is now the art room, thanks in large part to Lowe’s who came in and renovated it. The teen room recently received a makeover as well. But, apart from that, it looks pretty much the same as it has since the early ’60s.
The only location that the BGC of the CSRA owns, Hagler desperately needs a facelift. The acoustical ceiling tiles are stained and sagging in many places, indicative of the location’s most pressing problem: its roof.
“The roof is the worst thing about this place,” Winferry said. “No one does flat tar roofs anymore and whenever we have to resurface it, it costs us $8,000-$10,000.”
It might be the worst aspect of the building, but it’s not the only thing that needs updating. That’s why, on the 25th anniversary of one of the club’s most popular fundraisers, Kyzer and BGC board member Christy Beckham decided to do something a little bit different.
“That building needs a ton of repairs, so we’re about to start a campaign to help that building,” Beckham said. “We do the Steak & Burger Dinner every year and this year we’re changing it a little bit.”
The Steak & Burger Dinner, usually held in March, was a night with BGC participants got together with guests. The kids ate steak, while the adults got burgers. The event has always been a success because members of the community got a chance to see first-hand what a difference the club was making in the kids’ lives.
By normal standards, the amount of money it raised was fine. But this year, with a capital campaign to renovate the Hagler location gearing up, the board decided to do something with a little more fanfare.
So this year, the club is holding a Burger Battle on the grounds of the Hagler location. Restaurants including French Market Grille West, Kitchen 1454, The Rooster’s Beak, Frog Hollow Tavern and TakoSushi will compete for the title of best burger, as decided by popular vote. Beer will be served, Youth of the Year will lead tours of the building and the staff and board will unveil the architect’s renovation plans.
Tickets for the event are $100, and 100 percent of the proceeds go to the club. Those who can’t attend can also volunteer or sponsor just about anything. One kid’s opportunity to go to eight weeks of summer camp, for instance, is $300.
Those who do attend the Burger Battle, however, will learn a lot.
“The main goal is to have people come out and see the club, see the changes,” Beckham said. “We want them to take a tour, see what it is currently, then see the architect’s plans for what it’s going to be. We’d really like to get the community more engaged and get the alumni to come back so people can see how much it benefited them.”
If the list of the local Boys & Girls Club’s partners is long, its list of alumni is even longer. Former members Denzel Washington and Jennifer Lopez are the club’s national spokespeople. In our area, Richmond County Sheriff Ronnie Strength, Windsor Jewelers CEO Donnie Thompson and Superior Court Judge Danny Craig are all alumni, a fact that Kyzer uses to dispel some people’s misguided ideas about the club.
“I think another misconception is that the Boys & Girls Club is for poor kids or just for bad kids and it’s not,” she said. “The kids here are just like my kids.”
And they’re kids who are just entering a phase in their lives where they can begin dreaming of the future, which makes all the sponsorships, partnerships and volunteers and even more critical part of the club’s equation.
“It’s not a static program, it’s a very dynamic program,” Kyzer said. “It’s not just a sports program, it’s not just an academic program. Because you never know which component is going to be the right one.”
Because as much as squishing that bread up in soda grossed her out, that experiment may be what led today’s little girl to become tomorrow’s nutritionist.
Burger Battle
Boys & Girls Club E.W. Hagler location
1903 Division Street
Tuesday, May 1
5:30 p.m.
$100; pre-registration required
706-504-4071
bgcaugusta.orgYou Might Also Like:
