BGCCB Newsletter!

THE CLUB CONNECTION

e-Newsletter

Second Quarter 2021

BEHIND THE BLUE DOORS

Academic Success

Diversity

To better understand and support cultural diversity, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Coastal Bend (BGCCB) recently dug deeper into Mexican and African American traditions. To celebrate independence, Mexican heritage, and democracy, BGCCB youth learned about Cinco de Mayo and the Battle of Puebla, made paper puppets, created custom ponchos, and hand crafted papel picado. To honor the end of slavery in America, BGCCB youth observed Juneteenth by learning about Kente cloth from the west African country of Ghana, created their own paper weave art, and broke chains to symbolize the solidarity and resilience of Black Americans.

STEM Robotics

Exposing BGCCB youth to Robotics promotes interest and awareness in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). STEM activities not only increase youth’s interest among these specific career fields, but it also helps young people make connections between scientific principles and real-world applications. By providing these type of high-quality STEM experiences, BGCCB youth are free to express themselves as they dive into projects and aspire to reach their full potential.

National Fines Arts

The National Fine Arts Program provides children with the opportunity to express themselves creatively, build confidence, learn new skills in the visual arts and showcase the artwork of Club members in the community. The purpose of the program is to enable youth to develop their creativity and cultural awareness through skill building and the appreciation of the arts. This year, art work from 15 BGCCB youth advanced to the regional competition.

Good Character & Citizenship

Vaccination Site

In an effort to combat the COVID-19 virus in economically depressed neighborhoods, BGCCB partnered with the City of Corpus Christi, the Nueces County Health Department, and local non-profit Special Olympics Texas to create a number of vaccine walk-thru clinics. These clinics were free, open to the community, and no appointment was needed. Together we vaccinated approximately 400 Coastal Bend residents during this collaboration.

Boys & Girls Club Week

This year, National Boys & Girls Club Week was June 21-25, 2021. It is not only a fun week for Club Members and staff, it's also an important time to share with the community the incredible support they provide and highlight the achievements of local kids and teens. Our skilled staff help kids dream big and achieve their goals. Whether they aspire to become an all-star athlete or an astronaut, Boys & Girls Clubs are doing Whatever It Takes to Build Great Futures!

Congratulations Graduates

BGCCB would like to take a moment to highlight a couple of our very own!!

Julie Ross, our Director of Athletics, graduated from Centennial High School in Burleson, Texas back in 2016. In December 2020, she went on to receive a Bachelor of Science with a Major in Kinesiology Sports Management and a Minor in Marketing from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Due to COVID-19, Julie was unable to walk the stage until May 2021. Long term, she aspires to be a Collegiate Athletic Director. Julie has been a part of the Boys & Girls Club movement since 2019.

Autumn Redmon, one of our extraordinary Youth Development Professionals, graduated from Coppell High School in Dallas, Texas back in 2016. In May 2021, she went on to receive a Bachelor of Science with in a Major & Minor in Psychology from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Long term, she aspires to be a child therapist. Autumn has been with the Boys & Girls Club movement since 2020.

Healthy Lifestyle

Basketball

As COVID-19 restrictions lifted, BGCCB was able to safely re-open our doors to the community for recreational sports leagues. We started the festivities out with our youth basketball league. We had over 200 registered participants this past season, surpassing the number of registered participants in 2019. We are currently hosting a soccer league and intend to open registration for flag football in the near future.

Swimming Pool

In addition to Academic Success and Good Character & Citizenship, living a Healthy Lifestyle is one of BGCCB’s three priority outcomes. To ensure a healthy lifestyle, youth must adopt a healthy diet, practice healthy lifestyle choices and make a lifelong commitment to fitness, including the opportunity to have unstructured play time. This summer, BGCCB practiced unstructured swim time for each age group. This gives youth the freedom to explore, create, and discover without predetermined rules or guidelines. It also fosters cognitive development while boosting physical, social, and emotional development.

CPR Training

BGCCB is ran by a knowledgeable team who is responsible, organized, dedicated, and well-versed in Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) programming. Each member of our team continuously develops their professional career through the BGCA Leadership University as well as local, regional, and national trainings. In addition, to ensure safety remains our number one priority, all staff are CPR, AED and First Aid certified, prepared to actively respond to several types of emergency drills, and possess a food handling certificate.

Great Futures Start Here

Gregory Unit

In April 2021, BGCCB opened the Gregory Unit at Stephen F. Austin Elementary School located in Gregory, Texas. By opening this Unit, BGCCB is able to serve an additional 100 youth in the Coastal Bend area. Due to COVID-19, we could only serve a minimal number of youth to start with. However, by fall of 2021, we aspire to be serving the Gregory community at 100% capacity. Nonetheless, we are extremely excited to be able to expand our after-school programming to places we’ve never been able to serve before and we look forward to future endeavors.

BGCCB 2021 Alumni

Congratulations to BGCCB Alumni Justine V. She graduated from Roy Miller High School on June 5th, 2021. Justine has been a BGCCB Club Member since 2015 and was our 2018 Youth of the Year. During her years at the Club she has really proven herself to be a productive, caring, responsible citizen within our community. We are excited to watch her embark on the next stages in life and we know that she will do #WhateverItTakes to achieve a great future. Hooray to Class of 2021!