Pro Baseball Player With Message For Troops

Daniel Merklinger from the Milwaukee Brewers, an "Athlete For Hope", visited our Gregory After School Program on Monday, December 19th.  "Athletes For Hope" (AFH) is a non-profit organization founded in 2007 by a group of elite athletes who all share a common based bond which is a deep commitment to help others.  Daniel Merklinger wanted to show his appreciation to all the men and women serving abroad by writing letters with children in his community.

His visit was very special.  He wanted to come and join our children in writing special holiday letters to the troops in appreciation for their sacrifices for our freedom.   The event began with a self introduction and talking first about the significance of failing and then continuing to work hard to reach your goals.

Then followed an open discussion where our kids were able to ask the Pro some questions.  From silly questions like "what is your favorite football team" , to more serious genuine questions like "At what age did you decide to become a professional baseball player" were asked by our children.  The the conversation transitioned into how we should all be grateful for the troops serving in all the branches of our military.  It was definitely a fun and educational experience.

The Boys & Girls Club of West Orange would like to thank Daniel Merklinger and Athletes For Hope for facilitating this session.  It really did remind all of us of how incredibly grateful we are of every single one of our troops fighting for our country.  We wish them and their families well during this season and look forward to their safe return to all of us here at home.  

  

Pleasantdale Fun Foods Enrichment & Holiday Spirit

Irma Morales, from the Pleasantdale Elementary School, leads our "Fun-Foods" enrichment program at the After School Program.  Every Week on Monday and Wednesday she prepares and facilitates a fun filled food frenzy from 4:00pm to 5:00pm, available to all the children in our program.  

Mrs. Morales is always creating fun foods but this week I thought I'd share one of her special holiday projects with you.  Her theme this month is obviously the Christmas/Holiday Season and within the last few weeks she has created delicious snowmen, tasty teepees, and this week mouth watering wreaths.  

Katlyn Brennan, the site supervisor, is not only the administrator of that program but is fantastic at creating activities to make the after-school program organized and fun for all the kids.  She plans board game tournaments, clay modeling activities on Fridays, Pizza Parties, and creative art projects.  But she can't do it alone, right?  Matthew Orbin and Kanisha Bullock have been monumental in the success of the program as well. 

Fitness Friday - Gregory After School Dance Party

It is no secret that we are making an effort to implement more fitness activities in our after school programs.   In addition to our weekly gym and sports activities, we have recently added "Fitness Friday" to all of our after school sites.   For 15-30 minutes our kids can stretch, move, reach, bend, jog, or in yesterday's Gregory Program.....Dance.

With a DJ Speaker and an iPad DJ Application "Fitness Friday" turned into a Dance Activity led by Dawn Brennan with music being played by Youth Program Supervisor/DJ John Peterson (me).   This week Dawn and I thought we could shake things up by playing group dance songs like the YMCA, The Electric Slide, The Macarena, and more.  Almost all the kids and staff in our program, were following Dawn's lead as each song played.

Because the children behaved so well, we are thinking about doing this again real soon at Gregory.  We will also be introducing this idea to the others after-school programs as early as as next week!   Our after-school programs are doing some really cool things that you won't want to miss.  If you get a chance, fill in your email address above to subscribe to have these stories, pictures, and videos emailed to you immediately after they are posted.

See You All Soon!

More Than After School Programs....Family

Our programs are not just programs.....They are family.  While each after school program celebrated Thanksgiving their own way, Hazel and Washington School feasted like family.  Here are some pictures and videos from November 23rd.


Pictures:

Hazel School (first 2)
Washington School (The last pic)

VIDEO of Hazel After School Thanksgiving Performance:

No More Bullying!

Drug Free Programs and Gale Richter visits Washington, Pleasantdale, and Gregory School.

Your child probably may have been or is being subjected to bullying in one way or another. Bullies come in all shapes and sizes and this abuse does not only include violence.  Bullying is physical abuse, verbal abuse, or any type of harassment from one person or group to another.  Whether someone says something degrading or embarrassing to someone else or physically threatens or harms another person, it is still bullying.

A more recent type of bullying called "cyber-bullying" is taking the world by storm.  This bullying is seen online within social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace and is becoming more prevalent every single day. Although it is no doubt that we were bullied as children in one way or another, the world is changing and technology has enabled many more children with cell phones and computers to become bullies without even thinking that they are bullying.  Within recent months, a few teenagers even took their own lives as a result of cyber-bullying.  This is very serious and someone needs to address this to keep our kids safe in our community and to educate our children on why they need to avoid becoming a bully.

   

I am not an expert on this subject so to teach our children about Bullying, the Boys & Girls Club of West Orange invited in Gale Richter of Drug Free Programs.  So far, Ms. Richter has facilitated her programs at Gregory School, Washington School, and Pleasantdale elementary.   She engages our kids by putting on puppet shows, telling stories, showing videos, role playing, and even brings rewards for the kids participating in her program.  Ms. Richter will visit us again in the Spring of 2012 with some new activities for the members in our after school programs on "Bullying".   For more information about Drug Free Programs you can visit, http://www.drugfreeprograms.com.

The West Orange Police Department Visits BGCWO

The West Orange Police Department took some time to visit our after-school programs at Hazel, Washington, Gregory, and Pleasantdale to talk about safety!  As times seem to be getting worse all around us, there is no better time to talk "safety" to our kids.  

Officers Tim Groves, Herbert Grenadas, and Jason Padilla teamed up at our 4 sites talking about stranger danger and how to keep safe when the children are at the parks or walking home.  They also spoke about their uniforms and protective gear that helps them fight crime in the neighborhood.  The children remained attentive throughout each session and asked many great questions to the police officers.

Each and every year we invite the West Orange Police Department into our program.  We want to thank them for taking the time to talk to our kids as we all encourage our kids to stay safe in our community!

6 Reasons Kids and Parents Benefit From After-School Programs

These are some national statistics...... Thought you'd like to know

1. In communities today, 15.1 million children take care of themselves after the school day ends.
2. Just 8.4 million children are in afterschool programs—but the parents of another 18.5 million children say their children would participate in afterschool if a program were available.
3. A report on 21st Century Community Learning Centers (afterschool programs receiving federal funds) showed that 45 percent of all participants improved their reading grades, and 41 percent improved their math grades.
4. On school days, the hours between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. are the peak hours for juvenile crime and experimentation with drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and sex.
5. Teens who do not participate in afterschool programs are nearly three times more likely to skip classes than teens who do participate. They are also three times more likely to use marijuana or other drugs, and they are more likely to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes and engage in sexual activity.
6. Parents with children in afterschool programs are less stressed, have fewer unscheduled absences and are more productive at work.

If you don't think you can afford to enroll your children in one of our after school programs in West Orange, please contact us to see if aid maybe available.   The statistics are staggering and you and your children deserve to live healthy, safe, and successful lives.   If you would like to enroll in any of our after school programs at Washington School, Hazel Avenue School, Pleasantdale Elementary, Gregory School, or Mount Pleasant or would like more information, please visit our website at www.bgcwo.org.   

Great Scott...It's Magic

Great Scott the Magician visited our after-school programs during the half day parent teacher conferences at Washington, Hazel, Gregory, and Pleasantdale.  Scott Drukker has been providing top quality entertainment for our programs for the last 4 years and his shows keep getting better.   It is so fulfilling for us to see the students so excited when performing his mystical magic tricks.  The show gets even better when he bring out his smart mouth Macaw!  If Scott will be able to fit us in for next year, you should try and come to experience the show!  More exciting events to come.....

More Pics.....

  

The West Orange Fire Department at WOBGC

During Fire Safety Week the West Orange Fire Department visited our after school programs.  The kids in the programs got to experience the trucks and hoses up close and personal.  One of the West Orange Firemen let the children try the hoses.  I'm a little jealous!  I have been wanting to shoot a fire hose since I was a kid and these children can claim their rights.  

As you can see, the children were having so much fun learning about fire safety.   While it's fun to meet and interact with real firemen, the West Orange Fire Department provided vital infortmation to our children regarding fire safety.  They taught them the important lessons on what to do if in fact they ever found themselves in a dangerous situation.  The West Orange Community House and Boys & Girls Club would like to thank the brave Men and Women who serve to protect!

Staying Fit In The BGCWO

The West Orange Community House and Boys & Girls Club has dedicated themselves to stay fit and active during the year.  This picture here shows the children at Hazel Elementary School in West Orange receiving Presidential Awards for participating in PALA (Presidential Active Lifestyle Awards).  These children and the children in Washington School, Gregory School, and also Pleasantdale Elementary had dedicated 8 weeks to being active at least 60 minutes per day! 

Although receiving the awards signed by President Obama were an incentive to stay active, our after school programs always try to engage the children in physical activities daily.  When the weather permits the children play ball or race on the play ground. When it's too cold or rainy to go out, the staff makes sure to run fun activities in the Gyms.  We care and are commited to providing children with an safe, healthy, and educational experience while attending our after school programs.

Master Percussionist Visits Washington and Gregory School

Master percussionist, Vincent Ector visited The Boys & Girls Club of West Orange (Gregory and Washington After School Programs).  I sat in on the percussion workshop at Gregory School.  He introduced himself as Mr. Vince and then taught the kids the proper way to play a conga (I think it was a conga) using three specific techniques.   He then asked each student to introduce themselves to the beat of the conga.  The kids were so excited to get up and play the drum!   The best part of the workshop was when Mr. Vince asked the kids if they would like to write a percussion song and put it on iTunes!

He pulled out flat round drums and gave one to each of the students with a mallet.  Then Mr. Vince created a rhythm on his Conga and a rhythm for the high percussion section and the low percussion section.  The children really enjoyed playing with Mr. Vince and we look forward to him returning and maybe, just maybe, next time we'll record it and put it up on our after-school podcast on iTunes.  Stay Tuned for more great things happening at the Boys & Girls Club of West Orange and our after school programs.