I recently came across this article about the fact that in just about every developed country, girls are reading more than boys. Some key points: Boys dedicate less than than girls to processing words, are more prone to skipping passages or entire sections, and frequently choose books beneath their reading levels. Girls are more likely to... Continue Reading →
BGCA has sunset the Year of the Teen Director’s App to consolidate practices, tips, and all other content in the YD Toolbox app and here on the Club Experience Blog. We will be featuring some of the articles that appeared in the app here (with updates!), as well as content just for staff who work... Continue Reading →
We mark a lot of different occasions here at Boys & Girls Clubs of America, but in this humble blog's opinion, one stands above the rest- Native Heritage Month! Every November, BGCA's Native Services team puts together some amazing resources. It's a time of year to reflect on what indigenous heritage means and to share... Continue Reading →
BGCA's Youth Trends team is at it again with this mashup of information for October's National Bullying Prevention Month AND Cybersafety Month. We know young people spend A LOT on time online and on social media. Approximately 95% of teens have access to a smartphone, and 45% say they are online ‘almost constantly’. YouTube, Instagram,... Continue Reading →
October 11, 2018 is the 30th anniversary of National Coming Out Day. To mark the day, we are featuring an excerpt from BGCA's Serving LGBTQ Youth Toolkit here on the ClubX Blog. For the full toolkit and other resources, visit BGCA.net. Coming out is when any person reveals an aspect of their identity to another... Continue Reading →
This post is from Rachel Greene-Wilber on BGCA's Youth Trends team. Be sure to check out their other posts for more culturally responsive content. The issue of sexual assault has been center stage in the news and social media, which means it's also on the minds and in the conversations of teens across the country.... Continue Reading →
BGCA is sunsetting the Year of the Teen Director's App to consolidate practices, tips, and all other content in the YD Toolbox app and here on the Club Experience Blog. We will be featuring some of the articles that appeared in the app here (with updates!), as well as content just for staff who work... Continue Reading →
In the upcoming Netflix film “Nappily Ever After” the main character goes through “The Big-Chop” by cutting off her hair, sending her on a journey of discovery about what it means to feel professional, confident, beautiful and loved – and how the appearance of her hair affects all those things. BGCA staff Tanisha Grimes and... Continue Reading →
This week the ClubX Blog and the Youth Trends team are marking National Suicide Prevention Week. Be sure to check out the accompanying Club Story for more guidance. If you or someone you know is in need of support, seek help immediately. You can call the free, confidential National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255)... Continue Reading →
September 9-15, 2018 is National Suicide Prevention Week. On the ClubX Blog, we will be providing resources and encouragement for all those who work with youth. Today's Club Story comes from Stacey Braund Busby, Social and Emotional Wellness Initiative Director at Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley. If you or someone you know... Continue Reading →
Today's Club Story comes from Ericha Clary, Unit Director at Boys & Girls Clubs of the Colorado River's newest unit, Fort Mohave. Keen readers of the ClubX Blog will recognize that organization, as they've been featured on the blog TWICE already! (Here and here!) Before the start of summer 2018 here at our local Club... Continue Reading →
"To enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens." In the United States, one of the best ways that we can be citizens is by exercising our right to vote. Unfortunately, younger adults, including Millennials and post-Millennials, are the least likely of all... Continue Reading →
Bulletin 3 in the Promising Practices for Managing Club Staff bulletin series is finally here! If you haven't taken a look at these bulletins yet, you are in for A TREAT. They highlight Club promising staff management practices that help build a high-quality Club Experience, and are based on extensive research and so. many. phone... Continue Reading →
Today's guest post is from Gavin Gill, Director of Operations for Boys & Girls Clubs of West Alabama. He has seen a lot of change while working with Clubs, and is passionate about helping staff manage it well! As Directors or Managers of Boys & Girls Clubs, we know change is going to happen. There... Continue Reading →
Today's post comes from BGCA's Youth Program Design & Trends Team. June is for warm weather, summer Club activities and LGBTQ Pride Month! In celebrating Pride Month, we are thrilled to partner with GLSEN in supporting the 16% of Club teens who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual, or Questioning (LGBTQ). GLSEN is the leading... Continue Reading →
BGCA's Child & Club Safety and Youth Trends teams recently learned about some controversy surrounding a recent film release. Keep reading for a list of free resources for discussing consent that can be used alongside the film or at any time with your members. The movie Show Dogs was recently released in theaters as a fun... Continue Reading →
In observance of National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day, BGCA has partnered with several organizations to provide Clubs with resources to support our members. Each year National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day seeks to raise awareness about the importance of children’s mental health and show that positive mental health is essential to a child’s healthy... Continue Reading →
April is National Autism Awareness Month! Get some information about what may trigger challenging behaviors and 26 sample adaptations for your Club from our partner Kids Included Together and Autism Speaks. Read on for more information on BGCA's all-new Serving Youth With Autism Toolkit! One in 68 children have Autism Spectrum Disorder, so chances are... Continue Reading →
I've featured one of my favorite sites, Teaching Tolerance, on the ClubX Blog before. They are a project of The Southern Poverty Law Center, and they design training and resources for classroom educators. A lot of their stuff is easily and directly applicable to the Club context, including a great webinar they did last month.... Continue Reading →
Today's guest post comes from BGCA's Lauren Barineau, Senior Director of Youth Development, Health & Wellness. She is an expert in making sure our members are as healthy as they can be! Is Your Club HEPA-Tastic?? In recent years, more attention is being paid to healthy eating and physical activity among youth. At Boys &... Continue Reading →
This post is adapted from The School Walkout: An Adult Ally Guide by Youth Era. In the wake of recent tragedies such as the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School, youth have quickly become leaders in the discussion around gun control legislation. On March 24, youth and families will take the streets of Washington DC... Continue Reading →
Today's post is from Morgan Mabry, Director of Youth Development, Health & Wellness at BGCA. This is her second appearance on the ClubX Blog! Be sure to read all the way through for a PHOTO OF A PUPPY AHHHHHHHHHHHH Pain can be really hard to navigate. Our natural inclination is to avoid pain at all... Continue Reading →
NYOI has officially started! National Youth Outcomes Initiative (NYOI) season is a very exciting time for us at Boys & Girls Clubs. As we kick off this year's survey administration, we will have a series of posts in the Let's Talk Data Series to give some background information as well as some ideas from Clubs... Continue Reading →
When you get so many youth (and staff!) in one Club for several hours a day, there are going to be a lot of emotions that happen. And it is not always easy to navigate! Particularly when those emotions show up physically as tears. Unfortunately, we don't always have the best response to youth who... Continue Reading →
Last month, BGCA debuted the Promising Practices for Managing Club Staff bulletin series right here on the Club Experience Blog! Be sure and go back and read that first post, not just to get the hiring and onboarding bulletin, but also to find out a bit more about the development of the series. Today I... Continue Reading →
The Annie E. Casey Foundation is an amazing nonprofit that is focused on creating research-backed resources to aid those who work with children at risk of poor educational, economic, social and health outcomes. One of their major projects is the Kids Count Data Center, which is a great tool to use if you need national... Continue Reading →
With the launch of Great Futures 2025 this year, BGCA is laser-focused on improving the Club Experience for our members. To support Clubs in doing this work, we have been working on a TON of resources, including the YD Toolbox app, trainings like the Club Directors Academy and Youth Development Institutes, and this blog. We've... Continue Reading →
Did you know that the YD Toolbox app has a BUILT IN COMMUNITY???? You can get to the YDT Community online or through the Social button on the home page of the YD Toolbox app, which looks like this: There are two separate forums right now, one for Supervisors and one for Youth Development Professionals, although... Continue Reading →
This month's Culture of Wellness webinar is going to be AWESOME. The full title is "From Club to Club: Effective Strategies and Clever Ideas." Check out the description: The Boys & Girls Club Movement is rich with promising practices. We have more to learn from one another than from any other source. This webinar will... Continue Reading →
I recently came across a SWEET management reminder tool from Tiffany Boley, Unit Director at the William Dawson Soaring Eagles Unit of Boys & Girls Clubs of Gadsden/Etowah County in Alabama. She graciously agreed to share it with us on the Club Experience Blog! Can you tell me a little about your Club? How long... Continue Reading →
This guest post is from Morgan Mabry, Director of Gender & Well-Being at BGCA, and is first in a two-part series for Children's Grief Awareness Day. Grief is an all too familiar experience for many of the young people we serve. It is estimated that 1 in 20 children in the U.S. will experience the... Continue Reading →
Just admit it. You TOTALLY heard this in your head when you read that headline. (Did I just age myself? That's ok. I am proud to be a part of the TGIF generation!) Here at BGCA, we do a ton of research into what makes for a great Club Experience. What we've discovered is that... Continue Reading →
This special guest post from the Health, Gender and Wellness Team and Safety Team at BGCA was written in response to the racially-motivated violence in Charlottesville over the August 12, 2017, weekend, but has applicable information for leading conversations with teens following any tragic event. We are reposting an edited version in light of the... Continue Reading →
Here on the Club Experience Blog we are thrilled to join with BGCA and our Native Services Unit to celebrate Native American Heritage Month during November. The amazing work that the Native Services team and our Clubs that serve Native Youth do has been one of my favorite parts of the Movement to learn about.... Continue Reading →
Today's guest post is from Valerie Heron-Duranti, Director of Innovation & Creativity at BGCA. In 2012, The Wallace Foundation, a national philanthropy group whose mission is to improve learning and enrichment for disadvantaged children and the vitality of the arts for everyone, commissioned a study to understand how to support urban youth’s participation in the... Continue Reading →
I am thrilled to bring you a conversation I recently had with Floretta Robinson, Club Director at THE PLAYERS Championship Unit of Boys & Girls Clubs of North Florida, located in wonderful, glorious St. Augustine. (Which, full disclosure, holds a VERY SPECIAL place in my heart as I graduated from Flagler College and then worked... Continue Reading →
Teaching Tolerance is one of my FAVORITE websites, and you'll likely see it pop up on the blog pretty often. They have tons of great stuff. While it is aimed at classroom educators, most of it is super adaptable to the Club context, plus they have a lot of excellent learning tools for staff. While... Continue Reading →
This month's Culture of Wellness Webinar is on supporting LGBTQ youth in your Club. Here's the description: Boys & Girls Clubs have a responsibility to provide a safe, positive and inclusive environment for ALL youth, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. Join us for tips and best practices on creating an inclusive... Continue Reading →
This guest post is from Rachel Greene-Wilbur, Director of Gender & Well Being at BGCA. Everyone experiences a wide range of emotions every single day. However, sometimes youth have a hard time explaining or understanding their current mood. The Mood Meter is a very useful tool to help youth label how they are feeling, build... Continue Reading →
This guest post is by Kathryn King, MSRA, from Kids Included Together. Kids Included Together (KIT) is honored to be a partner with BGCA to ensure equity for youth with disabilities and their families. Equity is often thought about in terms of race or ethnicity, but individuals with disabilities are also an underserved population. According to the World... Continue Reading →
So this blog is called The Club Experience Blog, but what does that mean? Where does that come from? https://giphy.com/gifs/robert-downey-jr-question-excellent-dXICCcws9oxxK We have lots of different ways that we gather feedback from Club members, both informally and formally. One of the formal ways is the National Youth Outcomes Initiative, or NYOI. The NYOI is an annual... Continue Reading →
Today's guest post is from BGCA's own Katie Lee, and is from her time as Director of the Samuel L. Jones Club of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta. Have you ever had a parent tell you they didn’t want you to meet their child until after they had the chance to talk... Continue Reading →
This guest post is from Crystal Brown, Senior Director of Gender & Well-Being at BGCA. Have you ever asked a Club member a question and they provided you with an answer that gave you little to no information? https://giphy.com/gifs/30-rock-sme-how-do-you-1Qdp4trljSkY8 Questions like, “How are you?” or “Do you like coming to the Club?” will typically result... Continue Reading →
At Boys & Girls Clubs, our members are our HIGHEST priority. It is reflected in our mission: To enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Our members are literally the reason that we exist. That is why it is *so important* that we... Continue Reading →
All year, BGCA has offered a Culture of Wellness webinar series, and it has been GREAT. Each one is about half an hour long, and topics include social and emotional development models, nutrition and health standards, and physical safety. On Tuesday, September 19 the topic is Play Breaks! Here is the description: How do you... Continue Reading →
TED Talks are short, powerful speeches, delivered without the use of notes, with the goal of spreading ideas. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, but now the talks cover a wide variety of topics. They are generally 20 minutes or less, and are GREAT tools to use whether with youth or with staff or... Continue Reading →
This special guest post from the Health, Gender and Wellness Team and Safety Team at BGCA is in response to the racially-motivated violence in Charlottesville, Virginia over the August 12, 2017 weekend, but has applicable information for leading conversations with teens following any tragic event. Teens are exposed to a variety of messages, which are... Continue Reading →
Have you downloaded the Youth Development Toolbox app yet? If you haven't, GO DO IT RIGHT NOW. I'M SO SERIOUS. IT'S AMAZING. Here are the links: Apple Store Android This app is going to be your go-to resource for all kinds of practical, easy to implement activities and strategies in your Club. We've had some... Continue Reading →
