Winter Wonderland Fun at the Club

Although we have only been together four days over the Holiday Break, we have been very busy here at the Al Lenzmeier West Side Boys and Girls Club.

Last week, members had the opportunity to participate in our Knee Hockey Tournament created by our Social Recreation Director, Matt Harrity.   In the gym, members played flag football, big base, and even had the chance to do some rollerblading in the gym with our Physical Education Director, Rudy Lugo. Members also had the opportunity to participate in writing their letters to Santa as well as compete in coloring contests with our STARS Coordinator, Teria Masterjohn.

We also had brunch with Santa and all of our members had the chance to sit on Santa's lap and have their picture taken.  We were able to print these out and give these to our members' families at pick up.

We also had our weekly visit from the members of Augustana Lutheran Church, where they fed us a wonderful dinner and also frosted Christmas cookies with our members.  We are so very fortunate to have them come and prepare a weekly meal and spend time with our members.  We are lucky to have them a part of our West Side family.

This week, members have been busy working on STEM based projects as well as writing their own New Year's Resolutions and Goals for 2015.  It has been wonderful to see what these members feel are important when creating their goals.

Overall, it has been an eventful few days!  Below is two movies I have created with the past two weeks of fun here at the club!  See you all on Monday.

Holiday Schedule of Activities at the Club!

As we move into the next couple of weeks, we would like you all to know the activities we have planned.  On December 22nd, we are open from 9am-5:30 pm and have several activities planned for the day.  Members will be writing letters to Santa in the STARS and Education rooms.  We will then be following this up with a Knee Hockey Tournament in the Games Room with the Social Recreation Director, Matt Harrity.  Members will then have the chance to stretch their minds in both engineering and math creating and racing their own sleighs with our Education Director, Samantha Hausker. Members will also have the opportunity to do some rollerblading in the gym.  We will end the days festivities with a marshmallow roast to those lucky members that receive the golden tickets.

On December 23rd, members will have the opportunity to have brunch with Santa.  Our Camp CAMERA graduates will be taking professional photos for members with Santa that we will be able to give to them.  In the Games Room, we will continue our Knee Hockey Tournaments and members will also have the chance to watch a Christmas movie in our Cinema Room with Hot Cocoa.

We will be closed on December 24th, 25th, and 26th for Christmas.

We will open on December 29th from 9 am-5:30 pm with several special events planned. Members aged 10-17 will have the chance to go to our Voyageur Camp for an overnight filled with fun.  Those who do not go camping, will be able to participate in our Athletic Director, Rudy Lugo's Snow Bowl Football Tournament and Sledding that will take place outside.  In the Games Room, the Social Recreation Director, Matt Harrity will be running Bean Bag Toss Tournaments and members will have the chance to write their New Year's Resolutions in the Education Room.

On December 30th, we will be open from 9am-5:30 pm.  Those who had the opportunity to go to camp will return.  We will present the Snow Bowl Awards from the tournament the day before, and members will have the opportunity to be part of the Flapjack Express with our STARS Coordinator, Teria Masterjohn.

We will be closed on December 31st and January 1st, but look forward to seeing you all again that following Monday!

Creating Holiday Stockings

As part of the Holiday season, one of our volunteers from Saint Paul College, Mena Xiong, has brought in the materials needed to have members create holiday stockings.  Members had the chance to choose what materials they wanted to create their very own stockings.  Members could choose from glitter glue, snowflakes, bells and garland to decorate their stockings.

Members also had the chance to create Christmas ornaments, sweaters, and cards throughout the week.

Thank you, Mena for making the holidays special for our members.  They truly enjoyed these arts and crafts and were excited to bring their creations home.

Members at the Vikings Game

On December 7th, members of the West Side Boys and Girls Club had the opportunity to brave the cold and see the MN Vikings play the New York Jets at the TCF Stadium.  Thank you to the wonderful donor that donated 20 tickets so that our members and their families could see this game. Your donation was greatly appreciated by our members and their families!

Creating Word Clouds in the Education Center

As part of our Netsmartz class in the Education Center, Samantha Hausker, our Education Director had members create Word Clouds on the computer.  Members were asked to choose twenty words that decribe how they promote leadership skills in their lives and strive to be role models here at our club.  Above is a collage of the word clouds that they created.  Great job members!

Coca-Cola Visits the Club for the Holidays

Yesterday we had he privilege of having Coca-Cola come to our club for our Annual Hanging of the Green.  For the past six years, Coca-Cola has donated their time and money to decorate our club for Christmas.  Not only did they decorate our club by hanging the garland, but they were able to donate a real tree from Home Depot that they also decorated for us.

Once the decorations were up, the members started coming in and were so excited to see how nice our club looked for the Holiday season.  Coca-Cola volunteers spent time in our program areas playing pool, basketball and dodgeball with our members and even brought the supplies necessary to have members create and decorate ornaments that they could take home with them.

Coca-Cola then took their generosity a step further and presented our club with a check for $2,000.00 which will be used to offer self defense courses for our female members, STEM materials for our Education Room, as well as giving us the ability to take our members roller skating, sledding and ice skating as academic incentives throughout the year.

Around dinner time, members also had the chance to decorate and eat Christmas cookies which was then followed by feeding all of our members a very nice Holiday meal with homemade lasagna, vegetables, bread and fruit.

Below is a movie I created highlighting the day's celebration.  Thank you, Coca-Cola for all that you do for us throughout the year.  Our staff and members greatly appreciate it!

Thanksgiving and Awards Dinner

On Tuesday, November 25th, we celebrated our annual Thanksgiving and Awards Dinner at the Al Lenzmeier West Side Boys & Girls Club.  We were pleased to have 230 people in attendance to celebrate with us.  Social hour and turkey bingo began at 5:00 pm where all adults had a chance to win a turkey that they could take home with them.

At 5:30 pm, one of our members, Jennifer Argenal, introduced our keynote speaker Enrique (Cha-Cho) Estrada.  Mr. Estrada was a club kid himself, worked for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities and currently continues his youth development on the West Side at Neighborhood House.

 Once he spoke, we had our STARS Coordinator, Teria Masterjohn and our Education Director, Samantha Hausker present our Thanksgiving Play that was performed by eighteen of our members.

Once they finished their play, we had the invocation presented by Pastor Aune, from Augustana Church.  The Thanksgiving meal and all of the fixings was generously donated by the members of the Augustana Lutheran Church who have been an integral part of our success each year.  They were presented with our Good Neighbor Award for their constant nourishment, love and support to our members.

Once the meal was finished, we had our members that are part of the bell choir, under the guidance and supervision of Janet and JoAnn, volunteers from Augustana Church perform two songs.

Next was the awards ceremony where we were pleased to give out recognition and awards to our members who participated in soccer, Goals for Graduation, our STARS reading program, Torch Club, Keystone, and Camp CAMERA.

We then had the opportunity to thank all of the dedicated volunteers that help support us every day. We thanked our volunteers from Macalester College, Saint Thomas University, Century College as well as individuals such as Brad Goff, Peter Rhodes, and Barry Bloomgren for their service to the club.

A special thank you to our staff and everyone who came out to celebrate with us and recognize our outstanding members.

Members had the Opportunity to see Usher!

Members had the wonderful opportunity to See Usher in concert this Tuesday.  Usher, being a club kid alumni, gave the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities 220 free tickets to see his show. Members had a fantastic time.  Thank you to Teria Masterjohn and Samantha Hausker for transporting and chaperoning our members at this event.

Join Us for our Annual Thanksgiving and Recognition Dinner

On Tuesday, November 25th, the Al Lenzmeier West Branch Boys & Girls Club will be celebrating our Annual Thanksgiving and Awards Dinner.  Social hour will begin at 5:00 pm where our guests can participate in Turkey Bingo and enjoy some horderves served by the members of our Keystone.

At 5:30 pm we will begin the program where we will introduce our Keynote Speaker, Enrique (Cha-Cho) Estrada who not only happens to be a club alumni himself, but a former Boys & Girls Club employee, and most recently works in youth development on the West Side.

After our Keynote Speaker, our STARS Coordinator, Teria Masterjohn and our Education Director, Samantha Hausker will begin our night by showcasing our Thanksgiving Play which will be performed by our members.

Once the play is finished, we will recognize our volunteers as well as several awards to members in the following categories: Rising Stars Award (Given to STARS who Achieve in Tumblebooks), Members of the Month, Soccer Medals and Awards, Keystone Officer Awards, Camp Camera Awards and Attendance Awards.

Next, we will be serving a beautifully prepared Thanksgiving dinner with all of the fixings.  A special thanks to Augustana Church for donating the food and preparing our Thanksgiving dinner and setting up our tables for our guests.

After dinner, we will continue turkey raffles and Turkey Bingo.  Overall, this night will prove to be one that highlights the achievements of our wonderful members and volunteers as well as a time to share our thankfulness with our friends, family and community.  Look forward to seeing you all.

Staff Development

Yesterday we had the wonderful opportunity to have all Education Directors and STARS Coordinators of the Twin Cities Boys & Girls Club meet, collaborate and discuss best practices in education.

Colleagues had the chance to share their best practices in education in regards to ways that they showcase involvement, academic success, incentive building, engagement, routines/expectations, and marketing and recruitment of members.

Colleagues then looked at the programs that they teach, and created two S.M.A.R.T goals that focus on meaningful assessment and instruction.

I was fortunate to be able to facilitate this workshop and was proud of all of the creative and innovative staff we have here at the Boys % Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities.

Look forward to the next meeting.

Camp CAMERA girls published in the MAC Weekly Newspaper

This past week, members at the West Side Boys and Girls Club who have been participating in our Camp CAMERA class were busy preparing two photos: one for print and one for digital print for the Mac Weekly, which is the Macalester College Newspaper.

The girls were very excited to have this unique opportunity to be posted in the newspaper and each girl will be given actual newspapers to pass out to family and friends.  Here is the link to the online newspaper piece featuring Camp Camera: Camp Camera Featured Story

Exposure // Camp Camera

By The Mac Weekly

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Camp CAMERA

This week, the members involved in Camp CAMERA had the chance to learn about and work in the dark room at Macalester College.  These members then applied the information they learned  by choosing different materials to put on special photography paper and used the chemicals to project these images on paper.

After they completed this, members had the chance to receive their own cameras and take pictures throughout the campus.  Members then worked on editing their pictures using iphoto editing software.

Max Guttman, our Camp CAMERA college intern, then spoke to our members about digital photography used in print as well as for websites.  Members were then told to choose one of their photos that will be featured in the Macalester Newspaper.  I am pleased to report that all of these members will have a featured spot in the newspaper and will be published photographers.  Members will also  receive as many copies of the newspaper  as they want to pass out to friends and family.

Next week, members will continue to edit pictures that they will feature at our Thanksgiving Dinner and Recognition Awards Ceremony at the West Side Boys and Girls Club on November 25th. Members will also be working on heir artist statements and deciding which photographs they would like to include in their books that will be presented to them at the dinner.

I am very proud of the creativity, innovation and dedication these members have shown to this program this fall and look forward to seeing their final projects.

The West Side Boys & Girls Club Takes a Creative Approach in Combating the Issue of Bullying

As part of a contest for Youthprise, our members at the Al Lenzmeier West Side Boys & Girls Club have put together a video that looks at the issues of bullying and how our club makes a difference. Each member that participated in this video found one bullying passage that they felt was powerful, explained what the passage meant, and then explained how our club creates a safe and healthy environment that not only combats bullying but embraces diversity and individuality.  This video was created, produced and written by our youth.  Great job!

Halloween Crafts

After our big Halloween Celebration last night, we continued the Halloween fun today as well. Members had the opportunity to decorate wooden Halloween masks with our Theme Director, Laura Reyes.

Once members decorated their wooden masks, Samantha Hausker, our Education Director helped them frost pumpkin shaped sugar cookies.  Above are some photos from the day.

Annual Halloween Party

On October 30th from 4-7 pm, the Al Lenzmeier West Side Boys & Girls Club hosted their annual Halloween Carnival Party for 200 members and their families.

 Members and their families had the opportunity to participate in several carnival games. One of the games offered was called the Guessing Game where they could guess how much candy was in the jar, and the person closest to the actual amount was able to take this home as a prize.

We also had a cake walk where members and their families could win cupcakes and other baked goods.  Some of the other carnival games consisted of the witch hat ring toss, the clown bean bag toss, the pumpkin pond, pin the nose on the pumpkin, and mummy bowling.

One of our other features of the night was the West Side Village of Body Parts that was constructed by our members under the direct supervision of our Theme Coordinator, Laura Reyes.  It is here where members had the chance to put their hand into the opening of each house and had to guess the body parts for a chance to win some candy.

While our guests played carnival games, we served freshly popped popcorn to our guests.  Around 5:30 pm, we announced that a spooky dinner would be served in the cafeteria.  Once our guests were seated we served hot dogs and macaroni and cheese to approximately 200 families.

After dinner was finished, our guests had the chance to play Super Bingo for prizes and even have their fortune read by Miss Samantha, our fortune teller.  Special coupons were raffled off to guests for a free s'more that they could redeem on the outside patio.

I would like to extend a heart felt thank you to all of the people who made candy donations, as well as all the volunteers who came to help us run our carnival games.  We could not have done this without you!

Below is a video presentation of our wondereful event!

Lights On Afterschool Celebration

In partnership with the After School Alliance, the Al Lenzmeier West Side Boys & Girls Club participated in the Lights On Afterschool Celebration October 23rd from 4-6 pm.

Members had the chance to visit the Girl Scouts of America informational booth and learn how they can have their very own Girl Scouts troop at the club.

Members were also busy practicing their Thanksgiving Play Production in the STARS room.  The play will take place at our Thanksgiving Dinner and Awards Ceremony on November 25th.  There are eighteen members who have joined this club and they meet twice a week.  Members have the opportunity to have active roles in the play, work on set and prop design, or costume design.

We also had our Power Hour and Goals for Graduation programs in session.  These programs run from 3:00-5:00 pm daily where members complete their homework and get free tutoring help.  Once their homework is completed, members had the chance to participate in additional, engaging literacy stations. Members worked on creating their own colorful light bulb that stated the most important program they participated in while at the club.  They also worked on their math skills.  Members had the choice between completing a color by addition assignment or practicing their fractions by charting their own name.

Teens were busy signing their Pledge to Graduate From High School through the Taco Bell Initiative and the Keystone Leadership Group ran their weekly meeting where they disscussed how to improve monthly Teen Nights, upcoming Keystone elections scheduled for November 5th, and looked at ways that they can give back to our community.

The Athletic Director, Rudy Lugo, also had the end of the season soccer championship tournament taking place in the gym.  While the games were in session, members of our Keystone ran the concession stand selling snacks and Powerade to the participants and guests.

Overall, it was another successful day at the club.  If you do not have a membership, please come down and see what we have to offer youth after school.  The opportunities are endless.

Free Guitar Lessons for Teens

We are fortunate to have a volunteer who has graciously donated her time and talent in teaching our teens how to play guitar.  Each week on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 6-7 pm, teens will be given introductory guitar lessons.  We had six participants this week and we look forward to having them perform at our Thanksgiving Dinner and Awards Ceremony on November 25th.

Bell Choir Rehearsal

Every week, our members have the chance to participate in the bell choir.  Augustana Church has generously donated bells for our bell choir and have been volunteering their time teaching our members the bells.  This is their second rehearsal and are preparing for their first performance at our Thanksgiving Dinner and Awards Ceremony on November 25th.

The Marshmallow Challenge

Members were given 20 pieces of spaghetti, a yard of string and some tape and were told to make the tallest structure in a limited amount of time.  Members worked hard with their teams to figure out how to do this and were very engaged in this activity.  Thank you, Samanatha Hausker, our Education Director for facilitating this woncerful STEM activity.

Creating our Halloween Village

As our Halloween Carnival Party approaches, our members, under the direct supervision of our Theme Coordinator, Laura Reyes, have been busy constructing our West Side Village which will be on display outside of the club where all members can trick or treat.  The villages are coming together very nicely.  Great job members!

Keystone Environmental Field Trip

Today our Keystone Leadership Crew had the opportunity to learn about environmentalism and careers while spending time at the Trout Brook Nature Sanctuary. They learned about the history of this land and the activism that took place by environmentalists and public law makers to advocate against making this a public dumping site.

Once they learned about the history, they went geocaching to learn about environmental issues specific to this  area.  When they finished, they reconvened as a whole group and shared what they learned.

Next, the Keystone Crew put on goggles, gloves and grabbed saws to help get rid of the buck thorn in the area.  They then had the privilege to speak to a few people who work in the field and learn from them what careers are available in the field.

Thank you to Excel Energy and Great River Greening for taking the time to make this field trip so meaningful and feeding us subway.

Meet Our Right Track Junior Staff Member, Lupe Tovalin

We have had the great opportunity to employ one of our West Side Club members through the school year. We have been able to give one member a paid position through the city of Saint Paul's Right Track Program.

Lupe Tovalin is a sophomore at Humboldt Senior High and is a role model for others at his school as well as at our West Side Club.  Lupe was employed through the Right Track program this summer and worked for Youth Farm.

Lupe has been coming to the club ever since he was a little kid and most days is the first one to make it to the club when school is released each day.  He currently has a 4.0 grade point average and is number 1 out of 210 students in his graduating class.  He is taking several accelerated classes at Humboldt High school and has one AP Human Geography class this fall.  In November, Lupe willl be playing basketball for Humboldt Senior High.

His dedication to the club does not go unnoticed.  Lupe is always willing to volunteer his time in service of the club in any way he can.  He helps younger members with homework, serves dinner, and helps with light maintinance around the club.

Lupe is also involved in several of the programs we offer at the club.  Lupe is a member of our Keystone Leadership Committee who plan all teen nights and service learning projects within the community each month.  He is currently in our Passport to Manhood program and has recently completed our Career Launch Program as well.

It is because of his dedication to the club, that we have chosen him as our Junior Staff at the club this fall.  Keep up the good work, Lupe.  We are proud of you!

Our Smart Girls Program

Every Monday and Wednesday from 5:30-6:30 pm, our female members aged 13-18 have the opportunity to participate in our Smart Girls program run by our Education Director, Samantha Hausker.  Each week girls discuss topics on the effects of bullying, how to become an upstander instead of a bystander, the importance of living healthy, and how to make good decisions.

If you are a female member aged 13-18, please check out this program!

Volunteers from Affinity Plus Credit Union

We had the privilege of having one of our banks on the West Side, Affinity Credit Union, come and visit us on October 13 from 2:00-6:00 pm.  These six volunteers helped members with their homework as well as created appreciation cards with our members stressing the importance of doing random acts of kindness for others.

The Affinity Credit Union volunteers followed this up by helping our cook in the kitchen with the daily dinner and even passed out Dairy Queen treats to all members.  Thank you, Affinity Credit Union for taking the time to impact our members.  It was greatly appreciated, and we hope to see you all again soon!

Creating Art Families with Laura Reyes

Last week, members had the chance to create art families in the art room with our Theme Coordinator, Laura Reyes.  Members used their creativity in creating these families and had a lot of fun doing these.  Members used their imaginations in creating these people and even created the clothes they were wearing.  If you are in the club, please check these out.  They are hanging up in the multi-purpose room.

Members Creating Halloween Crafts

This past week, under the supervision of our STARS Coordinator, Teria Masterjohn and Samantha Hausker, our Education Director, members had the opportunity to make several different Halloween crafts to decorate our club and get us in the spirit of Hallowen.

Members had the chance to make ghosts.  Members were given a paper plate and decorated this by making a face for their ghost.  They then were able to take tissue paper and make the body of their ghosts.

The next craft choice was to make a skeleton.  The skeleton body was created by using q-tips for bones and gluing these onto a piece of black construction paper.

The members really enjoyed this activity.  Above are some pictures with members and their craft creations.

For The Kids Fundraising Gala

This past weekend all of the staff of the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities spent the evening at our For The Kids Fundraising Gala.  The night began with a silent auction where those who attended, had the chance to bid on several auction items.  The auction items consisted of themed auction baskets centered around sports and fitness, pampering items, items for kids and family, food, wine and chances to sponsor a member at our Voyageur Camp in the summer.

Those in attendance also had the chance to bid on a fully loaded 2014 Indian motorcycle as one of the special featured items.

Once the silent auction was done, attendees had a wonderful dinner and enjoyed entertainment by the Sevilles and some of our Twin Cities Club Kids.  We followed this up with a live auction that included travel packages to different destinations.

Thank you to all who supported the Twin Cities Boys and Girls Clubs by making their donations. These contributions are crucial to the operations of our clubs throughout the school year.

Join Us For Our Halloween Celebration!

Please come and join us in our annual Halloween Celebration Thursday, October 30th from 3-5:30 pm at the West Side Boys and Girls Club.  We will be running several Halloween themed carnival games such as the witch hat ring toss, mummy bowling, Halloween bingo, and bean bag toss for prizes.

We will also be creating our West Side Village in the field where members can come and do some trick or treating as well as eat a Halloween themed dinner.

Free Guitar Lessons

Interested in learning to play guitar and you are a teen between 13-18 years old?  We are offering free guitar lessons by our volunteer Meng Xiong who has seven years experience.  Please come and speak to Crystal Bieter, the Program Director if interested.

Camp CAMERA

Camp CAMERA, in partnership with the West Side Boys and Girls Club and Macalester College is in their third week of their nine week sessions empowering girls through the art of photography.  This week, the girls and the Macalester college interns went on a nature hike from Macalester that led them to the historic Summit Avenue and ended up down at the Mississippi River.  Along the hike, the girls took pictures of nature and portraits of people practicing the techniques that they have learned in class.

Once their pictures were taken, we shared these in whole group and discussed the techniques they used to capture each photograph.  Great sessions for all who participated.  Looking forward to next week.

Calling All Teens...

West Side Boys and Girls Club, with the help of our Keystone Leadership Committee have planned their first monthly Teen Night.  October 17th from 6 pm-9pm we have tournaments planned in volleyball and basketball for all teens that choose to participate.  Food will be provided.

Not a member?  Recruit your friends to come to the club and get a membership for the reduced rate of $2.00 and check out what we have to offer.

October Staff of the Month

Our October Staff of the Month is our membership secretary, Deb Kinsel. Her dedication and commitment to the club does not go unnoticed.  She is the first face anyone sees as they enter the club and has a great rapport with staff, members and parents.  

Being a Westsider for the past 35 years, she understands the importance of community involvement and has proven herself to be a great leader.

She is hard working and dedicated to making sure that all of our data is entered in a timely fashion, and does an excellent job recruiting members for their stay at Voyageur Camp in the summer. Keep up the great work, Deb.  You are greatly appreciated!

October Volunteer of the Month

Brad has been coming to the club ever since he was eight years old. He was the first club kid to complete all of the Tiger basketball leagues here at the West Side Boys and Girls Club.  

He was an active club member who understands the impact the club can have on youth and has become one of our most reliable and trusted volunteers. He has coached several of our sports leagues here at the club and is currently our STARS soccer coach.  

No matter what we need, if it is candy for Halloween or school supplies, he always makes sure that we receive the donations to help our programs and members succeed. 

Thank you, Brad for your hard work and dedication to our youth! We greatly appreciate you.

October Volunteer of the Month

Barry has been volunteering with the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities for nearly ten years. His first experience was through Augsburg where he was involved in service learning as a college student.  

Once he graduated from college, Barry continued his volunteerism.  His first volunteer opportunity brought him to the Jack Cornelius Club in North Minneapolis.  From there, he volunteered at the South Side Village as well as our Jerry Gamble Branch, and is now making an impact at the West Side Boys and Girls Club.

Throughout his tenure of service, Barry has been one of our most dedicated and trusted volunteers who truly understands the impact one person can make in the lives of youth.  He has coached several of our sports leagues including floor hockey, basketball and soccer and even mentors specific youth throughout the year.

Barry has also written several grants for our organization that have allowed our members to prosper in our athletic programs as well as in music exploration.

It is people like Barry that make a lasting impression on our youth and make the difference in our organization.  Thank you for your constant support and impact on our kids.  We appreciate everything you do!

October Members of the Month

Ethan O’Neal

Eathan O’Neal has been a club member since this past summer. He is an active member in the STARS room and attends the program almost every day. Eathan is always eager to get involved in whatever activity we have planned each day although he is especially fond of computer time where he plays his favorite game, Minecraft. He always enters and leaves the building with a smile on his face and his positive attitude is uplifting to both the staff and his peers. Eathan is a 1st grader this year at Monroe Elementary. His goal for this school year is to learn to count to 100 and he is always excited about practicing to achieve this! We are delighted to have him here as a member at our West Side Boys and Girls Club.

Emma Hall

Emma Hall is an amazing member of the STARS Program. She comes each day, excited to be here to learn and play with the other club members. She has been a leader in the STARS room and is always the first to offer any help, whether it be to another member on their homework or cleaning up around the club. Emma comes each day and takes out her homework without being asked and gets right to it! She is doing well in school this year and has been excelling in spelling. She follows directions easily and is extremely polite. Emma is a joy to have around and role model for the younger members of our club!

Alex Taylor
Alex Taylor has been doing a wonderful job in the education room. He participates in Power Hour every day. As soon as he comes to the club, he pulls his homework out and completes it right away. Alex is very smart and asks for help with his homework when he needs it. He is very focused and driven to achieve high remarks in school. He also participates in the activities we have going on in the room. He devised his own healthy meal, containing all the requirements according to the Choose My Plate guidelines. Alex is a wonderful joy to have in the education room and his drive for success encourages other members in the club to be successful as well.

Giovanni Alonso
Gio is a wonderful addition to have in the education room. This past week he has been working on his packet of homework every day, working to complete it. Gio also does extra sheets of homework during Power Hour to get ahead of his homework schedule. He earns tickets to win a bike every day and works hard, while having fun to earn them. Recently he devised a healthy meal, according to the Choose My Plate guidelines. The other day he completed an activity where he had to create his own monster, Clumsy. He came up with details about the monsters living habits and behaviors. Gio has been working  very hard in the education room and doing a great job.

Local Rapper Visits Our Club

Yesterday we had the privilege to have a local Minneapolis musician from the University of MN come to our club.  Local rapper Shawn Lyricz came to share his music, pass out CD's and teach members about the process of making music.  Thank you for taking the time to come and see us!

Camp CAMERA

Today was our second week of Camp CAMERA at Macalester College.  The female members learned some photogaphy techniques and then took their cameras out around campus applying the techniques they learned.

Once their photos were taken, these pictures were uploaded onto the projector where the group shared what they liked about each photo.  After eating pizza, they passed around a beach ball that had different questions on it.  If you caught the ball, wherever your right thumb was placed was the question you needed to answer.  This was a great get to know you activity and end to our session.

Thank you to Max Guttman, our volunteer student coordinator at Macalester, and your dedicated college students who volunteer their time to make an impact on youth.

Wanted: Halloween Candy Donations

In preparation of our annual Halloween Party at the West Side Boys and Girls Club, we are looking for people or organizations that are willing to donate candy to our club.  This has always been a popular event with 300-500 people coming through our doors for a night of fun that includes trick or treating and a haunted house.

Please clik on the link for access to the donation letter: Donation Letter

If you or your organization is able to donate candy to our club, please let us know.  We appreciate it very much!

Bike Raffles for Academics

This month, we have been continuing our Bikes for Academic Success at the West Side Boys and Girls Club.  To be eligible for the Friday Bike Falle, members in the Education Center and the STARS room who complete their homework each week, receive a ticket for a chance to win a brand new bike.

Congratulations to our weekly winners: Jaylynn, Christina and Mario.  Keep up your hard work and dedication to your academics!

Camp CAMERA's First Meeting

Yesterday marks the first day of our nine week session of Camp CAMERA in partnership with Macalester College.  The members were very excited for this opportunity to start, so yesterday was filled with much anticipation.

We arrived at Macalester College around 4 pm at the Janet Wallace Fine Arts Building and were given a short tour of the campus.  Once completed, members met up with the college service intern, Max Guttman, and four other college volunteers to start the program.

In the beginning, they played a couple get to know you activities and asked the girls what they hoped to gain from this experience.  Many of our girls stated specific photography techniques they would like to learn, and all stated that they were excited in using photography for a medium to empower women and evoke a message.

Once the discusion was done, the girls split up into groups and took pictures on campus.  They then put these pictures on the projector screen and analyzed the different techniques used.

Great first day of Camp CAMERA and we look forward to next week!

Thank you, Bill Morrissey for your Generous Donation.

Yesterday at the West Side Boys and Girls Club we had the privilege to spend part of the day with Bill Morrissey, the owner and operator of Morrissey Hospitality House.  As Mr. Morrissey toured the facility and helped members with their homework, he made sure every member received a cookie.

More than that, we are appreciative of his continued support of our West Side Boys and Girls Club and dedication to the West Side Community.  We appreciate your willingness to come and visit us yesterday and present us with a generous monetary donation.  It is because of people like you that we are able to provide all of the programs and support to our members.  Thank you again, and please come and visit us soon!

Thank you, Olive Garden!

Today our members and staff had the privilege of being served Olive Garden for our dinner from the Maplewood Branch.  Olive Garden brought breadsticks, salad, and pasta to over 70 members today for dinner.

Thank you, Olive Garden for taking the time to bring us this wonderful dinner!  We appreciated it very much!

Having Fun in the STARS Room

The STARS members had a great time last week working on their homework during Power Hour as well as creating and building things in the STARS room.

After the members completed their homework, Miss Teria had engaging stations for members to work on.  Some enjoyed cutting out a body of a robot and putting it together, others enjoyed playing the Cootie Game, others enjoyed building things on the light up board, and others spent time working on their reading through our Tumble Books program.

Keep up the good work!

West Side Boys and Girls Club World Wide Day of Play

On September 18th, we participated in our Day of Play sponsored in partnership with Nickelodeon. Our Keystone Leadership Committee helped in running our concession stand for the participants and spectators.

Our members participated in an organized soccer tournament with four soccer teams participating. We also had several members playing football on the fields as well as an indoor flag football tournament that took place in the gym.

Our members had a great day filled with interactive and organized team sports on our fields.  This was a great day of play for those who played and the spectators that had the privilege to watch.   Below is a movie created highlighting our day!

West Side Boys and Girls Club Soccer League

The 2014 fall soccer season started on September 11th, 2014.  We have been lucky to have such a dedicated sports director in Rudy Lugo and dedicated volunteer coaches in both Barry Blomgren and Peter Rhoades.  Thank you for your hard work and dedication to our members. We appreciate it so very much.

The first two games of the season had the West Side Badgers, led by coach Barry Blomgren, taking on the West Side Hawkeyes, by Coach Peter Rhodes.  These two teams battled it out back and forth with great determination and might throughout the whole game.  The two players that stood out as our Key Players of the Game were Bjork Robeson and Luis Aguirre who both proved themselves to have both determination and strength on both sides of the field.  Although the game ended up being a 3-3 tie between the Hawkeyes and the Badgers, neither team ever gave up.

On field two, we had the Wolverines, coached by Rob and the Spartans coached by Rudy Lugo.  The two players that stood out as our Key Players of the Game, would be Uriel Reyes and Antonio Olivares.  Uriel Reyes showed great hustle and speed on both sides of the ball showing his all around athleticism.  Antonio Olivares was both dynamic and charismatic, leading the Spartans to victory with three goals.

Great week of tournament match ups and looking forward to next week!

World Wide Day of Play

On September 18th, the West Side Boys and Girls Club in partnership with Nickelodeon, will be hosting a Day of Play.  This initiative is a whole day dedicated to getting out and being physically fit.  There will be activities planned all day that encourage physical activities that are fun and interactive.  Please join us on this day and play!  Check out these videos and why many people have chosen to play: I Play Because...