Our Annual Member Recognition and Thanksgiving Dinner Celebration

Our Annual Member Recognition and Thanksgiving Dinner Celebration was another great success this year.  I would like to take the time to thank the 50 Augustana Lutheran Church volunteers for their donation of their time in preparation for this event as well as donating the abundant meal that fed 200 members and families that came to celebrate with us this evening.  Without their passion and dedication to our club, we would not be able to have this kind of impact on our community and those we serve on a daily basis.

I would like to also thank the Police Chief Tom Smith and his wife Cathy Smith for being our guest speakers for the evening.  Although the Police Chief was unable to make it, he wrote a speech and had his wife present it.   Cathy Smith has had a great impact on our West Side Community with her contribution to women's athletics.  Thank you for donating your time to make sure that our young female athletes find success in both softball and volleyball every season.  You are a great role model for them to aspire to.

We are pleased to announce that we served approximately 200 people at our event again this year. Further, our members were able to be recognized for their club accomplishments in the areas of athletics, leadership, citizenship and academics.

We had special performances by our bell choir as well as introduction and recognition for our STARS Reading Program.  We are pleased to report that in quarter one of the 35 STARS assessed they have increased their sight words by 30 percent.  A special thanks to Geno, Shadae, Che'la, Daniel, Aiden and Adrian who read two Thanksgiving poems that showcased their reading abilities.

We ended the evening by raffling off some of our Al Lenzmeier West Side Boys & Girls Club Parent Sweatshirts and played turkey bingo for a chance to win a turkey for our families.

Thanks to all the staff for their hard work and dedication and to our families for allowing us the privilege to educate and shape each and every one of hem into productive, responsible citizens!

Please click on the following link to watch our Thanksgiving video: Thanksgiving Video

Academic Incentive Program

The STARS collected $573.50 Club Cash for the month of October and had 83 members participating.  The Education Room collected $488 and had 77 members participating. 

This means that the STARS have completed 1146 activities and the Education Room has completed 976 activities, for a total of 2122 activities, homework assignments, and volunteer hours.  Keep up the great work members and staff!

Save the Date!

Please save the date for the Annual Thanksgiving Dinner and Member Recognition Evening.  We look forward to see  you all at our location for food, member recognition and Thanksgiving Poems read by our STARS reading group.

Halloween STEM Project

Since the day we were celebrating Halloween at the club this year fell on a school release day, we had several fun Halloween themed activities that members could participate in. In the STARS Room, members could create the Day of the Dead masks and watch Goosebumps. In the Education Room, members had the chance to play Halloween Bingo for prizes and followed that up with a Halloween Candy STEM Project. For the Halloween Candy STEM Project, members had to learn what the word acidity meant and then apply that knowledge to making predictions about which Halloween Candy had the most acidity. Members chose from Lemon Heads, Nerds, Sour Patch Kids, Gummy Bears, and Sour Watermelon Candy. They first needed to soak the candy in plain water for a bit to take of the first layer of candy coating. They then proceeded to put baking soda in the water and watched to see the reaction. The more bubbles rising to the surface meant that the candy was more acidic than the others. The winners were the lemon heads and the Nerds.

Our Annual Halloween Party

 Our Annual Halloween Party was a success again this year, serving 200 members, families and guests within the community. Our guests had the chance to play several games that were set up in the gym and receive candy. Some of those games included a basketball shoot out, the witch hat toss, a duck pond, the clown bean bag toss and much, much more.

 Within the gym, our guests could also enjoy dinner, popcorn and conversation with one another. The highlight of the evening was definitely our Haunted House. The Haunted House took several days to complete and I would like to give a special thanks to our Event Coordinator, Laura Reyes, and her family who spent days creating this special attraction from start to finish. When you first walked through our Haunted Maze, you were greeted by a masked gentleman who would be your guide. He brought members through the haunted graveyard, then through the walking dead zombie sight to the scary clown exhibit. Thanks to all of the people who came out to celebrate with us this year and we hope to see you next year!

Please feel free to watch our Halloween Video here: Halloween Video