It Just Takes One Newsletter   - February 2015
Enabling & Inspiring Youth to Reach Their Full Potential in a Safe and Nurturing Environment.
                                                                                                                                        Great Futures
It Just Takes One
Joselin Martinez Wins State Youth of the Year Honor 
Front Row L-R: Karen Stuckey, Board President; Ashley Scaggs, Character & Leadership Coor.; Joselin Martinez, Youth of the Year; Jacob Hutson, CPO; Pat Kunnecke, Board Member. Back Row: Todd Huff, Rogers Unit Dir.; Nick Flint, Board V.P.; Kevin Crow, Operations Dir.
We are so very proud of Joselin! She competed with youth from Boys & Girls Clubs throughout the State of Arkansas to win the honor of being named the 2015 State Youth of the Year.  The honor comes with a $5,000 scholarship from BGCA and a $2,000 scholarship from the Arkansas Area Council.  Joselin has plans to study to be a pediatric nurse.  Joselin has overcome hardships but she says, "through helping other people and developing relationships with the staff at the Club, I was able to help myself...." She will now move on to compete at the regional  competition.
Torch Club "Gifts for Guatemala" Project

50 Torch Club members raised money, collected toys, and purchased some essentials food items to send to Nuevo Santo Domingo, Guatemala.  This is an extension of a prior year Keystone Club project that helped the people of the village install safe cooking stoves in their homes.  Joe Walenciak, a JBU professor, makes the trip to Guatemala 6 times a year and delivered the goods. The Torch Club wanted to find a way to help these kids who live on an old dump site and help their parents collect trash to make goods to sell in order to survive. Over 500 small toys that could fit in their pockets, such as hot wheels and Barbie Dolls, were collected and sent along with 252 bags of rice. The project was called Gifts to Guatemala and fit-in with the Torch Club's overall theme of practicing kindness in the home, at school, in the Club, in the community, and in the world.   Professor Walenciak said that many of the girls were from a local orphanage and had never received a toy.  They were in such awe that the entire time his team was there he said, "they just brushed the dolls hair over and over again" 
Boys & Girls Club Wins Master Vendors Tourney     

Bella Vista Unit Program Director (right), Josh Johnson; his grandmother, Joan Johnson (Center); and Chris Mattler, Program Director at the HLM Teen Center (Left) won first place in the inaugural charity bowling tournament, sponsored by Vendor Masters.  Local nonprofits and charities from around Northwest Arkansas were invited to participate in the tournament. The 1st place prize of $500 will be split between the Bella Vista, and HLM Keystone Clubs.  Way to go team.  Congratulate Chris HERE and Josh HERE.
Rogers Youth Build Rockets
 
 During a STEM activity at our Rogers Unit, students learn about rocket propulsion as part of the Arkansas Out of School Network Space Grant Consortium program. During this activity, the kids build a small rocket that takes off and rises as high as 10-15 feet into the air, using water and Alka-Seltzer for the chemical reaction.  Kids not only learned about propulsion, but the project was a "blast"!    

The Bella Vista Pickle Ball Club takes time out of their busy schedule to teach kids Pickle Ball every Tuesday afternoon at the Bella Vista Unit. According to Club Director Kyle Meredith "the kids have really enjoyed learning a new game and have gotten much better at the game and have sharpened their skills."

 

Rogers "Space" Coloring Contest Winners

As part of the Arkansas Out of School Network Space Grant Consortium program, the Rogers Unit kids competed in a Discover Aeronautics and Space coloring contest.  Winners were (from left to right) Julio Martinez, Penelope Martinez, and Emanuel Guardado.   
HLM Teen Center "Great Egg Drop"
Teens are challenged to build a capsule in which an egg can survive a drop of twenty feet without breaking.  Some of the attempts met with great success, while others were a messy failure.  Everyone had a great time while using critical thinking skills to meet a challenge. Terry Gracy, the Academic Success Director commented that "A couple of students designed parachutes out of the plastic sacks and their egg floated gently to the ground, unbroken. Then, several more kids picked-up on the idea and also got their eggs to land softly... a great learning experience."  View "Great Egg Drop" video HERE
2015 Youth of the Year Celebration  

Register HERE Online 
Date: Thursday, April 2, 2015 
Time: 6:30 pm 

Location: John Q Hammons Center

Join us and celebrate our Boys & Girls Club superhero Youth of the Year. Outstanding youth from each facility that were chosen Youth of the Month in 2014 will also be recognized. Youth of the Year is the highest honor a Boys & Girls Club member can receive. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to a member's family, school, community, and Boys & Girls Club. The Youth of the Year has overcome personal challenges and yet excelled in school and personal achievement.
Presented by:


Shauna Collins Named Co-President 
Shauna Collins left a volunteer position as President of SOURCE Nashville, a music industry networking organization, to take the Development Director position at the Boys & Girls Club. Source invited her to continue as Co-President of SOURCE in 2015 alongside VP, now Co-President, Wendi Crosby.   Congratulate Shauna HERE.  


The Boys & Girls Club of Benton County is a

Agency


DEVELOPING HEALTHY CHILDREN 
WHO ARE SUCCESSFUL IN SCHOOL &
MAKE POSITIVE LIFE CHOICES

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