Program Recap - Dirk Hudson
John Wilson in Boys and Girls Club Confronts The Covid Pandemic.
Our program addresses the impact on children during the Pandemic. We could have no better speaker on this subject than one who was not only Arcadia Rotary’s 2019-2020 President, but who also serves as the Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club of the Foothills, headquartered in our neighboring city of Monrovia, John Wilson. The mission of the Boys and Girls Club of the Foothills is “to enable all young people, especially those most in need, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, and responsible citizens.”
The Boys and Girls Club of the Foothills was the only youth-serving organization in the area to stay open during the pandemic, its motto being “Whatever it Takes.” Nevertheless, effects of COVID hit the kids and families of Boys and Girls Club hard, making it especially difficult.
Phase One - The Club was able to provide its families with food, hygiene kits, care packages, school supplies, program supplies, note cards, virtual programs, and virtual tutoring. In the 5 months following the start of the shutdown, they provided
900+ Virtual Program Sessions, 400 Wellness Checks, 275 Care Packages, and 300+ Hours of Online Tutoring. In addition, the Club was able to maintain relationships with kids and families by hosting a staff car parade, by celebrating graduates, and by going to homes and playing fun/safe games.
In June, 2020, for nine weeks the club returned to in-person programs for children of responders and essential workers, providing 10 “pods” for 120 “Pod Squad” members running all day programs while continuing to provide virtual programs for kids unable to attend in person.
Phase Two During the school year the Club provided a location and support to kids/teens who needed a safe and structured environment to do in-person remote learning at three locations (including a school site). They provided 10 remote learning “pods” for 160 “Pod Squad” members for the full 2020-2021 school year from 8am-6pm, 5 days a week.
Summer, 2021 started with a “summer brain gain” program at “Camp Read-a-Lot”, using a curriculum developed by a teacher of the Monrovia Unified School District. The program had a strong reading and writing focus to bring struggling students up to grade level.
Phase 3 Under the club’s value of doing “Whatever it Takes’, for the nine weeks of Summer,2021, the club opened 16 “pods” serving 225 members full day during the summer months. Additionally, they partnered with Monrovia Unified School District and helped the district expand their summer learning program by running an intensive reading program on two school campuses, tripling the number of students who were able to be served.
John Wilson concluded his remarks by “Looking Ahead” towards the future of the Boys and Girls Club of the Foothills, including the following:
1. They’ve been able to return to the more traditional after-school program in which the average daily attendance is currently around 250 children;
2. They are looking to partnering with “Monrovia Reads” and Monrovia Library to develop a tutoring and reading program;
3. Working with 13 other Boys and Girls Clubs in LA County on a pilot program for teen social and emotional health;
4. Meanwhile, continuing to keep eyes open and alert so as to adapt to any new challenges, should any come along.
Announcement: December 4, 2021 will be the date of the Boys & Girls Club’s fund-raising event called “Festival of Trees” located at the Annandale Country Club in Pasadena.
Overall, this talk served as a stirring example of a Rotarian whose life is “putting service above self’ – the focus being on the next generation, with particular emphasis on youth with educational difficulties.
