Last weekend, a group of Club teens and staff held a planning session for the 2010 African American Teen Male Summit (see picture at top). This regional summit will be held at UMKC next June. In addition to our Kansas City sites, youth and staff members from Gary, IN, Champaign, IL, Chicago, IL and Milwaukee, WI came to help in the planning.
The Clubs recently participated in Lights On Afterschool, a nationwide rally for afterschool programming. In Kansas City, Club youth came together in a rally and march around the neighborhoods (see picture at left) to promote the Club programs that keep kids safe, inspire them to learn and help working families. The Clubs are proud to participate in Lights On events every year.
On Friday, October 23, the Clubs celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with a special evening at the Thornberry Unit. Youth from all sites enjoyed a home-cooked Latino dinner provided by food service coordinator Abigal Marquez, and celebrated Hispanic heritage with games, entertainment, trivia and more.
Former Kansas City Chiefs player Deron Cherry hosted the Time Warner Fall Classic Golf Tournament on October 20 at Loch Lloyd Country Club. The Clubs' Dreams to Reality Capital Campaign (JD Wagner Unit project) was the beneficiary of the proceeds from this tournament. Thanks to all those who hit the links for our kids!
From October 14-16, Regional & National Storytellers returned to the Clubs once again to share tales and tell collective stories with our members and staff. These storytellers thrive on "youth storytelling" and even invited some Club youth to participate with them. These storytellers brought a wide variety of entertainment to our Clubs and tales ran from animal rhymes and ghost stories to folktales and slavery stories.
On October 14, players from the Mid-America Nazarene University volleyball team came to the Thornberry Unit and held a volleyball clinic for Club members. The youth spent the afternoon learning fundamentals of the game and got plenty of opportunities to practice their serves! In addition, after the clinic, Club staff took on the MNU players in a game for the kids.
Keystone Club members at the Hawthorne and Leslie Units hosted an all-you-can-eat pancake dinner on October 16 as part of "Take a Stand", a national campaign sponsored by Taco Bell Foundation for Teens aimed at bringing awareness to and fighting poverty locally and internationally. There were live performances from Club members and brief service announcements giving facts and statistics regarding poverty and the homeless in our country. All proceeds from the event benefited the Salvation Army Cross Road Shelter in Independence, MO. Thanks to all who supported our teens!
Track & Field Clinic - October 31
