To inspire and enable
all young people, especially those
who need us most to reach their full
potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.
From the Executive Director, There’s nothing better than Napa Valley at spring time. This year, spring carries with it more than the normal sense of renewal. This spring, the Napa Valley is fit to burst as we finally stepping beyond the shadow of Covid-19 and back into normalcy. That sense of renewal is propelled by all that we have achieved over the last two years but more, how our work will evolve and grow over the remainder of 2022. The most important news I have to share is our organizational return to normalcy. I am very proud of the work and efforts of staff at all of our sites organizationwide. Throughout the pandemic staff worked very hard to do #WhatEverItTakes to serve youth, but it’s important to note that our operations during this time were anything but normal. That’s all about to change. In concert with Napa Valley Unified School District, the Boys & Girls Club dropped its mask mandates for after-school enrichment. We’ve also officially moved out of cohorts and back to a traditional Club environment. These changes reintroduce Choice into our operations. Members will once again be able to chart their own enrichment path with a field of options to choose from! We’re excited to allow kids the freedom to wander the Club so that they can opt into programs and activities they want to do as opposed to following along with whatever their specific cohort has scheduled. On March 25th, 70 staff, directors, and administrators celebrated this change by engaging in a full day workshop on program basics, orchestration, and updated policies. Many of our staff had not actually participated in a traditional Club environment and so we also set up a mock after school program with staff participating in enrichment activities as members. It was an afternoon filled with Arts, Sciences, Athletics, and among other things fun. Spring is a time of renewal and that energy thrives here at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Napa Valley. Thank you for continuing to support our efforts as we connect Napa Valley’s youth to great futures.
Greg Bouil erce Greg Bouillerce Executive Director
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11: All School Sites: CLOSED 11: NCH & ACC- Open Holiday Hours
11-15: All School Sites: CLOSED 11-15: NCH & ACC- Open Holiday Hours 18: All Sites: Closed for Training
27: All Clubs- Closed (Memorial Day) 30: All Clubs- Closed (Memorial Day)
American Canyon Clubhouse
Napa Clubhouse
The Napa Clubhouse hosted Salesforce for a STEM event. Salesforce volunteered to make robots and marble runs with our members. The members made robots and raced them around the gym.
Pueblo Vista Boys & Girls Club had a campus clean-up for our MLK Day of Service. Kinder-6th members stayed with their cohort groups and walked around campus picking up trash. We were able to fill up 5 bags of trash!
In January, Canyon Oaks members share a valuable connection between what they practice in school and how our program can expand through enrichment activities. For example, Canyon Oaks practiced and displayed celebratory posters of a week of Kindness for the last week of January. Boys & Girls Club, members showed more support with a creative art & crafts activity that showcased Kindness and what says Kindness more than rainbows!
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Check out a full list of programs we offer by following the QR Code to the right or just click:
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For me, as a Club member I am a voice for other youth around me. I make changes and advocate for the things that are important to me and others in my generation. As a Club member, I collaborate and help others. The Club has been the place where I can achieve not only the things that are important to me but also the things that are important to others. The Club is also a place where I invest in myself. I’ll be leaving for college to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Many of the staff have not only offered encouragement in this goal but advice as I weigh opportunities and different ways I could achieve my goals. They help me feel like my goals are not only achievable but that I would be great. That’s a huge confidence booster. The staff that had the most impact on me was a staff named Caleb. Caleb was there during my first year all the way through the middle of seventh grade. He was one of my favorite staff and even went to my baptism. Caleb was one of the most important people in my life, and when he left, you could see all of the students that he had touched at the Clubhouse. He was there if you needed advice about something, and he had awesome activities that we got to do. He also managed a cooking club, which was a lot of fun. I became very close with staff like Jacob, who during my eighth-grade year helped me tackle distance learning. I remember Jacob because he was there every day, and he built good relationships with not only me and my friends but with the whole class. He helped me explore my passion for writing. With him we wrote chapters of a story every week and by the end of the year, we had two stories that we had written and drawn digital art for. These staff are only a couple examples of how important this place has been to me. There was always something to do at the Club. We played gaga every chance we got at the Club. It was just a typical everyday activity that you could choose, but it was always my favorite. I learned to cook at the Club with Caleb. That was a lot of fun and made me discover my love for baking and cooking. During my eighth grade year, I was given the opportunity to participate in the Poetry Slam. This gave me the chance to use my creativity and voice for the first time. The Boys & Girls Club is one of the best places that I have ever been to. It has allowed me to learn and grow as a person along with others my age. I was able to make connections and always had a group of people who were there for me. The Boys and Girls Club really helped me with my self-confidence and how I felt about myself. Today, I feel more confident in myself. If I could choose whether or not I wanted to go to Boys and Girls Club every day, I would choose to go. I not only get social interaction with other peers my age, but I am able to laugh, grow, and make good memories here.
Each year, Club teens participate in local, state, and regional Youth of the Year events. Six teens spoke at the Napa Club’s Youth of the Year on February 3rd with Azhley Gonzalez being named the organizations overall 2022 Youth of the Year. Her story of growing up in Napa in an inconsistent and sometimes absent household resonated with the event’s judges who watched her own her story through lessons and guidance found at the Club. Azhley is now a graduate and hopes to pursue her personal and professional goals here in Napa Valley, but she’ll always be a Club kid at heart. Youth of the Year is one of our favorite events and you can check out the highlights! Just watch the video below!
We need local industry professionals to share their experience as mentors, panelists for teen Q&A discussions, and to help us set up local internships for our youth. Are you ready, as a professional, to get involved at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Napa Valley?! Sign up as a volunteer
by following the QR Code to the right or just click:
!
This month we got to sit down with Charlie Posadas a Boys & Girls Club Member at the Canyon Oaks Elementary School Site. Charlie started coming to the Club in Kindergarten. She loves our sports programs, but she’s also an example of what happens when Club staff care and push kids to step outside of their comfort zone to try something new. That’s the primary job of a staff; to embrace kids as they are and push them to be more. Here’s what Charlie has to say about her time at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Napa Valley!
Are you ready to learn more about our success stories and impact? Dive into everything from Impact reports to member testimonials on our website! Just follow the QR Code to the right or click:
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Teens are a difficult group to navigate because they need space to explore and be themselves but they also need to be confronted with new opportunities and concepts. It’s a delicate balance and that’s why we were so thrilled when one of our teens mentioned they wanted to start a Tee-Shirt business. The result of that conversation was a full blow screen printing course with over 20 Club 1515 members making their own designs and applying them to shirts, bags, and other mediums! Watch Kyle, Club 1515 Member, walk us through the program and how screen printing works at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Napa Valley!
We need local industry professionals to share their experience as mentors, panelists for teen Q&A discussions, and to help us set up local internships for our youth. Are you ready, as a professional, to get involved at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Napa Valley?! Sign up as a volunteer by following the QR Code to the right or just click:
!
At its March 17th school board meeting, the Napa Valley Unified School District approved a landmark agreement with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Napa Valley which will allow us, in partnership with Napa County Office of Education, and others to provide 2,800 Napa and American Canyon children with six-weeks of full day summer enrichment and to provide access to these programs free of charge. “We are so excited by this opportunity because the impact of this level of service to the children of Napa and American Canyon will be felt in every facet of the Napa Valley community,” says Greg Bouillerce, the Club’s Executive Director. Summer Camps are a core, but largely unknown, aspect of the Napa and American Canyon Club experience. “It’s always surprising to me when people are unaware of what their kids could be accessing if they were enrolled in Summer Camp,” continued Bouillerce. With over 75 years of experience in Napa Valley the Boys & Girls Clubs have Summer camps down to a science. Routine’s are critical for kids and so we use a regular structure so that they always know what to expect. That structure also offers a lot of room for flexibility so that kids are eager to see what might be in store. With so many Napa Valley kids fixated on screens and technology, it’s critically important to put kids in situations that challenge them to build relationships through tangible and engaging experience with peers and mentors. With that in mind, when you walk into our programs this summer you’re going to find kids doing art, playing sports, and singing camp songs. “If kids are going home dirty, tired and with a smile, it means we’re doing our job,“ concluded Bouillerce. While most of these programs will take place at NVUSD School locations the Club will also create experiences for kids outside of Napa Valley. Field trips to the Exploratorium, Major League Ball Games, and the redwoods are staples of the Clubs Summer Camp programs. These expanded learning opportunities are transformative and that’s what makes the Clubs work so vital. It’s easy to mistake the Clubs programs as good intentioned fun, but there’s a lot more going on for those who care to look deeper. We use fun as a vehicle for growth and engagement. Yes, we’re doing arts & crafts, but we’re also using this time to talk about emotional health and creating safe spaces for kids to explore difficult subjects and how they feel
about them. Yes, we’re doing sports, but we’re also teaching kids about the importance of teamwork and how to learn through failure. When you walk by our sites, you’re going to hear singing and skits but we’re also teaching kids what it means to be a part of a community of care and joy. That’s the hidden and tangible magic that we get to inject into these summer camps and how fortunate that this expanded partnership comes at a time when these lessons and opportunities are desperately needed. The scale of this effort is herculean by comparison to previous summers and so the Club is actively hiring to fill over 100 summer staff positions. When it comes to the success of our programs there is nothing more important than the person wearing the staff shirt. The Club is upping the ante by increasing its starting wage and offering a very competitive hiring and summer bonus structure to ensure that the summer experience at the Club is an absolute blast! We need artists, athletes, musicians, scientists, DIYers and cheerleaders. This is a great opportunity for people looking to offset hours in the hospitality sector. If you or someone you know is looking for a part time, full time, temp or full blown career opportunities there has never been a better time to get involved with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Napa Valley!
Ivory started at the Club in 2019 at our Willow Elementary School program, where she also serves as an NVUSD Art Teacher. The Club environment resonates with teachers who frequently become staff as it allows them to reach kids without the standardized constraints of a school environment. “At the Club I have the artistic freedom to reach out to kids where they are. I get to approach art with them on a personal level. What emotion can I pull from you? What secret talent is hidden in your work? Teaching art at the Club is a journey and that makes the experience so much more powerful because it can lead anywhere.
Want to learn more about the staff and board members who make all this possible? Dive into our “About Us” section and check out the history of our organization on our website! Just follow the QR Code to the right or click: !
At its core, the Club’s primary vehicle for impact can be found in the relationships between youth and staff. There is nothing more important than the quality of the person who works directly with our kids. The Club announced that we’re issued another dramatic expansion in entry level pay with Program Staff making between 18 and 20 dollars an hour and up to $2,000 in bonuses available to staff through July. We believe strongly that this work is vital, and we’re going to do everything we can to incentivize staff pay because that’s what the superhero's who choose to wear a staff shirt deserve.
Want to learn more about career opportunities at the Club? Dive into our “Join Our Team” section and review available positions! Just follow the QR Code to the right or click:
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We live in an incredible place, but at the same time the people who live here often exist on very different extremes with regard to prosperity. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Napa Valley is a non-profit, not a public agency and although we receive state and federal funding in the form of grants we rely on local support from individual donors, businesses and foundations to continue our work.
Your donations helps address key equity deficits within our communities. Napa has been no stranger to Crisis. When evacuees from wildfires came to Napa, we were there for kids so that parents could figure out their next steps. When PG&E instituted PSPS days, the Club was there to ensure kids had a place to go. When smoke made it impossible for kids to run and play outside we secured air scrubbers and upgraded our ventilation systems to save parents who struggled to contain the boundless energy of idle children. When the pandemic shuttered schools, we expanded our hours to include the footprint of school and afterschool. Donations keep us prepared and nimble to serve our community in times of calm and/or crisis, but that flexibility is expensive. Crisis aside, investing in the Club drives the future of our community. While it’s easy to demonstrate this with data, metrics don’t always capture the small business owners who got their start in junior achievement or the graphic designers who experimented with photography in our digital arts programs. Data doesn’t capture the empathy and care we invest into tomorrows adults as they realize their potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.
Our work is not done, but with your support we will continue to be there when it matters. If you’re in a place of plenty, please consider making a donation.
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