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Thursday, May 24, 2007
School’s out. What can a young, unsupervised person do?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You’ve probably seen the commercials of famous folk praising the Boys & Girls Club of America.
Denzel Washington, Derek Jeter, and other club alumni.
Well, I’ve met someone who should star in a commercial. It’s Desmond Brown, the executive director of the A. Worley Brown Boys & Girls Club in Norcross.
He can attest to the club’s merits, the impact it had on a life that could have easily spiraled south. He spent his youth at the Joseph B. Whitehead Boys & Girls Club in Atlanta.
“I’m a product of this environment,” Brown said as he gave me a tour of the facility off Old Norcross Road.
“To make an impact, to change lives and save lives, that’s what this is all about.”
Wednesday was an ideal day for the Badie Tour to stop by the bustling 6-year-old club. It was the last day of school in Gwinnett. Parent volunteers were out back preparing a cookout to mark the end of the club’s 2007 after-school program.
This year, that weekday program served more than 300 boys and girls. They are kids of mostly single parents. They attend elementary, middle and high schools in Norcross and Duluth. School buses transport most kids to the program; the club provides transportation for about 30 percent of the participants.
The after-school program, which costs parents $35 a year, runs from August to May. Activities are divided by age group. The kids spend about an hour at each supervised activity before they rotate.
But before they play games, dabble in the arts and crafts or shoot hoops, they have an assignment to complete: their homework. That takes place during “Power Hour,” a tutorial session overseen by an instructor and an aide.
“We track their report cards, and 70 percent of the time their grades improve,” Brown told me. “Many of the parents are single parents. Some work two jobs. We have to make sure we’re meeting their needs.”
Meeting the needs of the community has meant reaching out to Hispanics.
Grant money has been used to introduce Latino-themed activities; English classes are offered for parents. Latinos are part of the club staff, including outreach coordinator Victor Zamora.
“They need to identify with someone to participate,” the South Florida native told me. “Once they see someone on the staff, they accept it with open arms.”
Club efforts are paying off. The number of Hispanic kids in the after-school program has grown from 2 percent in 2001 to 37 percent this year. Blacks made up about 60 percent of the participants. Everyone is welcomed, though.
I don’t have enough space in this one column to note all the social activities and life-building programs under way at the club, about the smiling faces, and the teens who spoke to me and called me, “Sir.”
Besides Brown, I spent time with Russ Crosio, an executive board member, and Rodney Close, the regional vice president. They told me about needs — for satellite sites (the first one will operate this summer at Radloff Middle School in Duluth), and a teen center near the club.
I probably need to pay a visit after June 4, when the club’s eight-week summer program begins.
After all. School’s out.
But structured fun at the Boys & Girls Club is a year-round affair.
Just ask Brown.
• Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail rbadie@ajc.com.
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