

Namaste @ the Club
Let's face it...all of our kiddos can have trouble managing emotions and stress. With the things our members face on a regular basis, they can use all the coping and management skills they can get. I believe it is a great responsibility of ours to help provide some of these skills for our members. Enter the program: Namaste @ the Club. Namaste @ the Club is a program aimed to equipping members with the tools necessary to manage emotions, experience mindfulness, and understand


Parent Club Council
We all have those parents, right? The ones who show up, the ones who you can go to, the ones who come to you if they need something...just those awesome parents that are involved at the Club. This could be one family, or maybe you're lucky enough to have a few! Just take a look at the two beauts in the picture above. Ms. Kelaree and Ms. Andrea are what I call OG parents. These Original Gangstas have been at the Club since its opening in 2015. We have watched their kids grow u


Get Some Class(room management techniques)
I taught high school for three years. One of my most memorable experiences was my first day of school. Just like a child, I was filled with nerves and excitement. I spent the entire summer preparing. I bought a "teachery" wardrobe, organized a ton of office supplies and reviewed my collection of teaching materials. I was ready to be the coolest teacher this side of the Mississippi. I was going to inspire kids. They were even going to stand of chairs and tell me how much I ins
Interview with the VampHIRE.
It's that time of the year. With fall quickly approaching, we are all scrambling to find quality staff that will uphold our mission and values. Staff that will make a positive impact in the lives of kids. Staff that know how to adapt, recognize others, and take constructive criticism well. These people are hard to find, but by God they exist. Just scroll down to the end of this post and see how amazing my lil' summer staffie angels are! But it does take hard work and commitme

CLUB CHALLENGE STARTER PACK
This is one of the best programs I've ever run. When I was a Club Program Manager in Lawrence, Kansas, my good friend and die hard would you rather player, Tristan aka t-drizzle aka fog horn leg horn aka my dear friend introduced me to Color Wars. I have used the past 4 years perfecting this program into a what I call, "A GAME CHANGER!" In recent months, however, we have decided to change the name of this program to: CLUB CHALLENGE! Want to provide fun and uphold healthy life


POWER HOUR REHAB #1
Several months ago, my organization and Professional Association hosted a Boys & Girls Club of America National training event. We had a Power Hour session scheduled and as the session was supposed to begin, we were informed that the trainer was unavailable. I thought to myself, what is the mantra you tell your staff every day? Adapt or Die. So, a fellow director (Amber) and I decided, “Hey, we are cool…we can do this.” This really ended up being one of my favorite sessions.


HOST AN OPEN HOUSE/BACK TO SCHOOL BASH
Every late August or Early September, I host an Open House/Back to School Bash. I like to combine them because usually families are more excited to come do something fun and free rather than come to an informational event. Last August, we hosted a County Fair Open House Event. It was a great way for us to meet families, recruit new members, provide important information (parent handbook, expectations, discipline policy, communications, calendars, etc.), and have a ton of fun!