Clubs pack calendar with events
Range of summer programs planned to keep kids engaged
FORT SMITH — Area Boys & Girls clubs are ensuring hundreds of kids have fun and educational activities to do over the summer.
The Fort Smith Boys & Girls club started its first summer session June 5 for kids ages 6-18. It will continue weekdays until June 30, with a break the week of July 4 before continuing July 10 through Aug. 4.
Beth Presley, CEO of the club, said the sessions include a breakfast and lunch, and activities will include science, technology, engineering and math projects, music lessons and outdoor games. They will also have field trips to the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum, the Arkansas River Valley Nature Center, Jack’s Fort Smith Skateland and Parrot Island Waterpark.
“We are partnering with the Fort Smith Symphony to bring the Kool Cats Jazz into the facility to talk to the kids and perform,” she said. “We’re doing some cooking classes with the Walmart Kelley Highway store. Crystal Bridges comes down and does activities at all of our locations.”
Presley said the Evans and Stephens locations are already full for the first session, but the Goldtrap-Gardner location is still taking applicants. The second sessions at all locations are quickly filling up, with the club expecting 550 to 600 students participating overall, she said.
“Our mission is to help youth of all backgrounds really develop qualities to be good leaders and citizens in our community, and we just want to have a safe environment for kids to learn and grow,” Presley said. “We have a mentor program, and we just feel it’s a good avenue to help build relationships with good, caring adults with good programming. To learn more about us, fsbgc.org is the best place to get great information.”
“Our membership fee is only $30 and each summer session is only $35,” she said. “So for $100 you can go through the eight-week summer session, and that’s pretty inexpensive child care with quality programming. So we rely a lot on donors and funding locally for support.”
Fort Smith’s Boys & Girls Club is also preparing for its scholarship recipients ceremony Monday . The club will announce its 2023-2024 college scholarship program recipients during a luncheon at the Fort Smith Bakery District’s Collection Room, at 70 S. Seventh St., starting at 11:30 a.m.
A news release from the club states there will be 34 scholarship recipients who were awarded a total of $50,000 based on club participation, academic excellence and financial need. It states the program started in 1985 and has awarded more than $1 million in scholarships to 387 individual club members through 947 awards.
The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith also has a new matching program that offers a 100% first-year match to all recipients attending UAFS.
VAN BUREN
The Boys & Girls Club of Van Buren’s summer program is also for kids ages 6-18 and will continue weekdays until June 30, with a break the week of July 4 before continuing July 10 through Aug. 4.
The eight-week program costs $100, with grants available for those in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and those whose guardians serve in the military.
Cindy Faldon, the club’s executive director, said the program has eight unique areas including learning centers, game rooms, art rooms, a STEM lab and a gymnasium.
“We separate our members by the grades that they are going to be in next year, and then we rotate every 45 minutes,” Faldon said.
“Our primary focus as a club is to ensure our kids are getting educational enhancement, because education is the key to adulthood,” Faldon said. “So that’s our primary focus. We have a program called Smart Moves where basically we teach kids safety and different components of manners, table etiquette, just things that we all need to know to become good citizens. We have a money matters program where even though we don’t use checks anymore, our kids learn how to use checks, how to protect their credit.”