Proven Programs that Work

Our Clubs provide diverse activities, that we call Core Programs, to meet the interests of all club members. These programs engage young people in activities with adults, peers and family members, enable them to develop self-esteem and provide them a solid base to reach their full potential. The Core Programs developed and implemented in our Clubs are based on the physical, emotional, cultural and social needs and interests of the club members we serve. Listed below are just some of the programs that we use at Boys & Girls Clubs of Tracy.

Character and Leadership Development

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Tracy believes the best way to enable our young people to reach their full potential as productive, caring and responsible citizens is by teaching them to give back to their clubs, community and world. This is part of our “BE GREAT” philosophy.

Our club members are involved everywhere in the Tracy community and participate in programs that help others all over the world, such as Malaria No More. We are proud to help our future leaders learn to care for others at home and around the world.

These programs begin teaching our club members from the moment they walk though our club house doors. Programs in this Core Program Area empower youth to support and influence their Club and community, sustain meaningful relationships with others, develop a positive self-image, participate in the democratic process and respect their own and others’ cultural identities.

The leadership opportunities listed below are run at each of our five club sites in Tracy.

Torch Clubs are charter small-group leadership and service clubs for boys and girls ages 11-13. A Torch Club is a powerful vehicle through which Club staff can help meet the special character development needs of younger adolescents at a critical stage in their development. Torch Club members learn to elect officers and work together to implement activities in four areas: service to Club and community, education, health and fitness and social recreation.

Junior Staff is a program that allows current club members to learn job skills while attending the Boys & Girls Clubs. The Junior Staff complete an application and interview process that allows them to be selected to assist staff in the daily operations of the club. The club members shadow a staff member and after being trained assist the staff member with routine duties. This allows the club member to learn important job skills and even receive a letter of reference from the club for college applications or when seeking job opportunities outside the club. Many club members graduate from being a junior staff into working as a program leader for one of the clubs.

The below clubs are available to club members ages 14-18 of age:

Youth of the Year is BGCA’s premier youth recognition program for Club members. All members can benefit from participation in this program, which promotes and celebrates service to Club, community and family; academic performance; moral character; life goals; and poise and public speaking ability. The Youth of the Year program is most effective when used as a year-round tool for fostering young people’s character, personal growth and leadership qualities. Local Clubs recognize members ages 14-18 who were Youths of the Month and select a Youth of the Year, who then participates in state competition. State winners, who each receive $1,000 scholarships, participate in regional competitions. Five regional winners each receive an engraved plaque and a $10,000 scholarship and compete on the national level. The National Youth of the Year receives an additional $15,000 scholarship and is installed by the President of the United States.

Keystone Clubs are the Boys & Girls Club Movement’s most dynamic teen program. Keystone Clubs are chartered leadership and service clubs for boys and girls ages 14-18. Keystoners elect officers and implement activities in six areas: service to Club and community, character and leadership development, education and career exploration, unity, free enterprise and social recreation. Keystone Club members and their advisors can be nominated to steering committees that organize regional and national Keystone Conferences attended by thousands of Keystoners each year. Keystone Club Awards are bestowed annually on Keystone Clubs that implement programs and activities that best promote the Keystoning principles. Each year, Keystoners develop a National Keystone Project. The combined action of hundreds of local Keystone Clubs results in a service project with a national scope.

Education and Career Development

Programs in this Core Program Area enable youth to become proficient in basic educational disciplines apply learning to everyday situations and embrace technology to achieve success in a career. Listed below are the Education and Career Development opportunities available at our FIVE club sites in Tracy.

Power Hour: Making Minutes Count

Power Hour: Making Minutes Count helps Club members ages 6-12 be more successful in school by providing homework help and tutoring and encouraging members to become self-directed learners.

Project Learn

Project Learn reinforces and enhances the skills and knowledge young people learn at school during the hours they spend at the Club. This comprehensive program strategy is based on Dr. Reginald Clark’s research showing that students do much better in school when they spend their non-school hours engaged in fun, but academically beneficial, activities. Through Project Learn, Club staff use all the areas and programs in the Club to create opportunities for these high-yield learning activities, which include leisure reading, writing activities, discussions with knowledgeable adults, helping others, homework help and tutoring and games like Scrabble that develop young people’s cognitive skills. Project Learn also emphasizes parent involvement and collaboration between Club and school professionals as critical factors in creating the best after-school learning environment for Club members ages 6-18. Extensively field-tested and formally evaluated by Columbia University with funding from Carnegie Corporation of New York, Project Learn has been proven to boost the academic performance of Club members.

CareerLaunch®

This fun and exciting program prepares teens for the working world. Club teens 13-18 years old embark on a journey to explore careers, make sound educational decisions and find success in the world of work. The program, sponsored by Gap Foundation, contains 22 competency based, small-group activities that are organized into four units. Three program implementation plans are provided so Clubs can choose a plan that fits their available resources and capacity for teen programming. CareerLaunch is designed to be easy to deliver, flexible enough to accommodate different club situations and highly engaging. A pre- and post-assessment tool is included to determine individual participants’ achievement of the learning objectives and to document results of the program.

Goals for Graduation

Goals for Graduation, a Project Learn resource, introduces academic goal setting to Club members ages 6-15 by linking their future aspirations with concrete actions today. In goal-setting sessions with Club youth development professionals, members set achievable “Know-I-Can” Goals, more challenging “Think-I-Can” Goals, and yearly “Believe-I-Can” goals. Members create an action plan with daily and weekly goals leading to short- and long-term gains. A comprehensive guidance strategy helps members connect their smallest results to their highest dreams. An encouraging recognition strategy buoys members as their successes are recognized and supported at every step of their journey.

Money Matters: Make It Count

Money Matters promotes financial responsibility and independence among Club members ages 13-18 by building their basic money management skills. Participants learn how to manage a checking account, budget, save and invest. They also learn about starting small businesses and paying for college. Money Matters features three components..

Money Matters Volunteer Opportunities:

We need Money Matters volunteers. The program runs for six weeks and BGCT staff will give you needed materials to run a successful Money Matters class.

Download volunteer form and fax to 209-832-4687. Questions, please call 209-832-2582.

Skill Tech

Skill Tech is a basic computer skills program that develops Club members’ proficiency with word processing, spreadsheet and other productivity software through fun, hands-on, engaging lessons and projects for four age groups. Skill Tech is just one of the technology programs developed through BGCA’s Club Tech initiative, generously sponsored by Microsoft Corporation and Best Buy Children’s Foundation.

Health and Life Skills

Programs in this area develop young people’s capacity to engage in positive behaviors that nurture their own well-being, set personal goals and live successfully as self-sufficient adults.

SMART Moves

(Skills Mastery and Resistance Training)

This nationally acclaimed comprehensive prevention program helps young people resist alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, as well as premature sexual activity. SMART Moves features engaging, interactive, small-group activities that increase participants’ peer support, enhance their life skills, build their resiliency and strengthen their leadership skills. This year-round program encourages collaborations among Club staff, youth, parents and representatives from other community organizations.

The program’s components are:

• SMART Kids, for ages 6-9
• Start SMART, for ages 10-12
• Stay SMART, for ages 13-15
• SMART Parents
• SMART Leaders, a peer leader/booster program for older teens, and F.A.N. Club (Family Advocacy Network), an educational and support group program for parents and caregivers of SMART Moves participants, are also available through a partnership between BGCA and Pennsylvania State University, which developed these two programs to increase the scope and positive impact of the original SMART Moves.

Please take a moment to view the following My Club My Life videos posted on YouTube, by using the links below. They are extremely popular and have some really strong, positive messages for our young girls. 

• Interview with Tia Mowry
• Interview with Jurnee Smollett

Passport to Manhood

Passport to Manhood promotes and teaches responsibility in Club boys ages 11-14. Passport to Manhood consists of 14 sessions, each of which concentrates on a specific aspect of manhood through highly interactive activities. Each Club participant receives his own “passport” to underscore the notion that he is on a personal journey of maturation and growth. Passport to Manhood represents a targeted effort to engage young boys in discussions activities that reinforce positive behavior.

TRIPLE PLAY

Healthy Habits

Empowering youth to eat right is a generation-changing, life-enhancing program goal, and Triple Play’s nutrition component, called Healthy Habits, covers the power of choice, calories, vitamins and minerals, the food pyramid and appropriate portion size.  Healthy habits teaches in three core areas: Mind, Body and Soul.

Mind

Healthy Habits is the “Mind” component of Triple Play, which emphasizes eating smart and maintaining physical fitness to improve the overall well-being of Club members. The Healthy Habits program is designed to:

• Teach young people about the benefits of healthy habits such as eating right and being physically active;
• Equip young people with skills to adopt healthier habits by participating in fun and engaging learning activities both at the Club and at home; and
• Encourage young people to take small steps toward positive behavior change.

Body

Taking a systematic approach, this component boosts Clubs’ traditional physical activities to a higher level by providing sports and fitness activities for all youth – boys and girls, athletically gifted and those talented in other areas, children and teens alike.   Daily Fitness Challenges: six challenges give youth at every age the chance to play longer and harder at different games – from jumping rope to basketball and creating games of their own.

• Basketball Challenge
• Jump Rope Challenge
• Get Fit Challenge
• Walk/Run Challenge
• Home Run Challenge
• Invent-a-Sport Challenge

Soul

This social recreation program includes a top-notch games room and social recreation programs at our clubs.