Making Every Day Count - Teens

Introduction 3their programming to reflect their understandingof these differences, offering even more voiceand choice and increasingly individualized supportas youth move from younger-age programming(typically grouped for ages 6 to 9 and 10 to12) to teen programming.• A breadth of activities. Clubs offer formal programsand activities across broad program areas,with the intention of drawing in teens with differentinterests and exposing them to new activitiesthat they may not otherwise have the opportunityto experience. Although some are limitedby their size and levels of staffing, the Clubsgenerally have a large and diverse offering ofclasses, workshops, drop-in activities, events andfield trips. Programming options often includephysical activities and organized sports, educationalsupports, art instruction, computerand other technology workshops (for example,video- and music-making) and community-basedproject learning.• An emphasis on leadership. This approachincludes both specific leadership programs andopportunities for teens to get involved in leadershiproles, such as serving as role models toyounger youth, helping to make decisions aboutClub offerings and serving on teen councils.• A focus on having staff develop relationshipswith the teens. Because of the emphasis onrelationship-building, the Clubs provide staffwith many opportunities to talk and interact withyouth, including informal interactions wherestaff can take advantage of “teachable moments.”Time to talk also enables staff to focus on thespecific concerns and needs of individual teens.• Time for teens to just “hang out” with peers.Teens come to the Club with friends and to bewith friends, and they want and need time tosocialize. The structure of the Clubs allows foryouth to drop in at the times that work for them,to hang out, to participate in activities, and tosocialize within and between activities.• A space of their own, where teens can relax andsocialize. These teen-only areas, apart from theyounger children, range from a single room withtelevisions, computers and couches to large facilities(separate from the main Clubs) that havecomputer areas, dance studios and other multipurposerooms.• Opportunities that are accessible to teens, giventhe increasing demands on their time. Duringthe school year, Clubs are generally open onweekdays from about two in the afternoon tonine at night, and some Clubs also have weekendhours available. During winter and summervacations, they often expand their hours. Unlikemany other after-school programs (such as thosefunded by 21st Century Learning Center grants),there are no mandates for the number of daysor hours a teen must participate. Enrollmentis open to all youth, and there is typically a lowannual membership fee, ranging from about $2to about $10 per year, with ample opportunitiesfor scholarships.(For a more detailed description of the Clubsincluded in the study, their programming, space forteens, staffing and hours, please see Appendix A.)This EvaluationLike other programs that want to effectively serveyouth during out-of-school time, Boys & Girls Clubsare interested in what they can do to attract andengage them and, ultimately, what effect Clubparticipation has on the teens they serve. At therequest of BGCA, Public/Private Ventures (P/PV)launched a national longitudinal study of Clubparticipants in 2005 to test the degree to which theoverall experience might prove to be more thanthe sum of its programmatic parts. Because manyof the prior evaluations of Clubs had focused onstudying discrete programs, it seemed possible thatthey had missed the bigger picture of experiencesthat the Clubs offer their members and their potentialfor influencing a larger and broader array ofoutcomes than had previously been explored. Thegoal of P/PV’s longitudinal evaluation was to takethat broader look at “the whole club experience”in order to more fully document its potential. Inparticular, we examined how Club participation isrelated to youth’s positive and healthy developmentin the three outcome areas BGCA has established ascore to meeting its mission: good character and citizenship,academic success and healthy lifestyles.P/PV completed the evaluation in Spring 2008. Aninterim report explored an issue of concern to bothBGCA and other out-of-school-time programs across