By Michael S. Hoey
CORRESPONDENT
The Boys and Girls Club of Walworth County asked the Delavan-Darien School Board on Oct. 8 to consider allowing it to use space in district schools.
School Board members were amenable to the request and plan to consider it formally in November or December.
Board member Steve Logterman said the idea sounds like a no-brainer.
“They want to use our facilities when we aren’t using them to the betterment of our students,” he said.
Boys and Girls Club of Walworth County Advisory Committee Judy Mueller said the club would like to start in Phoenix Middle School but nothing is written in stone. She said getting the doors open to see how many kids would take advantage of the program is important. Mueller said the club would likely initially open to kids of certain ages and then expand later. Mueller said the club would clean up after itself and provide its own insurance, so the school district would bear no costs.
Mueller said the process of opening a club in Delavan has been in the works for two years. Ashley Contreras, former community outreach coordinator for the school district, launched the effort when she found too few after-school activities for area children to participate in.
Mueller said statistics show more than 3,000 kids in the area might benefit from a club. She said graduation rates go up and juvenile crime rates go down in every community that opens a Boys and Girls Club.
The Advisory Committee is looking at stand-alone building options, including the former fire station and the water works buildings, but both of those options would be too expensive to renovate. Long-term the committee still hopes to have its own facility, but Mueller said it is important to open soon to begin serving young people.
“This will be a safe, nurturing place for kids to go and learn,” Mueller said. “We are passionate about the need in the community and this is the best program out there.”
Mueller proposed the district allow the boys and girls club to utilize space in classrooms, gymnasiums, and libraries or computer labs after school when those facilities would not ordinarily be in use. Mueller said many other community groups partner with Boys and Girls Clubs and she sees it as a win-win for both organizations. She said the club benefits from utilizing an existing facility and both organizations can benefit from joint grant-writing opportunities. High school students could volunteer at the club to fulfill community service hours.
Mayor Mel Nieuwenhuis told the School Board the city fully supports the effort to start a Boys and Girls Club.
“It is a tough hill to climb in this economy, but they have already raised over $50,000,” he said.
Mueller said the club must raise more than $100,000, or 1 1/2 times the expected operating expenses, to be allowed to open by the national organization and the pledged money has to be continuous to show the project has community support. A one-time big donation would not be enough to accomplish that. Mueller said getting the doors open will also help future fundraising.
The Delavan Club will be chartered under the Janesville Boys and Girls Club because no new clubs are being opened, just chapters of existing ones. Mueller said the Delavan club could eventually help open branches in Elkhorn or Lake Geneva if those communities are interested.
Mueller plans to meet with Superintendent Bob Crist to discuss details for using school space. She said a written agreement between the Boys and Girls Club and the School District would be needed, and a School Board member would be welcome on the Advisory Committee.
Mueller also provided an update to the Common Council on Oct. 9. She told the council Delavan has a 62 percent poverty rate and only 15 percent of the community’s kids are involved in after-school activities.
Anyone interested in making a pledge to the Boys and Girls Club can visit www.bgcwalco.org.
