In The News

Selected among five outstanding regional finalists from Boys & Girls Clubs of America-affiliated military Youth Centers across the country and overseas, Ahsha B., of Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base has been named the 2022 National Military Youth of the Year by Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

National Military Youth of the Year is a component of Boys & Girls Clubs of America's National Youth of the Year recognition program for Club and Youth Center members. On October 13, Ahsha will join five finalists in Los Angeles for the National Youth of the Year celebration to contend for the National Youth of the Year title. If named the National Youth of the Year, Ahsha will receive an additional $50,000 scholarship, a brand-new Toyota Corolla and the opportunity to serve as a spokesperson for Boys & Girls Clubs of America representing 4.3 million Club and Youth Center kids and teens.

After a move from Virginia to rural Georgia, Ahsha's parents encouraged her to join the Military base's Youth Center. She was less than thrilled.

Within two weeks of the program, a Youth Center staff member encouraged Ahsha to audition for a talent program through the Youth Center. She had the opportunity to perform an original spoken word piece and perform alongside a spoken word artist. In the same year, she was nominated as Boys & Girls Clubs of America's East Coast National UPS Road Code Ambassador, which provided the opportunity to conduct safe driving workshops for teens. After these two major leadership milestones, Ahsha had the confidence to launch a podcast for teens at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base, connecting directly with her peers.

To find out more about Ahsha's journey, click the link below!

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A state initiative made a stop in Glynn County last week as part of an effort to attract more students to work in the state’s agriculture businesses and to alter perceptions of what it means to work in this field.

The “Georgia Ag Experience” visited Brunswick to showcase its mobile agricultural classroom for students participating in the Boys & Girls Club’s summer program.

Inside, the students experienced a 36-foot space filled with digital learning and interactive games that taught them about agricultural commodities in Georgia.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Georgia partnered with the Georgia Department of Agriculture to bring the mobile classroom to the Terrill Thomas Center. Clubs across the county brought their third-, fourth- and fifth-grade participants over so the students could spend about an hour enjoying the activities.



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One year ago, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Lanier opened a program in Habersham County and it’s been a great success! 

According to Now Habersham news source, ‘In its first year, the club reached students in all of the county’s elementary schools through after-school programs, developing a total of 20 extension sites, and is now in its second year of summer camps. The summer program has grown so much that a second camp is being conducted at Demorest Elementary School. In fact, a total of 180 children are in camp this summer with a long waiting list of families hoping slots will open up for their children. That’s up from 100 students last summer.’ Thank you for all your support in Habersham County!

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The Frank Callen BGC is the oldest Club in the state of GA, serving thousands of youth and teens for more than 100 years in the Savannah area. We are proud partners of the DHS Afterschool team and grateful for their support of out of school time programs at Boys & Girls Clubs statewide. This partnership places a special emphasis on social emotional learning, physical activity and workforce readiness.

Thanks to this partnership and TANF funds received, we offer a social emotional curriculum named Positive Action, an evidence based program Positive Action is based on the intuitive philosophy that we feel good about ourselves when we do positive actions. The Thoughts-Actions-Feelings Circle (TAF) illustrates how this works in life: our thoughts lead to actions and those actions lead to feelings about ourselves which in turn lead to more thoughts. When this cycle is negative, students do not want to learn. When this cycle is positive, students want to learn.

The essence of the program is to emphasize those actions that promote a healthy and positive cycle. The Positive Action program works through these concepts in a systematic way. Funding also supports our evidence-informed Triple Play program which meets the National Afterschool HEPA (Healthy Eating and Physical Activity) standards. This health and wellness program used by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, uses a three-pronged approach that focuses on the mind (by teaching nutrition and healthy habits), the body (through physical activity), and the soul (through social development). Workforce readiness is another key element of the partnership where we prepare teens to enter the workforce and take part in our Career Launch & Money Matters programs.

To help young people meet the workforce challenges of tomorrow, they need safe spaces, positive mentorship and work experiences today. At Boys & Girls Clubs, we allow kids and teens to explore their interests and passions, develop their employability skills, apply their knowledge to real-world work experiences through our summer youth employment program.

We keep kids active and engaged in programs and fun physical activity all year long thanks to support from our partners!

Governor Brian P. Kemp announced the availability of $15 million in Governor's Emergency Education Relief (GEER) funds to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Georgia to advance student academic achievement by addressing learning recovery and other critical needs of youth brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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