AmeriCorps and Boys & Girls Club Engage with Education
From April 1st to May 21st, 2015, The Boys & Girls Club of Southern Nevada will be welcoming an eight member team from the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), an AmeriCorps Program, to aid with educational mentorship at four Clubhouses in the Las Vegas metro area.
Pictured: Silver 1 acquainting themselves with Las Vegas. From left to right: Shannon Foy, Dion Schmidt, Bernardo Stapleton, Izzy Broomfield, Eric Cabage, Katie Keane, Kat Wallace, Christie Joesbury.
The mission of the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Nevada is to provide a safe space for youth to learn and grow, primarily in neighborhoods experiencing great economic need. Their programming focuses on areas spanning from character and leadership development to fitness and health awareness. On a yearly basis, the Clubhouses of Southern Nevada serve approximately 21,000 youth, with daily attendance reaching over 1,000 on school days.
Brian Knudsen, President/CEO of The Boys & Girls Club of Southern Nevada, said “Our job is to make sure each kid feels incredibly special every time they walk in.”
The AmeriCorps NCCC team, consisting of eight young adults from around the country, will be serving at four clubhouses in the Las Vegas metro area: Lied Clubhouse, Andre Agassi, The Downtown House and Reynolds. The team will be aiding academic programming by reading with the Club youth, aiding staff during homework support, and creating four literature-themed murals that will be painted with Club youth and staff at the four different clubhouses. When not working directly with the Club youth, the AmeriCorps NCCC team will be improving the infrastructure of the clubhouses by painting, cleaning, sanding tables, and assisting with the building of a new playground.
The AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) and its FEMA Corps units engage 2,800 young Americans in a full-time, 10-month commitment to service each year. AmeriCorps NCCC members address critical needs related to natural and other disasters, infrastructure improvement, environmental stewardship and conservation, and urban and rural development; FEMA Corps members are solely dedicated to disaster preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery work. The programs are administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). CNCS is the federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through its AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, Social Innovation Fund, and Volunteer Generation Fund programs, and leads President’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit NationalService.gov.