Boys & Girls Clubs of South Central Texas

400 Uhland Road
San Marcos, Texas 78666
542-805-3000
info@bgcsct.org

Education & Career

These programs help youth create aspirations for the future, providing opportunities for career exploration and educational enhancement.

	CareerLaunch CareerLaunch^TM is a career exploration and mentoring program for teens ages 13-18. This program includes the CareerLaunch Web site that allows teens to take an interest survey, explore careers, identify training or college requirements, seek out financial aid and play skills-building games. There's also an easy-to-use Career Exploration Quick Reference Guide with a broad range of career planning and job skills activities that Club staff or volunteers can use with teens. The CareerLaunch Portfolio contains a Teen Tips booklet with helpful interviewing and on-the-spot job tips. Funded by Gap Foundation.
	CLUBService This program, the result of a partnership between Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the Corporation for National Service (AmeriCorps), provides education awards to Club members ages 17 and 18 and Club alumni ages 19-24 who serve their Clubs and communities. CLUBService recognizes young people's service, helps them access higher education opportunities and encourages them to pursue future careers as Club professionals. Funded by AmeriCorps.
	Goals For Graduation Goals for Graduation introduces Club members ages 6 to15 to the concept of academic goal setting. In one-on-one sessions with Club professionals, members set achievable "Know-I-Can" goals, more challenging "Think-I-Can" goals and yearly "Believe-I-Can" goals, then create action plans. The program provides for recognition of members' achievements at every step of the journey. Funded by Macy's South and MetLife Foundation.
	Junior Staff: Cultivating Tomorrow's Club Professionals Today Junior Staff is a program that assists Club members ages 13 to 18 explore a career in youth or human services, particularly Boys & Girls Club work. Young people prepare for future roles as human services professionals by participating in career development activities, discovering the importance of community service, building customer service skills and completing a Club apprenticeship. Funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance and Morgan Stanley.
	Money Matters: Make It Count Created with the Charles Schwab Foundation, this financial literacy program was designed specifically to help teens (ages 13 to18) expand their knowledge of money management and learn the skills that lead to financial independence and well-being. The Money Matters: Make It Count program consists of five components: Teen Personal Finance Guide, Program Facilitator's Guide, Money Matters Web site, Schwab eEmployee Volunteer Program and the Money Matters Awards. Via the volunteer component, Schwab employees can pass financial expertise to Club teens through their volunteer involvement.
	Power Hour: Making Minutes Count A comprehensive homework help and tutoring program, POWER HOUR is designed to raise the academic proficiency of Club members ages 6 to12.
	Project Learn Project Learn reinforces and enhances the skills and knowledge young people learn at school through "high-yield" learning activities at the Club and in the home. Based on Dr. Reginald Clark's research that shows fun, but academically beneficial activities increase academic performance, these activities include leisure reading, writing activities, homework help and games like Scrabble® which develop youth's cognitive skills. Project Learn emphasizes collaborations between Club staff, parents and school personnel. Formally evaluated by Columbia University, Project Learn has been proven to boost the academic performance of Club members.
	Skill Tech: Basic Training Skill Tech is a hands-on program that appeals to members of all ages and technical abilities. Through three levels of animated lessons (available in English or Spanish exclusively online at www.bgcayouthnet.org) for members and instructor-led group activities, members learn skills in various Microsoft software programs, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Publisher and Digital Image Pro. Funded by Microsoft Corporation.
	Skill Tech II Skill Tech II teaches advanced, yet practical technology skills to Club members. It features three eight-session modules (available in English or Spanish exclusively online at www.bgcayouthnet.org) for beginner, intermediate and advanced skill levels. Participants learn about hardware identification and installation, networking and technology-related careers. Funded by Microsoft Corporation.
	Strategic Approach for Academic Success Boys & Girls Club professionals are informal educators and strive to ensure that all Club youth, through their experiences at school and with the Club, are able to make good post-secondary education decisions. This vision identifies key objectives and strategies for working with members ages 6 to 12 and 13 to 18. BGCA helps local Clubs combat problems that contribute to low high school graduation rates by implementing localized activities and strategies with rigor, emphasizing more intentional integration of programs across core program areas and conducting and sharing findings of evaluation efforts. Funded by Macy's South and MetLife Foundation.