Program Highlights – Summer is in the Air!

What a fun-filled summer it has been so far! Serving over 500 youth at two sites takes a lot of careful planning and coordination, and we want to recognize our incredible program staff who plan and execute all the amazing activities our Club members have the opportunity to experience in such a short period of time. Here are some highlights from the last few weeks:  

Johnsonville & Theisen Elementary Programs

All of our elementary members recently had the opportunity to participate in ”Read with a Dock Spider Day”. The players read stories, signed autographs, and even played catch with the kids. Thank you to the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders and United Way Fond du Lac for bringing this great opportunity to our Boys & Girls Club members for the past two consecutive years. Go Dock Spiders!!!

Another fun part of the summer program is that each week has a theme. Club members had so much fun with “Camping Week”, making lanterns and flower headbands, learning new card games, going on a nature scavenger hunt, and creating their dream campsite! Next up was “Put Me in Coach” and that week revolved around baseball and our Fond du Lac Dock Spiders…if you haven’t already noticed, we LOVE that partnership!

Then we moved on to “Fair Week”, which was an absolute blast! Club members bobbed for carnival apples, created posters all about the animals they would show at the fair, practiced fair-themed yoga, tried winning some goldfish, designed cool ferris wheels, made carnival masks and carousel rides, and performed puppet shows! “Under the Sea” rounded out our themes for July and Club members loved all the cool crafts and games that helped them learn about sea creatures!

Lastly, we want to send a great big “Thank You” to the Fond du Lac Police Department and City of Fond du Lac Fire Rescue for stopping by to play kickball with our Theisen Boys & Girls Club members this past Friday. Our community truly has the best police officers and firefighter/paramedics – we are so grateful for their commitment to building meaningful relationships with our youth!

Teen Center

Our Teen Club members have been enjoying a variety of well-rounded programs and field trips available to them every day during the summer. Some of our teens ventured over to Shalom Wildlife Sanctuary at the beginning of July, where they learned about a bunch of different animals and just loved exploring all the sanctuary has to offer. 

Another super fun field trip involved a ride up to Oshkosh’s Fire Escape pottery studio…what a great experience for our teens who like to express their creative talents and try new things!

Speaking of art and expressing oneself, some teens opted to do a fun art project where they chose their paint colors and then walked around outside to find items in nature that matched the colors. And then another group chose to design their very own Self-Care Corner as part of our Club Ambassadors program!

Throughout the summer, we also have a program called “Tours of Fond du Lac” which gives teens the opportunity to visit different businesses to learn what they do and why they are important to our community. These tours also expose them to potential job opportunities in the future. This month alone, we introduced a new group of teens to three different local businesses:

• Atlas Molded Products, a company that specializes in developing and manufacturing innovative, high performance molded polystyrene rigid insulation.
  
• Kondex Corporation, a manufacturer of cutting and wear-resistant components that are currently in use on six continents throughout the world.
• McNeilus Steel, a company that evolved from one man and one truck in 1948 to an entire professional steel team with four locations in the U.S., including one right here in our community! And this location continues to expand as they have just added another 70,000 square foot building to meet their growing needs.

And of course, it wouldn’t be summer if swimming and waterparks weren’t involved. The weather has been a bit warm lately, so the teens have enjoyed taking over Taylor Pool a few times this summer. However, their favorite trip of the summer may end up being the one they just took to spend the day at Mt. Olympus. The photo says it all! 

To stay up to date on with the latest happenings at the Club, follow us on Facebook or Instagram. For more information about our Club programs, click HERE!