ST. GEORGE — The national youth organization, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, will hold a ribbon-cutting on Tuesday to celebrate the launch of their after-school program at eight Washington County elementary schools.
Jenny Fidler, director of the Boys & Girls Club for the Southern Utah Area, said she was ecstatic to announce the arrival of the youth organizations through after-school programs in Southern Utah.
While the nonprofit youth resource and youth activity organization has had a club in Murray since 1967, this will be a first for Southern Utah and include eight elementary schools.
Currently, there are over a dozen clubs throughout Utah in the northern part of the state. They also had former clubs in Navajo Mountain and Aneth, but they are no longer operational.
The grand opening will be held Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Sandstone Elementary, located at 850 N. 2450 E. in St. George, and includes a ribbon-cutting, light lunch and tour of the facility. In addition to Fidler, Executive Director of Boys & Girls Clubs of Utah County David Bayles, Sandstone Elementary Principal Melissa Dietzel, a St. George City representative, and youth club members will speak during the event.
The eight schools utilizing the Boys & Girls Clubs of America have launched after-school programs. These after-school programs provide over 250 children with academic support, enrichment activities, social and emotional learning and child nutrition, Fidler said. Membership is free.
“Our goal is to support the families in our community by providing free childcare, snacks, academic tutoring, and activities for kids,” Fidler said. “The club builds resilience and prepares students to become quality members of the community.”
The Boys & Girls Clubs of America is one of the largest and oldest youth social organizations in America, starting in 1860 as The Dashaway Club, organized by three women, Elizabeth Hammersley, and two sisters, Mary and Alice Goodwin. The club was in Hartford, Connecticut.
Since then it became the Good Will Boys Club in 1880, adding the Boys’ Club of New York and the New Haven Boys’ Club, as well as multiple clubs organized throughout the Northeastern United States. In 1906, the clubs were organized into one central headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, and were renamed as The Federated Boys’ Clubs.
In 1931, the Federated Boys’ Clubs became the Boys Clubs of America, and then in 1990, the name was restructured to be the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. For more detailed history, click here.
The Boys & Girls Clubs are now found in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and military bases.
The following are the eight locations in Southern Utah:
- Heritage Elementary
- Legacy Elementary
- Sunset Elementary
- Paradise Canyon Elementary
- Coral Cliffs Elementary
- Sandstone Elementary
- Washington Elementary
- Panorama Elementary
“It’s so exciting to bring the Boys & Girls Clubs to St. George,” Fidler said. “My staff and I are honored to provide the youth with a safe, consistent, and welcoming environment where they can focus on what’s most important – being a kid.”
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