Category: Parents

Summer Fun Theme Weeks at Tom Maas

This summer the Staff decided to theme each week of the summer. We got together as an team and planned a different theme week to make a memorable summer for our Members Here’s what we did so far: Week 1 Science week   Our Members had the opportunity to do awesome science projects such as volcanoes,… Read more »

Field Trip to the Children’s Museum

Our Members were able to go to the Children’s Museum in Paso Robles as one of our field trips this summer. Our Members were so excited to go and they had a blast while they were there. The Museum has lots of fun and creative spaces for kids to play in including a ball pit,… Read more »

Generous Donation Supports Mindful Movement

The Center Studio, a leading wellness center dedicated to promoting holistic health and well-being, donated monthly proceeds from their community education classes to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast. The donation aims to support the implementation and expansion of the Youthful Mindfulness Movement Program for Club kids, empowering children with essential tools… Read more »

Stollmeyer Challenge Scholarships Awarded

At a festive ice cream social held at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast flagship Clubhouse in Santa Maria, six students were awarded the first round of scholarships provided by the Stollmeyer Challenge partnership for STEAM programming. Rick Stollmeyer, seeing a need to focus his philanthropy on programs and services that support… Read more »

Family Fun Day at Avila Beach

BGCMCC and their families were treated to a beautiful day of camaraderie, team building and fun at our annual Family Fun Day at the beach.  Meeting in Avila Beach–a good half way point between staff coming from the Paso Robles or Santa Maria areas–we gathered throughout the day for food, games, and general relaxation.  The… Read more »

Member Monday–Jorge!

Meet Jorge a long time Club Member who has re-joined the program now that the Ron Estabillo Club has re-opened in Guadalupe.  Jorge started coming to the original Club when he was 6 years old.  When the clubhouse had to close for renovations and retrofitting, Jorge had nowhere to go after school.  Now that the… Read more »

Member Monday–Abraham!

Meet Teen of the Month for May,  Abraham Carrillo-Galindo, an 11th grader from Santa Maria High.  Abraham recently was voted in as Keystone President for the 2023-2024 school year at the Railroad Club site.  Even though he’s a new member of the Boys and Girls Club, he’s been instrumental in building our Keystone Club from… Read more »

We’re Safety Superstars!

Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast was recognized by our national organization, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), as a 2023 Safety Super Star during BGCA’s 117 th National Conference in Orlando, Florida in May. This award is presented to Boys & Girls Club organizations that demonstrate an exceptional commitment to safety… Read more »

We’re Among Best Places to Work According to Pacific Business Times

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast is thrilled to announce that it has been voted one of the “Best Place to Work” in the Tri-Counties by the prestigious Pacific Business Times. This recognition is a testament to the organization’s commitment to fostering a supportive and fulfilling work environment for its dedicated employees…. Read more »

Member Monday! Ruben & Nathan

Ruben and Nathan started coming to the Railroad Club in 2022. They are the third generation to attend the Boys & Girls. Being a Kindergartner and 1st grader in a new environment can be intimidating, but they love coming because of the friends that they make. The supportive relationships that are built at the club… Read more »

Practicing Safety Drill Awareness At Tom Maas

Staff and Members practiced a civil disturbance drill to help build safety awareness amongst our Members. Staff described what type of situations civil disturbance falls under and what the staff and Members will be doing if this were to happen. Our Members did a great job listening and quietly entering the building. The Members had… Read more »

Learning About Rain & Clouds

Our Members were super excited to learn about rain especially since it’s been raining a lot here lately. We decided to do a simple experiment with food coloring, mason jars, shaving cream, and water to simulate how rain works and how clouds form. Our Members learned that water vapor rises into the air, but when… Read more »

Learning About Lungs

Our Members learned about how our lungs work using a paper bag, marker, and a straw. This activity was a great way for our members to learn some new words and their meanings. Some new vocabularly include: Trachea – a large touch tube that connects the top of the throat to bronchi (sometimes called a… Read more »

Flamson Teen Center Taking On The Stollmeyer STEAM Challenge

Starting March 13th Flamson Teen Center will officially start the Stollmeyer STEAM Challenge. All participants who complete all 6 workshops will be eligible for a $1,000 college scholarship! Sign up your member today through your parent portal! All 6 workshops will be held on Mondays from 3:30PM – 4:30PM. Don’t have the time for your… Read more »

Valentines Day Fun

Our Members at the Tom Maas Club had a great Valentine’s day with fun activities, treats, and strawberry Fanta floats. Our staff planned fun and engaging valentines day activities such as paper plate yarn hearts, cookie decorating, flag football, and Valentine card making. The Members had so much fun rotating through these activities. After Activities… Read more »

SMART Girls

SMART Girls is a small-group health, fitness, prevention/education and self-esteem enhancement program designed to meet the developmental needs of girls in three age groups. Through dynamic sessions, highly participatory activities, field trips and mentoring opportunities with adult women, Club girls explore their own and societal attitudes and values as they build skills for eating right,… Read more »

End Of 2022 Pajama & Movie Party

To wrap up the end of 2022 at the Tom Maas Clubhouse, we were able to close off the holiday season with all sorts of exciting and festive activities. Thanks to the help of Members’ parents/guardians, we were able to host an end of the year Movie day pajama party with all sorts of goodies!… Read more »

Spreading Holiday Cheer at the Paso Christmas Light Parade

We were very excited to be able to participate in the Christmas Light Parade again this year. We had a lot of fun decorating the float filled with lights, paper snowflakes, and ornaments. Although the weather was very wet and rainy we had a blast playing Christmas music, singing along and dancing. Our Members look… Read more »

CEO Receives Regional Award for Leadership

Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast was recognized for high achievement at the annual Pacific Regional Leadership Conference of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.  The Sparkplug Award is presented annually at this conference to the Chief Executive Officer of a Pacific Regional Boys & Girls Club organization who has demonstrated exceptional… Read more »

Annual Thanksgiving Feast Seeks Donations

For the last 10 years we have been putting on a Thanksgiving feast for our Members in Paso Robles.  This is our first feast in the new Tom Maas Clubhouse and we are extremely excited. Our Members look forward to getting together to share a meal and playing fun group games. We couldn’t put on… Read more »

Infinite Music Comes to BGCMCC

We are excited to announce that the Tom Maas Clubhouse has partnered with Infinite Music to provide weekly drum classes for our 4th & 5th-grade Members. We had our first class on Friday, and our Members were ecstatic. They had a lot of fun pounding on the drums, practicing leadership skills, and learning to keep… Read more »

Art Fun With Pastels

The art room is by far our Members favorite place to be. They are always asking what art projects we have planned for the day and is the first program to fill up every afternoon. This week our Members worked with pastels and black cardstock paper. They cut out different shapes such as leaves and… Read more »

Cookies & Kids is a Recipe for Fun

Several community members joined the staff at Boys & Girls Clubs Mid Central Coast’s Railroad Clubhouse to learn more about the Club all while working with a group of some of the Club’s youngest members to create spooky crafts for Halloween. The Club was honored to include two members of their Board of Directors for… Read more »

Ultimate Journey Takes Flight at Railroad Club

The Ultimate Journey Program is one of the evidence-based, high quality programs developed by Boys and Girls Club of America.  It is a high yield program in which all areas of development are enhanced. It primarily focuses on our environment and what we can do to protect it. For example, discussing the importance of recycling…. Read more »

Staff Member Spends Summer Break Helping Others

This summer Alora McNulty took a week off of work to go with four different Churches on  mission trip to Mexico. She has been going on his Mission trip every Spring since she was a Freshman in Highschool which is now eight years.  This is the second Summer Missions trip she has taken. The group… Read more »

81st Annual National Boys & Girls Club Week Kicks off Today!

Celebrated since 1941, National Boys & Girls Club Week recognizes the invaluable service Clubs bring to communities, sharing how great futures start at Boys & Girls Clubs. National Boys & Girls Club Week promotes the fact that while Clubs operate on a local community level, they are also part of a growing national Movement, and… Read more »

Helping Kids Learn From the Covid Experience

Thanks to a grant from the California Alliance for Health Club members have been able to use art and creative writing to help process their understanding of the Covid experience.  They have also learned a lot about the science of vaccines and about careers in the medical field.  Our Youth Development Professionals are leading sessions… Read more »

Member Monday–James

 James is a huge kindergartner personality who is a Member of the  Flamson Club. He is always courteous and respectful to Staff and his fellow Members. He has been a part of our club for a little over 9 months. James deserves a shout out because he is a caring individual who gave his ice… Read more »

Winter Basketball League Ends a Great Season

After a one year hiatus, due to Covid-19 safety precautions, Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast held its much loved annual youth basketball league with exceptional participation among local kids. With registration starting in September and practices and games beginning in October, the annual league provided months of exercise, sportsmanship, skills development and… Read more »

January Key Performance Indicators

Thank you to our January Donors! Abraham Bautista Allison Cuevas Alora McNulty Brigette Verdin CyberGrants SPV, LLC Dale W & Dennis V Gomer Donna Gallison Elizabeth Aldana Erica Lopez Fernando Ramos Fischer’s Fine Jewelry Floyd Bland Frank McCoy Givinga Foundation, Inc. Guadalupe Salazar Helen Tomac Jacob Zambrano Jay Hardy Hardy Diagnostics John Joyner Josue Rojo… Read more »

Bikes Donated for Back A Youth Night

On February 24th, Club Members have a chance to win awesome new bikes donated by Main Street Cycles!  As part of the 32nd Annual Back A Youth Night, Club Members and the Adult Mentors who will spend the evening together participating in games, learning activities, eating dinner and having lots of fun, will also have… Read more »

Teen Night Coming to Flamson Clubhouse

Free Night for Teens February 18th from 6-9pm As we expand our Clubs and increase programming, teens in Paso Robles will have more opportunities to enjoy teen-specific programs and events.  Our first Teen Night is coming up on February 18th at the Flamson Clubhouse at 2405 Spring Street.  The night will be full of fun,… Read more »

Cookies & Kids Kicks Off in Santa Maria

The newest, in-person mentorship programming to come to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast kicked off in Santa Maria with a Valentines theme.  “Cookies & Kids” is a program that has been two years in the making.  “Club Members spending quality time with adults in our community who care about them is… Read more »

STEAM is in full steam at our Clubs

Up and down the Central Coast, our Clubs are enjoying lots of STEAM activities and projects thanks to the creativity and desire to teach that comes from our Youth Development Professionals.  One of our Clubs practiced building stable structures using only marshmallows and toothpicks.  They will follow this up with some analysis and data exploration. … Read more »

Volunteer Kick Off Meeting Next Week!

A strategy/planning meeting for our 2022 Events will be held, via zoom, on February 2.  Anyone interested in sharing their time and talents to help plan and produce exciting “white glove” events that will engage and motivate our community to support the amazing work happening at Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast is… Read more »

The Stollmeyer Challenge Will Double Donations in 2022

Rick Stollmeyer sees the growth of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast as so vital to helping local kids succeed that he has agreed to match all donations, dollar for dollar, up to $300,000 in 2022! Stollmeyer is passionate about the importance of exposure to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Math)… Read more »

Youth Development Professional of the Month–Jordann Aragon

Jordann has been with Boys & Girls Club for 1 year. She is in charge of the Teen Room at Railroad, but she is always willing to help out wherever she needed.  She stepped up during Winter Camp working full days to help cover when we had staff out due to COVID Protocols. Her ability… Read more »

Driving to the Future With Club 66

It takes all kinds of donations to keep the Boys and Girls Club of Mid Central Coast driving toward a better future for local youth, especially those who need us most. Volunteering, mentorship, one-time donations, and event sponsorships are just a few of the ways our community helps us support the future of our Club… Read more »

New Club Opens in Creston

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast is excited to announce an important partnership with Creston Elementary School to provide top notch after school programming at the school facility beginning January 5th.  Creston is a very small community about 10 miles outside of Atascadero–far enough away from resources and services to make afterschool… Read more »

Winter Sessions Provide Excellent Childcare During Holiday Break

Throughout the Central Coast, Club sites have been offering winter sessions for Club Members during the school break.  Parents and kids are benefiting from these high quality, immersive day long experiences so kids are engaged and active during their time off from school.   From holiday-themed activities, to science-based investigations, to physical activity, Clubs in Guadalupe,… Read more »

Youth Development Professional of the Month–Irma Espinosa

Irma was chosen to be our staff of the month for November. Her passion for helping the members and parents is what makes her shine bright. Parents love her, they feel comfortable coming and talking to her about any concerns their child may be having at the club. Irma does an outstanding job with leading… Read more »

Youth Development Professional of the Month–Shantal Castro

Shantal has been employed with the Boys & Girls Clubs for the past 3 years, 2 of those years at our McKenzie site.  Shantal will be leaving us soon to focus her attention on school in order to become a teacher.  Shantal will be missed, but we thank you for all your hard work and… Read more »

Holiday Fun at Our Clubs

Club Members Get Into the Holiday Spirit Up and Down the Central Coast The Holiday Spirit is alive and well at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast!  Thanks to the thoughtfulness of local community groups and donors, many of our Clubs were visited by Santa, Club members received presents and some lucky… Read more »

Rotary Club Spends Holiday Afternoon at Railroad Club

Members of the Orcutt Rotary, led by long time Club donor and supporter Bob Ogden, came to the Railroad Club to share some holiday time with Club Kids.  With snacks and a sack full of gifts, the kids and adults enjoyed their time together.  Thanks to Rotary and Bob Ogden for always keeping our kids… Read more »

Anime Program Comes to Evans Park

Members of our Evans Park Club launched an Anime Program with the help of staff from the Santa Maria Public Library.  In this program, they are using their imaginations to dream up an anime character and title along with figuring out a creative superpower for their character.  Needless to say, this program is a blast… Read more »

Generous Donation of Bikes for Club Kids

Thanks to an amazing outpouring of commitment to giving back to the community, Waste Connections built and donated 60 bikes to our Clubs, along with hundreds of other bikes to other organizations serving youth.  A select group of Club Members at all of our Club sites were selected to recieve one of the bikes–which came… Read more »

Quality Childcare Available During Winter Break

Thanks to our partnership with the Guadalupe School District we will offer all day programming at our Mary Buren Club Site during the entire Winter Break.  Grades TK through 8th grade in the Guadalupe School District will be served with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast’s high quality programming, including arts, sports, reading,… Read more »

Generous Gift Kicks off Season of Giving

 Administrators for the estate of Annabella Reinhold surprised Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast with a gift Ms. Reinhold was kind enough to bequeath to us.  Ms. Reinhold passed away in August in Arroyo Grande and listed the Boys & Girls Clubs as one of her beneficiaries.  After a long and interesting life,… Read more »

New Bikes Courtesy of a lot of Santa’s Helpers

Employees, their families, and community volunteers with Waste Connections spent a recent Saturday building 200 bikes they will donate to local youth-serving organizations.  Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast will receive 60 new bikes that we can distribute to our Club Members most in need of these great gifts.  Club staff transported the… Read more »

Club Programs Offer a Little Bit of Everything

Up and down the Central Coast our 13 Clubs are offering programs as diverse as their communities and their Members.  From the arts, to STEM to quiet self-directed work, Club members get to try lots of things every week. Possibly inspired by the upcoming Empty Bowls event supporting the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, kids… Read more »

Tom Maas Building and Other Capital Projects Keep Making Progress

The construction of Tom Maas Clubhouse in Paso Robles is well under way!  The state -of-the-art Club has had steady activity since breaking ground in March.  To date, site retaining walls are almost complete…and with some 16″ thick block in the tallest ones, they are sturdy! Framing continues to move faster now and should be… Read more »

Torch Club Members Continue Doing Good for the Community

Torch Club members in Santa Maria have been busy serving their community.  They recently completed their second park clean up activity spending an afternoon collecting trash at the nearby Atkinson Park.  This activity not only helps make the park nice for other users, but it’s an opportunity for kids to see, first hand, the problems… Read more »

Mina Donkor Joins Leadership Team as New Area Director

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast is excited to announce the hiring of Mina Donkor as Area Director to lead all activities of the Northern San Luis Obispo County Club sites.  These include Clubs at Flamson Middle School, the Atascadero Fine Arts Academy and Shandon Middle School.  Altogether, Ms. Donker will lead… Read more »

August 2021 Donors

Thank you to all of our Donors for your generosity! Brigette VerdinElizabeth AldanaAbraham BautistaAbraham BautistaErica LopezErica MezaJacob ZambranoMayra BautistaMr. Carlos CortezMichael PatinoMiss Daisy PerezFernando RamosGuadalupe SalazarMiguel Torrez-FraustoLiset Vazquez-RiveraLidia AvilaAlexis CastilloUnited Way California Capital RegionTarget CorporationMary BoltonViolet CavenderAllison CuevasMr. Ernie CuevasMelissa GodinezAlora McNultyJosue RojoTarget CorporationNetwork for GoodMr. & Mrs. Bill LibbonMiss Signe ZollerKelsie PradoKathryn ScottMs. Brandi… Read more »

YDP of the Month – Yasmin Rodriguez-Villavincencio

Yasmin has been with the BGC movement for a little under a year, and has already made a great impact with her leadership style and her willingness to go beyond the normal day today requirements.  Yasmin is a responsible caring and community oriented Club Director. Her community approach to operations is a instrumental to making… Read more »

YDP of the Month – Denise Pitacua

Denise has been with us in Guadalupe for about 10 months. She started at Mary Buren while we were in distance learning.  She was a great fit with our elementary members, but we quickly realized that she has a lot of experience working with Junior High students. Denisse was then moved to our McKenzie Club…. Read more »

YDP of the Month – Miguel Torres-Frausto

Miguel has been with the Boys & Girls Club for 9 years. He is our Club Director at Oakley Elementary where he has built a strong relationship with the school day, members, and parents. With his experience he has been able to establish a constant in the lives of the members at his site. Members… Read more »

Latino Heritage Month is Underway!

Hispanic & Latino Heritage Month celebrates the histories, cultures and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans past and present. While it’s a monthlong celebration, it notably crosses over two calendar months – running Sept. 15th to Oct. 15th – coinciding with the Independence Day celebrations of Belize, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico… Read more »

Community Service Under Way at Railroad Club

Members of the Torch Club at the Railroad Club site spent their afternoon helping to make their community and neighborhood better.  As a group, Torch Club members decide on ways they want to give back and for their first project of the year, they decided on a trash clean up at Atkinson Park in Santa… Read more »

Largest Single Gift in Club History Just Donated

Funding for the construction of the long-awaited Tom Maas Clubhouse in Paso Robles is now complete—the state of the art new facility to open in the Fall of 2022. Paso Robles, CA—September 9, 2021 – The Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast today announced the generous donation of $543,000.00 raised at the must!… Read more »

Robert Bruce School-Based Site Is Full STEAM Ahead this Fall

The 5th and 6th graders at Robert Bruce did a STEAM activity where they were split into groups and only given 200 wooden popsicle sticks and one bottle glue to build a bridge. It took teamwork and collaboration to build the bridge. Winning group held 10 TEXTBOOKS!?! The Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central… Read more »

SMART Girls Get Cooking at Paso Robles Club

One of the BGCA flagship programs, SMART Girls, is doing a lot in Paso Robles.  Yesterday, Club Members who are part of this program spent time learning how to make charcuterie boards and then shared their treats with the Club staff–who were so appreciative!  They had a lot of fun learning how to cut different cheeses… Read more »

What’s Happening at the Evans Park Club!

Lot’s of fun and creativity happening with Evans Park Club Members.  Yesterday, they designed and made their own tie dye shirts to keep and the younger Members started getting into Fall with Pumpkin Cookie decorating. The Evans Park Club is on site at one of the Housing Authority facilities.  This Summer, the Housing Authority started… Read more »

Mental Health Issues Among Kids at the Top of Mind With Boys & Girls Clubs

Kids Head Back to School—and Bring Covid-19’s Mental-Health Scars With Them They’ll be met by additional counselors, plans for mental-health screening and new programs to help tackle anxiety and depression MONTEREY PARK, Calif.—JR Dzubak was breaking up a fistfight between a group of high-school boys in July when he had a moment of doubt. What… Read more »

Join Us at the 18th Annual Elks Parade Festival

The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Mid Central Coast will have a featured spot at the Elks Parade Festival on Saturday, September 4th in Santa Maria.  Everybody’s favorite parade–the 78th Annual Elks Rodeo Parade–will follow it’s historic route along Broadway in Santa Maria starting at Mill Street and marching south to Enos Boulevard.  Our… Read more »

Club Kids Art Makes a Splash in Santa Maria

The brand new Honda of Santa Maria looks even more impressive now that two murals of artwork created by Club kids have been added to the facade.  When you are driving along Bradley Road you’ll see a vivid tropical bird as well as a gorgeous sea turtle adorning the backof the building and you can… Read more »

Programs Team Has Big Plans This Fall

The heartbeat of the Boys & Girls Club—our education professionals who plan and implement all of the high quality programming and activities that help Club Members stay engaged, reach goals, and make healthy choices—have been working for weeks to design programs that really ensure that “Great Futures Start Here!”  Anna Libbon, Director of Programs and… Read more »

Featured Clubs–McKenzie and Mary Buren in Guadalupe

For the month of July, our members at Mary Buren & McKenzie took over the Santa Barbara Zoo, La Purisima Mission, Central Coast Aquarium, and Rancho Bowl in Santa Maria.  In July, we took both Mary Buren and McKenzie students to the Santa Barbara Zoo. By far it was the highest Friday of attendance. Our… Read more »

Back to School Time is Here!

Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast has seen a whirlwind of activity as our Club members get ready for in-person school once again!  Thanks to some of our generous and thoughtful supporters, many of our kids benefitted from a great shopping trip for school clothes, as well as a bounty of school supplies.  … Read more »

YDP of the Month – Andrea Alonzo

Andrea Alonzo has been with the Boys & Girls Club for one year and is at our Railroad Club. During the school year, she had the difficult task of working with our youngest members. Andrea did a great job getting to know their school schedules and getting onto Zoom. She has done a great job… Read more »

YDP for July–Mary Bolton

Mary Bolton has been with the Boys & Girls Club for three years now. She is  our Club Director for our newest site, Bill LibbonElementary. She did a great job during the school year and our Summer Brain Gain Camp. She is currently helping at Railroad in the afternoons as Co-Club Director for the PM… Read more »

Happy Kids Makes for Happy Parents

I’ve had the great privilege of joining the staff of Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast this Spring. Over the course of my first few weeks and months, I enjoyed the opportunities I had to meet staff, watch them in action with our members, watch the members play and enjoy their time at… Read more »