Boys & Girls Club of Buena Park

College Bound

College Bound is a college and career readiness program that works to ensure high school students graduate on time with a customized plan for the future. This year-round program that provides daily academic support, sponsors numerous college pathway activities, including resource acquisition, explores career options, and prepares members for a successful experience after high school graduation. At the heart of the program is the one-to-one case management through which students receive the individualized guidance, encouragement, and resources they need to set and obtain their educational goals, whether that be through college, military or trade school pursuits.Our College Bound program is open to all high school students, introducing them to the idea and attainability of a college education, providing guidance and resources, and preparing them for success after graduation. The program also includes workshops and support for parents, since many of our graduates are the first in their families to pursue education beyond high school.

Family Strengthening

By strengthening the entire family unit, kids are more likely to tap into the greatness within. That belief was the fuel behind our Club's launch in 2012 of the initiative that reaches beyond serving just the kids in our after school program: Family Strengthening. Our program model focuses on educating, empowering, and equipping the parents in our community to improve their family's education, finances, and health. Through partnerships with over a 55 nonprofit and community partners (CHOC, Santa Ana Community College, Second Harvest Food Bank, Latino Health Access, HSE Academy, Boys Town, and many more), our Club is able to deliver strategic and valuable programming to our parents free of charge during the day when our Club facilities used to sit empty. Examples of some of the programs we provide our families include: financial literacy, English as a Second Language, high school equivalency programs, computer courses, parenting workshops, school readiness, healthy cooking, fitness, counseling, and social services enrollment. Along with all of the valuable programs offered to our parents, the Club also provides free child care for those parents with children not yet old enough to go to school. Our Family Strengthening initiative has evolved our Club into a full-service family resource center, delivering the necessary resources to over 500 low income families each year, targeting problem areas that affect the entire family through a holistic approach.

IMPACT Model

Our programs, based around our IMPACT model, focus on developing the whole child through a 360 degree approach. Every member at each location participates daily in our IMPACT model, a three-part rotation which focuses on academic success, health and wellness, and good character and citizenship. Our IMPACT model rotation provides each child with one hour of academic assistance and homework help, one hour of physical fitness, and one hour of an enrichment program every day. Our enrichment programs provide a regular rotation of opportunities for youth with a particular emphasis on building 21st century skills. We adopted project-based learning, which helps students develop soft skills such as collaboration, problem solving, and critical thinking. Our strategic program offerings, such as Engineering Adventures and DIY STEM, seek to expose members to 21st century technologies and careers.