Boys & Girls Clubs location set to open attached to middle school

Students at George McGovern Middle School are about to experience an entirely new way to spend their hours after school.

A new Boys & Girls Clubs center, attached to the school, will open in time for the first day of school on Aug. 21.

“It’s a great partnership,” said Stacy Jones, CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Sioux Empire.

The 16,400-square foot, donor-funded center is expected to serve hundreds of students and their families after school, on non-school days and weekdays during the summer.

“Having this direct access is just huge for these kids,” said Steve Hildebrand, CEO of Promising Futures Fund, which helped secure donations to build the club.

It can accommodate about 300 people, and “the enrollment will go up dramatically” once families realize what’s offered, he predicted.

The Sioux Falls School District owns and will maintain the building, including using it during school hours as needed. Kids who meet certain goals might be invited in for a special project, for instance.

“There’s some great motivators we can do with the school,” Jones said.

The building was designed for safety, she added. There’s an open floor plan with glass throughout and a dedicated room for backpacks, meant to encourage participation in activities.

And there will be plenty of activities.

When kids first enter the club, they’ll see a social recreation space with competitive games like pool and shuffleboard “to give them a time to connect to each other and have a place to belong,” Jones said.

A meal and snack will be served after school, and during the summer, students will receive breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack.

An estimated 73 percent of students at George McGovern are eligible for free and reduced lunch.

The club also includes some quiet areas for studying and mentoring, as well as a lot of interactive educational space. Students will be required to participate in activities, which will range from STEAM — science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics — to an innovation lab with esports options.

A teaching kitchen — indoors and outside — will allow students to learn about food preparation and nutrition.

“We’ve had several employers reach out and do tours already,” said Jones, adding businesses likely will partner to bring programs into the club.

“It’s an incredibly flexible space,” she said.

A full-size gymnasium will include equipment donated by Scheels for basketball, volleyball and pickleball.

“We can do a tae kwan do camp in there. We can do a cheer camp. There are lots of opportunities,” Jones said.

The club will be open until 8 p.m. during the school year and until 7 p.m. during the summer. Importantly, transportation home will be provided for students as needed.

The middle school’s leaders “are incredibly smart about the population they serve and very thoughtful about how to serve them outside the normal school day,” Hildebrand said. “They understand transportation was a huge barrier to students and what after-school programming can do for a kid.”

Being around more adult role models is key too, Jones said.

She points to a former Boys & Girls Clubs participant who was mentored as a student and encouraged to pursue a career in drawing. He’s now an architect in Omaha who looked at the designs for the Sioux Falls club and gave feedback.

“We will be collecting a lot of data,” Jones said, adding that typically when after-school programming is added, schools see an increase in attendance during the school day and improved grades.

“We’ll be able to track all that.”

While funds were raised to build the club, donations will be needed continually to fund operations, especially given recent cuts in federal funding.

“This is a major new program, and it’s going to take a lot of money to operate,” Hildebrand said.

While he raised funds for construction, going forward the Boys & Girls Clubs will raise donations for the operations.

“There’s something for everyone here,” Hildebrand said. “If you’re a kid who wants to shoot hoops or do esports or learn cooking, there’s so much to do here, and there will be opportunities for all kids. These will be new friendships, and it will be a safe place to go.”