5 PROGRAM AREAS
We pursue positive outcomes through 5 program areas.
Education & Career Development
Character & Leadership Development
Health & Life Skills
The Arts
Sports, Fitness & Recreation
EDUCATION & CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Programs in this Core Area of Education & Career Development enable youth to become proficient in basic educational disciplines, apply learning to everyday situations and embrace technology to achieve success in a career. Programs in this core area include:
- Project Learn: Project Learn reinforces and enhances the skills and knowledge young people learn at school during the hours they spend at the Club. Through Project Learn, Club staff use all the areas and programs in the Club to create opportunities for high-yield learning activities, which include leisure reading, writing activities, discussions with knowledgeable adults, helping others, homework help and tutoring and games like Scrabble that develop young people’s cognitive skills.
- Power Hour: Making Minutes Count provides Club professionals with the strategies, activities,resources and information to create an engaging homework help and tutoring program that encourages Club members at every age to become self-directed learners.
- Goals For Graduation: Introduces academic goal setting to Club members ages 6-15 by linking their future aspirations with concrete actions today. In goal-setting sessions with Club youth development professionals, members set achievable “Know-I-Can” Goals, more challenging “Think-I-Can” Goals, and yearly “Believe-I-Can” goals. Members create an action plan with daily and weekly goals leading to short- and long-term gains.
- Career Launch: This fun and exciting program prepares teens for the working world. Club teens 13-18 years old embark on a journey to explore careers, make sound educational decisions and find success in the world of work.
- Money Matters: Money Matters promotes financial responsibility and independence among Club members ages 13 to 18. Participants learn how to manage a checking account, create a budget, save and invest, start small businesses and pay for college.
- STEM: The Club’s STEM program ranges from daily building challenges and video game design to weekly Lego Mindstorm sessions to a hands-on middle school program called Wise Guys and Wise Girls. STEM promotes collaboration and good decision-making through design, trial and error, and scientific experimentation.
CHARACTER & LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Programs in this Core Program Area of Character & Leadership Development empower youth to support and influence their Club and community, sustain meaningful relationships with others, develop a positive self-image, participate in the democratic process and respect their own and others’ cultural identities. Programs in this core area include:
- Youth of the Month: Staff select an outstanding member based on participation, attitude, character, and leadership qualities. Members move on to participate in the Youth of the Year program.
- Youth of the Year: Established in 1947, Youth of the Year is BGCA’s premier recognition program for Club members, promoting service to Club, community and family; academic success; strong moral character; life goals; and poise and public speaking ability.
- Learning Circles: In partnership with the Junior League this program provides positive female role models for our young girls to develop their self confidence, awareness, and favorable life skills.
- Torch Club: Torch Clubs are chartered, small-group leadership andservice clubs for boys and girls ages 11 to 13. A Torch Club is a powerful vehicle through which Club staff can help meet thespecial character development needs of younger adolescents.
- Keystone Club: The Boys & Girls Club Movement’s ultimate teen program. This unique leadership development experience provides opportunities for young people ages 14 to 18. Youth participate, both in and out of the Club, in activities in three focus areas: academic success, career preparation and community service. With the guidance of an adult advisor, Keystone Clubs aim to have a positive impact on members, the Club and community.
HEALTH & LIFE SKILLS
Programs in this Core Program Area of Health & Life Skills develop young people’s capacity to engage in positive behaviors that nurture their own well-being, set personal goals and live successfully as self-sufficient adults. Programs in this core area include:
- SMART Moves: The SMART Moves (Skills Mastery and Resistance Training) prevention/education program addresses problems such as drug and alcohol use and premature sexual activity. The program uses a team approach to teach young people ages 6 to 15 how to say no by involving them in discussion and role-playing, practicing resistance and refusal skills, developing assertiveness, strengthening decision-making skills and analyzing media and peer influence.
- Passport to Manhood: promotes and teaches responsibility in boys ages 11-14 through highly interactive activities to underscore the notion that he is on a personal journey of maturation and growth.
- SMART Girls: An outgrowth of the popular and effective SMART Moves program, SMART Girls is a health, fitness, prevention/education and self-esteem enhancement program for girls ages 8 to 17. The program is designed to encourage healthy attitudes and lifestyles that will enable early adolescent girls to develop to their full potential.
- Triple Play: Healthy Habits: Designed for ages 6 to 15, the program aims to incorporate healthy living and active learning in every part of the Club experience. Healthy Habits is also the “Mind” component of Triple Play: A Game for the Mind, Body and Soul, emphasizes good nutrition, regular physical activity and improving overall well-being.
- Healthy Habits: Each week, Clubs provide expert instruction in cooking and nutrition from local partners specific to each Club. Cooking methods, ingredient selection, and overall health concepts guide weekly discussion and practice sessions.
THE ARTS
Programs in this area enable youth to develop their creativity and cultural awareness through knowledge and appreciation of the visual arts, crafts, performing arts and creative writing. Programs in this core area include:
- Digital Arts Suite and Festival: Club Tech’s Digital Arts Suite teaches members ages 6 to 18 how to create computer-generated art. The festivals showcase members digitally created masterpieces. Club members ages 10 to 18 are invited to submit their artwork to the annual Club Tech Digital Arts Festivals, which celebrate Club members’ creativity in graphic design, photo illustration, digital music composition animation and video production. The regional and national winning artworks can be sampled by going to the Digital Arts Festival Gallery site, www.bgca.org/digitalart.
- National Fine Arts Exhibit Program: This year-round program encourages artistic expression among Club members ages 6-18 through drawing, painting, printmaking, collage, mixed media and sculpture while providing opportunities for members to create artwork for display in a local exhibit.
- Imagemakers: This year-round program encourages Club members ages 6 to 18 to learn and practice black-and-white, color, digital and alternative process photography.
- James River Violin Program: Established in 2016, the weekly strings program has quickly become a hit at the James River Club. In partnership with the Charlottesville Symphony, members receive weekly instruction from qualified expert instructors as they learn techniques to play stringed instruments.
SPORTS, FITNESS & RECREATION
Programs in this area develop fitness, positive use of leisure time, skills for stress management, appreciation for the environment and social skills. Programs in this core area include:
- Triple Play: A Game Plan for Mind, Body & Soul – Triple Play strives to improve the overall health of Club members ages 6-18 by increasing their daily physical activity, teaching them good nutrition and helping them develop healthy relationships. The Mind component encourages young people to eat smart through the Healthy Habits program. The Soul component helps build positive relationships and cooperation among young people.
- Social Recreation: Play board and table games, compete in a tournament, learn a new activity or just visit with friends. Social Recreation programs help members learn skills while teaching them how to work together.
- Lacrosse the Nations: Lacrosse the Nations provides a week long camp and bi-weekly intramural league in the summer for the Boys & Girls Club. The mission of this nonprofit, working domestically and in Central America, is to unify the lacrosse community to sustainably improve education and health while creating hope and opportunity for children in need. To learn more visit www.lacrossethenations.org.
Anita McGinty is a longtime volunteer for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Virginia. Dr. McGinty comes to the Club with 20+ years of experience in education and research. She began her work as a speech-language pathologist and, after receiving her Ph.D. in 2009, has served as an academic and education leader, influencing practice and policy at local, state, and national levels. In 2021, Anita left her position as an Associate Research Professor within the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia (UVA), having led the data and research agenda for two state education partnerships (spanning children birth to third grade).
Edward Warwick White began his involvement with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Virginia when he joined the Big Gig committee in 2014, later chairing the event in 2016 and co-chairing again in 2018. Edward has been active as a volunteer and Co-Chair of Club Investors. Edward currently serves as the Assistant Dean of the Full-time MBA Program and Student Affairs at the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business. Edward earned a Bachelor of Science degree in interdisciplinary studies and elementary education from Radford University and a Masters of Education in Student Affairs Practice in Higher Education from the University of Virginia. Edward has worked for the University of Virginia since 2008—previously with the Office of the Dean of Students and the McIntire School of Commerce. Having resided in Charlottesville since 2007, Edward is active in the local community and performing arts scene—as a director, designer, actor, and volunteer. Edward has served on the board of directors for Four County Players–Central Virginia’s longest running community theater for over ten years, currently serving as the Vice President of the Arts. He resides in Forest Lakes with his husband Gary and their Golden Retriever, Gatsby.
Mike Milligan is the retired Chief Executive of a diversified investment and industrial operating company. He is a graduate of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Sue has over thirty-five years of experience in clinical research and public health. She has held positions involved with the management and oversight of medical device and IVD clinical trials, clinical research strategy, and business development.
Ernie was born and raised in Palo Alto, California. Upon graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1987, he was commissioned in the U.S. Marine Corps. Ernie served in the Marines for 20 years, in various capacities and all over the world. After serving as an artillery officer with the First Marine Division, Ernie earned his J.D. from The George Washington University School of Law in 1994, and served as a judge advocate in the Marine Corps. Highlights of his service include shipboard deployment as the Staff Judge Advocate to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), 2000 – 2002 and as Commanding Officer of Region 3, Embassy Security Group, commanding the U.S. Marines guarding U.S. Embassies and other diplomatic missions in Asia, 2005 -2007. He retired from military service in 2007, with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Gineane grew up in Charlottesville and graduated from UVA’s McIntire School of Commerce in 1992. Shortly after college, she and her husband, Sean Stalfort, moved to New York City where Gineane worked in investment banking and insurance (Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, FGIC, MBIA and ContiFinancial). After returning to Charlottesville, she has provided part-time consulting services to small businesses in the areas of computer systems, invoicing, marketing and website maintenance. Gineane is a valued volunteer leader with various local organizations including the Contemporary Club of Albemarle, The Emergency Food Bank, US Lacrosse, WAHS Lacrosse Club, and the Special Olympics.
Dr. Karen Schulder Rheuban serves as Professor of Pediatrics, Senior Associate Dean for Continuing Medical Education and External Affairs, and Director of the University of Virginia Center for Telehealth, which she co-founded in 1995. The Center serves as the hub of a 155 site telemedicine network in the Commonwealth of Virginia, funded in part, by federal and state grants and contracts, and has supported ambulatory and specialty patient visits, e-consults, remote patient monitoring services and thousands of hours of health professional and patient education. UVA is the home of the HRSA funded Mid-Atlantic Telehealth Resource Center. Dr. Rheuban is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Telemedicine Association. She recently concluded two terms of service as chair of the Virginia Board of Medical Assistance Services (Medicaid). She chaired the 2020 Virginia Department of Health/Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association’s COVID-19 Response Telehealth Working Group. She led the Institute of Medicine Workshop on Telehealth, serves on the American Medical Association’s Digital Medicine Payment Advisory Group, and the AAMC Telehealth Advisory Committee. Dr. Rheuban has previously testified before the US Senate, the US House of Representatives and the Virginia General Assembly regarding telehealth. With Dr. Elizabeth Krupinski, she co-edited the text “Understanding Telehealth”. Dr. Rheuban is listed in the “Best Doctors in America” database, and was profiled in the National Library of Medicine’s exhibit “Changing the Face of Medicine: Celebrating America’s Women Physicians.” In 2017, the University of Virginia recognized her with its Thomas Jefferson Award.
A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Eric Dewane Johnson graduated from the University of Virginia, where he majored in psychology. He served as the City of Charlottesville first coordinator of the Victim/Witness Assistance Program in which he provided crisis intervention services and court preparation to victims and witnesses of violent crimes. One of his responsibilities was to educate students about establishing healthy relationships to prevent domestic violence. Eric developed an affinity for teaching youth.
A graduate of Mississippi State University, Amanda had a career in Fashion
Basketball great Ralph Lee Sampson, Jr. was born on July 7, 1960 in Harrisonburg, VA to the proud parents of Ralph & Sarah Sampson and the eldest of three children. Sampson credits his sound, small town upbringing in Harrisonburg, Virginia, as well as the love and support of his parents and high school basketball coach, for his success today. At a young age, Sampson learned both the importance of teamwork and leadership, as he led his high school basketball team to three state championships, becoming the most heavily-recruited prospect of his generation.
Melissa has recently returned to the University of Virginia as the John Forbes Distinguished Professor of Business Administration at the Darden School of Business and Professor of Public Policy at the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. She is the former Head of Global Diversity and Belonging at Airbnb, where she led the strategy and execution of their global internal diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging programs and retains an external senior advisor role focused on advancing connection and belonging research. Immediately prior to her role at Airbnb, Melissa served as Vice Provost for Inclusive Excellence and Professor of Management in the Owen School of Management at Vanderbilt University. Prior to that, Melissa served as global chief diversity officer and faculty at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business where she led the Women in Leadership executive education program and was the founding academic director of the BRAD lab. She has also held faculty appointments at Cornell University’s Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, where she was a member of the faculty for nine years, and also taught at Northwestern’s Kellogg School, Washington University’s Olin School of Business, and Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. Melissa has been actively engaged in nonprofit board service. She currently serves on the board of Airbnb.org and has previously been a board member at The Center for Nonprofit Excellence, The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, Piedmont CASA, The Center for Dispute Resolution, and the Women’s Opportunity Center.