Boys and Girls Club
The Cotter Boys and Girls clubs is a second home to Alcott College Prep students. A place where we go to play games, practice, hang out, do homework, eat, and have fun. It is a place where we feel warmth and invited. Children from all around Chicago come here and feel welcomed. The club offers necessities like clothing, hygienic supplies, food, and housing supplies. For Alcott Students, our connection with the Boys and Girls club began from a simple welcoming hi. However, the Boys and Girls club as of right now isn't included In the redevelopment plan for the Lathrop Homes which means this site won’t exist, and because of that, kids will lose out on the opportunities that the Boys and Girls club offers.
The boys and girls club offers many programs like Street Smart, Fortune Manhood, Passport to Manhood, Smart Girls, and Keystone. Keystone in particular connects to students at Alcott like Dasia H who said, "I am the president of Keystone and we are a group of teenagers who are reaching for a goal to go to college and promote leadership at the Boys and Girls Club." She also insisted that without the club she and other members would lose a sense of family. Davion B is also a great example of a student at Alcott that uses this facility on his free time, he stated; “At the Boys and Girls Club I have the freedom to be a regular teenager, meet new people, have fun, and play the sports I love”. From a survey conducted with 150 students that attend Alcott, 60% of the students use the boys and girls club, while ⅓ of these students use it daily, the rest use it for activities like sports. 96% of these students use this facility after school, showing the importance of students actively participating in positive activities during their free time. When asking the students, “Do you think the community would be affected if the Boys and Girls Club was gone?” 67% of these students said yes, while 30% said I don't know and 3% said no. Most of the students that did respond to if the community will be impacted negatively stated, “Many children will not be able to do activities after school provided by the Boys and Girls Club, so this exposes them to trouble”, “People won’t be able to hang out in a safe environment and won’t be able to use it for school activities like sports.”, and “The community would lose a resource for families. We (Alcott) would lose a place to have our sports teams practice. ETC.” many responses were similar to these. Therefore, we believe that shutting down the Boys and Girls Club will have a crucial impact on this community. The boys and girls club isn't just a place where kids go and play games, but it's a place where it allows growth for every child walking through those doors. |
AuthorsDavion, Alex N., Merlinda,
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