Boys and Girls Club Offers Teen Services

Summer and after school programs for teens at the Boys and Girls Club of Salem, Marion and Polk Counties have expanded and can now be found at five of their branches.

Teen sites are now available at the Knudson Branch & Wipper Teen Center (1395 Summer St. NE, Salem), Epping Homestead Branch (3805 Lancaster Dr. NE, Salem), West Salem Branch (925 Gerth Ave. NW, Salem), Swegle Branch (1711 Aguilas Ct. NE, Salem) and the Woodburn Teen Center (400 Settlemier Ave, Woodburn).

The Woodburn Teen Center is the one location in the network that only serves teens.

The Boys and Girls Club is a low barrier, after school program. A one-year membership costs $5 per person, which includes a meal service, supervision, mentorship, homework help and programming.

This summer, the clubs are hosting an entrepreneurial workshop with a focus on content creation and mixed media arts. “We have an entrepreneurial program every summer, a 10-week program and in the past, we’ve done food trucks and farmer’s markets,” Boys and Girls Club Senior Teen Services Director Israel Cervantes said. “This year we’re taking a different approach where we wanted to get input from our teens. In brainstorming what their interests are, we came up with the mixed media arts theme.”

Students will be developing a YouTube channel or creating content based off of their own interests. They’ll be placed in small groups and create a logo, brand and commercial, to compete against other teens at the end of summer. First place gets $300 bucks in gift cards, second $200 and third place $100. The goal is to get them thinking about different careers in mixed media.

“At the end they get to come together, share their content and we’ll have staff who are participating that will be choosing a winner,” Cervantes said. “These teens are always online, engaging in content, so this gives them an opportunity to discuss different careers that one can pursue if they’d like to turn this hobby into a career.” 

During the school year, the Boys and Girls Club offers workshops on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) programming, service projects, college tours, industry tours and a workforce development program. 

For teens in high school, the goal is to get them prepared and pique their interest in several different career options. “We do this by providing several workshops throughout the school year with a focus on life skills and workforce readiness,” Cervantes said. “Examples include financial literacy, which can include budgeting, resume building workshops, mock interviews, cultural competency workshops, workshops on professionalism, conflict resolution, workplace etiquette, teamwork and collaboration, time management and job search strategies.”

The high school program also provides teens with a workforce development program to prepare them for future jobs. The workshops during the school year culminate with a paid internship during the summer.

“We want to find businesses and partners who share our values and also who see the good that comes out of these programs to be able to place them in paid internships at their businesses,” Cervantes said.  “It has a big impact on the teens and their families. We need more opportunities for these kids.”