It’s summer, and every day the West Springfield Boys & Girls Club building fills with 200 kids between the ages of 2.9 and 14 who are learning, playing and growing – with the help of tireless, dedicated staff who bring energy, creativity, and heart to everything they do. And this year, those staff are joined by 25 members of our “Up Next” Program— “Work-Based Learners,” affectionately known as “WBL”s or “Weebles.”
Aged 15 to 18, these “WBL”s come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, and many of them are former “Club Kids” who aged out of our elementary and middle-school programs. For most of them, this summer is their first paid work experience. They started off with an application and interview process. Before beginning to work with our members, they spent two weeks working in a group with Club Safety Coordinator Marissa Friedman, reviewing essential concepts and getting to know one another, their mentors, and the facility. They learned about youth worker rights and workplace expectations, as well as about emotional, physical, and even digital safety.
Throughout the ten-week program, they will learn foundational job and workplace skills such as interviewing and resume building, explore potential career paths through workshops and mentoring, and develop key academic skills in areas such as self-advocacy, critical thinking, digital & financial literacy, and goal-setting. Now that camp is in full swing, they are getting to implement fun and exciting programs, teach games and songs, and lead enriching activities throughout our summer program at the Club, while being mentored and guided by our adult staff members.
We’re so excited to be able to welcome these 25 “Weebles” into the Club, and are already seeing how their creativity, enthusiasm, fresh perspectives and care for each other and our members are making this summer one to remember! Work-Based Learners from previous years have gone on to become valuable full-time staff members, won “Youth of the Year” awards, and many more accomplishments within and outside of the Club. Our goal, as always, is that this experience helps give them the skills, connections, and resources they need to succeed throughout their lives.
