Welcome To The Boys & Girls Club of Nappanee

Our Programs

Excite ... Challenge ... Stretch Limits ... Dream ... Prepare!

At each of our three Clubs, children have opportunities to participate in a wide variety of activities in five general program areas.

Health and Life Skills
Today’s children are maturing into an increasingly complicated world. They are bombarded every day with messages that are crafted to make them believe that certain behaviors and practices are not only normal, but glamorous.

Sometimes, all a child needs is a caring adult who will explain things, listen to his/her worries and patiently and honestly answer questions. The Club offers a number of specific programs that familiarize children with the dangers associated with the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. These programs are designed to help kids develop positive self-images and create healthy lifestyles.

Education and Career Development
Too many young people leave school unprepared to read, to write and to solve simple mathematical problems well enough to succeed in an increasingly complex work world.

Educational programming is the basis for everything that we do for children at the Boys & Girls Club. We believe that children perform better in school when they spend their non-school time engaged in fun, yet academically beneficial activities. Each day, under the direction of trained teaching professionals, children can improve their basic educational competence, learn to confidently use the latest computer technologies, set goals for and create plans for achieving those goals, and explore careers.

Character and Leadership Development
So much of life’s success is dependent on one’s capacity to form effective relationships with others — to communicate, to collaborate, and to solve problems constructively. At our Clubs, kids participate in activities which allow them to build a positive sense of self, to experience success, and to develop sustainable relationships with both peers and adults. They have opportunities to learn what it means to be a contributing citizen by undertaking projects that benefit both the Club and our communities.

The Arts
Club members have year around opportunities to develop and showcase their creative abilities by participating in such activities as:

drawing and painting
dance
origami
creative writing
culinary arts, and more

Through their participation in Club arts programs, children gain a greater appreciation of our wonderfully rich cultural heritage and at the same time, more enjoyably use their leisure time.

Sports, Fitness and Recreation
Boys & Girls Clubs have long been known as places where kids dribble basketballs and shoot pool. That sort of informal play is a very important aspect of Club participation. But the Clubs also offer a wide variety of more formally organized sports, including participation in the Michiana Youth Sports League (MYSL). When members participate in the MYSL, they get to wear uniforms, travel to game locations on a bus, and enjoy cheering spectators. These things are especially important to kids who, for whatever reason, are not able to participate in school team sports. Less strenuous tabletop activities are also offered, both formally and as tournaments. Here is a sampling of the sports and recreation opportunities at the Clubs:

basketball
volleyball
soccer
softball
sailing a boat
swimming
fishing
dodgeball
kickball; and much more

Members can choose their level of participation-- from "just for fun" to intramurals to becoming involved in the MYSL.

Through such participation, children learn to develop proper relationships with others, work as contributing members of a team, become physically and emotionally fit, and more enjoyably spend their leisure time.