College Bound Graduates, The Journey Continues

After fours years of high school, we said thank you and congratulations to our College Bound graduating seniors at the College Bound Celebration on May 29 at the Warner Grand Theatre.

Argelia Atilano addresses our graduating seniors.

For many of the students, going to college seems like a very difficult dream to accomplish. The rising cost of tuition, strict application requirements and distractions students face in high school push that dream further away. However, when students enter our College Bound centers at our San Pedro, Wilmington and Port of LA Clubs, they are provided with the resources and support they need to accomplish their dreams.

College Bound Celebration keynote speaker, Argelia Atilano of KLove Radio and Univision TV, has roots in our local community. She told attendees of seeing a young girl standing outside of an apartment building on Pacific Avenue in San Pedro near the apartment where she once lived. In that girl, Argelia said that she saw, "Argelia the dreamer," who had no idea that she would one day be awarded a scholarship to Loyola Marymount University and develop a successful career as a radio and TV personality. It was a great reminder to our youth of how far they have come and all they will soon accomplish.

Cathy Choi of the Eisner Foundation receives an

artistic token of appreciation from our youth.

Executive Director Mike Lansing started the College Bound program in 2002 and has watched it grow into the program it is today, with over 300 high school seniors being honored at this year's celebration. When addressing our graduating youth, he reminded them to "work harder and work smarter," as they enter the next stage of their lives.

Congratulations College Bound graduates, class of 2014!

College Bound volunteer Kathy Logan (far right) is honored by

Mike Lansing, Board President Yvonne Bogdanovich and
College Bound Director Yesenia Aguilar.

The College Bound Celebration also gives us the opportunity to thank supporters of the program. The Eisner Foundation which has provided funds essential to the expansion of College Bound through the years was given special recognition during the celebration. College Bound volunteer Kathy Logan was also honored for her dedication to our youth.

Thanks to our generous supporters, during the celebration we awarded $122,000 in scholarships to 46 graduating seniors making a significant impact in the lives of our graduates. Scholarships were donated by:

Charles Abbott Family Foundation

College Access Foundation

College Bound Alumni

Herb and Arlene Zimmer

Joe Rich Family Foundation

John Gogian Family Foundation

Palos Verdes Junior Women's Club

Palos Verdes Peninsula Rotary Club 

San Pedro Rotary Club

Board member, Suzy Zimmerman of State Farm

Board member Suzy Zimmerman presented her own scholarship as well as scholarships from the 

Palos Verdes Peninsula Rotary where she serves as president.

San Pedro Rotary incoming president Arlene Dickey presents a scholarship.

College Bound Director Yesenia Aguilar with one of our scholarship recipients.

Herb and Arlene Zimmer present their scholarship.

For the first time, two of our College Bound alumni raised funds for a scholarship. Christian Velasquez, currently attending LMU, and David Rosales, currently attending CSU Stanislaus, with their scholarship recipient.

Honoring our College Bound Graduating Seniors

On May 29 at 6:00 pm at the Warner Grand Theatre, we will honor our College Bound graduating seniors from San Pedro and Wilmington at our 8th Annual College Bound Celebration.

Many high school students devote their time and energy on pursuing their dreams of going to college. With all of the obstacles youth face - including financial barriers, strict application requirements, balancing extracurricular activities, unsafe environments, peer pressure, and family obligations - it's always cause to celebrate when they have successfully navigated their way to high school graduation. Our College Bound program provides students with the resources and attention they need to overcome these obstacles. 

Elizabeth Machado is one of the graduating seniors from our San Pedro Club who will be honored at the Celebration as one of our highest achieving students. Elizabeth is a San Pedro High School senior and was accepted into several top universities including an Ivy League school before choosing to go to UCLA in the fall. She is a first generation Mexican American and her family has experienced much success thanks to College Bound. Her cousin and brother both completed the program and will return to San Pedro from their four-year universities to celebrate with Elizabeth. Her younger brother is working hard with College Bound case managers to match his sister’s accomplishments in a couple of years.

"The College Bound program gave me the support I needed as I applied to rigorous schools and countless scholarships. I am thankful that the staff gave me the "push" I needed to get them completed within deadlines." - Elizabeth

Francisco Hinojosa is a Banning High School graduate from the Wilmington Club who has overcome social and financial struggles to accomplish his dreams. He will attend UC Santa Barbara in the fall as the first in his family to go to college. He was raised in a low income household by parents who each work two jobs to support their family which required Francisco to take on a part-time job to help. Despite these hardships, Francisco was able to balance school, extra-curricular activities, community service and his job to get good grades. Thanks to the support of the College Bound program in helping him keep up his grades and complete his applications, Francisco earned the financial aid and scholarships to make his dreams a reality.

"I can honestly say that if I would've never joined the Club and the College Bound program, I would be lost. I would've never known my full potential as a person and abilities to go to college,” - Francisco.

Kimberly Melendez is a senior at Banning High School, attends our Wilmington Club and will attend UC Berkeley in the fall. As she was preparing her college applications with the guidance of our College Bound case managers, she spoke of the many challenges she faced when she entered high school. Many of the youth in her neighborhood fell into gang life or dealt with teen pregnancy. The Boys & Girls Club became a place that she could escape and make friends with peers who shared similar goals. Despite seeing her friends succumb to distractions, Kimberly focused on her school work and will graduate as an AP scholar for her high marks on multiple Advanced Placement exams.

"The College Bound Program has provided me with the foundation and fundamentals I needed to go onto my dream college. The staff here are like family to me. - Kimberly

Joshua Villanueva attends our San Pedro Club and will graduate from San Pedro High School to attend San Jose State University in the fall. For Joshua, the Club has been like a second home for many years. He joined the College Bound program in 6th grade which helped him keep his grades up in middle school to take college ready classes in high school. Joshua's parents worked very hard to support their family and, as a result, were not very present at home. However, they did encourage him to participate in extracurricular activities and join Boys & Girls Club programs to stay on the right track. He will graduate with a San Pedro Pirate Boosters scholarship for his accomplishments as a student athlete on the basketball team.

“Honestly if I didn't have College Bound I would not be going to college. You guys made the process of picking schools easy and made my experience of high school more fun filled.” - Joshua

Councilman Joe Buscaino Joins Us for Daniel's Field Athletics Facility Groundbreaking

After many years of planning and fundraising, we have launched a project to install a multipurpose recreational area in the historic Daniel's Field in San Pedro. The new facility, facing our San Pedro Boys & Girls Club, will include a sports arena with ADA accessible ramp, a baseball batting cage, golf driving-range cages, picnic and snack area and sustainable landscaping. 

Councilman Joe Buscaino at the Daniel's Field Groundbreaking

San Pedro Club alumnus, Councilman Joe Buscaino, joined Executive Director Mike Lansing and our youth for the groundbreaking ceremony on April 22. Special speakers for the event included Mark Mariscal, Region Superintendent of the Department of Recreation and Parks; Ray Brewer, Field Office Director of the Department of Housing and Urban Development; and John N. Vidovich, Assistant Chief of LAFD and Boys & Girls Club Board member.

Our Executive Director Mike Lansing 

with Councilman Buscaino

Councilman Buscaino kicked off our groundbreaking ceremony by detailing the new additions to Daniel's Field and getting our youth members excited about the new athletics programs. He also spoke of the importance of education and our organization's national impact with the College Bound program.

Executive Director Mike Lansing spoke next about the long journey to get to this point. He expressed his optimism about the new additions to Daniel's Field and, turning to our youth, explained that we are adding the new area for, "you to use and hopefully that even your kids can one day use."

We are very excited about the changes we are implementing at Daniel's Field and the way it will benefit our community. Our athletics programming will expand significantly once the project is complete with the quality recreational opportunities our youth deserve.

Kory Minor Visits the San Pedro Boys & Girls Club

It's always a great inspiration for our youth to meet a Boys & Girls Club alumnus who accomplished greatness in the face of adversity. Yesterday, entrepreneur and former NFL linebacker, Kory Minor visited our San Pedro Club to tell his story, starting with the decisions he made as a young athlete.
 

Kory Minor with some excited fans at our Club!

Kory is a former All-American football linebacker originally from Los Angeles. In his senior year of high school, he was named Defensive Player of the Year by USA Today. He went on to the University of Notre Dame where he was a 4-year star on defense and team captain. In his professional career he played for the San Francisco 49ers and Carolina Panthers. 

Like many of our members, Kory was faced with distractions while trying to accomplish his goals. He was raised by a single mother and, although he dreamed of one day playing for Notre Dame, he knew his family couldn't afford to send him to his dream school. Kory had two options: either give up on his dream or commit to it. Kory chose to commit and spoke to our young athletes about the importance of committing to a dream and working hard for that dream.

"Whatever you are dreaming now is possible if you commit to believe and commit to work."

Kory Minor speaking at the San Pedro Boys & Girls Club.

Kory also spoke about the friends he lost in high school because he was so focused on his goal. He stayed away from anything that could distract him like drinking, smoking or doing drugs and only spent time with people who didn't fall into those behaviors. When he was named Defensive Player of the Year by USA Today, he proved wrong everyone who didn't believe in him and was awarded a full scholarship to Notre Dame.

Today, Kory is a motivational speaker, business strategist and a five store franchisee of Domino's Pizza where he took his franchise company from $600,000 in sales to nearly $4 million as an owner. He motivates individuals and organizations as CEO of Kory Minor Industries. Kory spoke of the importance of valuing education as he did when he utilized his degree in business to create a legacy for himself.

Thanks to Kory for sharing the valuable lessons he learned on his journey from young hopeful athlete to NFL player and successful business owner.

Youth of the Year

Youth of the Year Brittany Barksdale with her family.

On January 9, we hosted our annual Youth of the Year competition to select our official youth representative for 2014. The event included the Youths of the Year for our San Pedro Club, Port of LA Club and Wilmington Club competing for the coveted spot. We are proud to announce that Port of LA Club member, Brittany Barksdale is the 2014 Youth of the Year for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor. 

In November and December of last year, our three Clubs held their own Youth of the Year competitions to select an exemplary youth who would represent their Clubs. Brittany was chosen by the Port of LA Club in December and by our organization earlier this month due to her hard work and strong values. She is a senior at Port of LA High School where she is the president of the Black Student Union and member of the cheer team. At the Port of LA Club, she serves as president of the Keystone group, leading her peers in volunteer activities for the community. Brittany will go on to represent our organization at the Youth of the Year competition for Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles County and, if successful, will continue to compete in additional regional competitions.

The Youth of the Year competition is designed for the most dedicated youths in our organization. Ashley Escobedo was selected as the Youth of the Year for our San Pedro Club where she serves as president of her Keystone group and works part time in our high school center. She is a senior at CALPAC charter high school. Crystal Cabello was selected as the Youth of the Year for our Wilmington Club where she works part time as a staff and role model to our elementary school youth. She attends Long Beach City College and is also part of her Club's Keystone group. All three Youths of the Year demonstrate our mission in their daily activities. We are very proud of their accomplishments!

Selecting our Youth of the Year was a challenging process for our volunteer judges. A special thanks to Eileen Hupp of the Palos Verdes Chamber of Commerce, Betsy Brien of Phillips 66, Steve Faichney of Valero and Rosa Pesenti of Xerox who selected our Youth of the Year as well as Ryan Ferguson and Gabriela Medina of Councilmember Joe Buscaino's Office, Isaac Finch of Fin-wall & Associates, George Mayer of Coastline Equity, Oscar Salcedo of I Heart Wilmington, Joseph Kuban of LAPD Sheriffs' Dept. and Alma Ortiz of Hojas Tea House & Cafe for serving as judges at the individual Club competitions.

All three Youths of the Year from our organization.

F.O.C.U.S. Basketball Clinic

As we were wrapping up the semester and preparing for holiday break last month, our San Pedro Boys & Girls Club hosted the 1st Annual F.O.C.U.S. Basketball Clinic. The goals of the clinic were to help our youth basketball players improve their athletic ability and allow them to develop team-building skills. The program was open to our members, 8 to 10 years of age, with 48 young athletes participating.

A student testing her skills as her peers cheer her on.

Head Coach Phillip Redd led the clinic. Each day he and his fellow coaches introduced a new term, setting the theme for that day's lesson.

"F" focuses on “Fundamentals” - an important element to basketball. 
"O" focuses on “Opportunity” - playing any sport with a team is a very unique opportunity.
"C" focuses on “Character” - building character on and off the court/field.
"U" focuses on “Unity” - an important component of team building and team work.
"S" focuses on “Sportsmanship” - the one thing you have complete control over when participating in sports. 

The clinic was a great success and the youth involved will be able to build on the skills they developed this new year.

Coach Phillip Redd guides our students through their basketball clinic practice.

Meet The Challenge

Since 1937, we have been meeting the challenge. At 15 sites in San Pedro and Wilmington, we help over 12,000 youth reach their full potential in academics, arts and athletics.

Now we need you to join us and Meet the Challenge!

A generous, anonymous donor has offered a one-time challenge matching grant of $250,000 that will enable us to significantly expand our programming and the number of youth we serve. For every new or upgraded donation, our champion of youth will match dollar for dollar up to $250,000.  That means if you make a new donation of $100 today, your impact will be doubled to $200 automatically.

Please help us Meet The Challenge and donate at www.bgclaharbor.org/give/donate, call our Development Department at (310) 833-1322 ext. 242 or 230, or mail in the form at the this link with your donation to:

Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor

1200 S. Cabrillo Avenue

San Pedro, CA 90731

We greatly appreciate your support in helping us sustain and grow our programming. We could not continue to provide educational opportunities and a safe haven to Harbor area youth without your generosity.

Over 2,400 Thanksgiving Meals Served at Our Clubs

Every year, we host Thanksgiving Dinners at our Clubs including the San Pedro Boys & Girls Club, Wilmington Boys & Girls Club, Port of Los Angeles Boys & Girls Club and, this year for the first time, the new Harry Bridges Span School Club site in Wilmington. Open to all youth members of the Club and their families, the annual Thanksgiving Dinners offer families the opportunity to come together and celebrate as a community. 

Our Arts Academy band entertaining the community at our Wilmington Club dinner.

Attendees ate their dinner with the all of the trimmings in our Club gyms decked out with seasonal decorations. Live music was provided by our Arts Academy musicians and there were presentations by Club youth about what they are thankful for.

National Charity League mother-daughter volunteers at our San Pedro Club dinner.

The National Charity League Palos Verdes Chapter, Palos Verdes Rotary, San Pedro Rotary and Los Angeles City Fire Department Chief of Staff and Club Board member John Vidovich donated all of the turkeys and hams for the over 2,400 meals that were served at the four dinners from November 19 to November 22. Bonert’s Slice of Pie in Santa Ana donated all of the pumpkin pies served at the dinners.

National Charity League Ticktocker taking family portraits.

Volunteers from both Rotary groups attended the dinner at our newest site at Harry Bridges Span School to assist in serving. National Charity League mother-daughter team volunteers assisted at the San Pedro Club dinner and the Wilmington Club dinner, serving meals and taking family portraits for attendees to have a keepsake of the evening. Student volunteers from Marymount California University who are currently assisting with our programming, volunteered as servers at the Port of Los Angeles Club dinner. The Port of Los Angeles employee band even donated their time to entertain our families at our Port of Los Angeles Club dinner.

For some of the families we serve, this is the only hot meal they will be able to have together this season. Thanks to generous organizations like National Charity League, Rotary and individuals like John Vidovich we were able to ensure that all of our youth were given the opportunity to have a great Thanksgiving.

A Port of Los Angeles Club family enjoying their Thanksgiving.

Our San Pedro Club community celebrating Thanksgiving.

First Annual Fall Arts Academy Showcase on December 4

On December 4 at 4:30 p.m., we will celebrate the culmination of our Arts Academy’s first year of instruction with a FREE showcase at the Warner Grand Theater in San Pedro. In January 2013, we improved and expanded our Comprehensive Arts Programming to create the Arts Academy offering Saturday instruction to elementary, middle and high school students at the San Pedro Boys & Girls Club and the Wilmington Boys & Girls Club.

The arts education fills a need left by the recent exclusion of arts programming in local schools and gives more skilled youth an opportunity to further develop their talents in music, dance, fine arts, digital arts and film production.

Entertainment for the evening will commence with a fine arts gallery and opening reception at 4:30 p.m. Following displays will include demonstrations of game design, 3D modeling, animation and film production as well as live music and dance performances covering several popular genres and styles. 

For more information about our showcase or to reserve a seat please visit www.bgclaharbor.org/news/event-registration.

Check out the video below about our Arts Academy programming created by our students in the San Pedro Boys & Girls Club digital studio supported by the Taco Bell Foundation and the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation.

College Bound Workshops for Our High School Seniors

College Bound Director Yesenia Aguilar and her coordinators have been very busy these last couple of months making sure our seniors have all the tools they need to fill out their college applications. Every Monday through Saturday, our College Bound Centers at our San Pedro Club, Wilmington Club and Port of Los Angeles Club have been packed with high school students, especially seniors, preparing their applications with the support of our College Bound coordinators and case managers.

A College Bound tutor helps two high school seniors with their personal statements.

Deadlines for college and scholarship applications are closing in and we have been making sure that our students have the knowledge they need to turn in excellent applications. Our College Bound coordinators and case managers provide 1-on-1 mentoring to all of our College Bound students including our high school seniors which is needed now more than ever.

One way we have been assisting our high school seniors is with two workshops per week that walk our students through the entire college application process. The workshops have been attended by up to 80 seniors at each Club and topics range from "Selecting a College" to "Personal Statement Writing" to "Filling Out the UC Application."

High school seniors at our San Pedro Club take notes at a College Bound workshop on the UC application process. 

As a start to the application season, we hung up our "Wall of Fame" at each Club. The Wall displays pictures of our seniors. Once their acceptance letters start coming in, we will add the name of the colleges they were accepted to under their pictures. It has always been a very proud moment for our seniors to list the colleges that have accepted them under their pictures. We look forward to starting the process again this year!

Our previous College Bound Wall of Fame.

BODIES...The Exhibition Comes to the San Pedro Boys & Girls Club

We participated in the Great American Smokeout sponsored by the American Cancer Society on November 21 to raise awareness of the negative affects of smoking. To mark the occasion, BODIES...The Exhibition in Buena Park visited our San Pedro Boys & Girls Club middle school center for a presentation on how detrimental smoking can be to the human body. 

As a rare aspect of this type of presentation, a docent from BODIES was given permission to bring real human specimens from the exhibition to show the students first hand how smoking can damage organs and reduce life expectancy. The specimens had been prepared with polymer preservation, a process in which human tissue is permanently preserved using liquid silicone rubber. This allowed our students to get up close to the specimens and even touch them for a hands on educational experience about their health.

BODIES docent holding a transparent body slice of real human lungs to show the damage caused by smoking.

The BODIES docent presented specimens that have been damaged by smoking, including a real human brain of someone who smoked, transparent body slices showing damage to the lungs and kidneys and a set of smoker's lungs. This inspired our students to share stories of family members or other people they knew who had become sick as a result of smoking.

Our kids were given the opportunity to touch specimens that are normally only handled by doctors and medical students. Thanks to BODIES...The Exhibition our students are more aware of why they shouldn't smoke!

More information about BODIES...The Exhibition in Buena Park can be found at www.bodiestheexhibition.com/buenapark.

The BODIES specimens were prepared using polymer preservation allowing our students to learn through touch.

First Season of Flag Football Ends with Championships

This fall, our San Pedro Club and Wilmington Club athletics departments started flag football leagues for boys and girls ages 11-13 to compete against local middle school teams. The season ended on the last weekend of October with championship games at Daniel's Field in San Pedro. All of our teams took home trophies!

Our Wilmington Boys & Girls Club Colts with their 3rd place trophy.

Our Wilmington Boys & Girls Club team, the Colts, won against Holy Trinity School to take home the third place trophy. The Colts led by Coach Johnny Walter saw vast improvement throughout the season and were thrilled to end with a big win.

The San Pedro Boys & Girls Club flag football program, coached by Head Coach Phillip Redd, was so popular this season that two teams were organized, the Seahawks and the Bears. Both teams competed in the final game of the season with the first place trophy going to the Bears and the second place trophy going to the Seahawks. The awards ceremony at the championship included announcements of each team's MVP.

The flag football league has been a great addition to our extensive athletics programming which includes leagues for soccer and basketball as well as introductory lessons in a variety of sports to keep our youth healthy and active. 

San Pedro Boys & Girls Club Bears and Seahawks with our MVP holding the first place trophy.

Welcome to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor Blog!

Welcome! With this blog you will be able to stay up-to-date with all the great things that are happening at the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor. For those of you who are not familiar with us, the BGCLAH is comprised of stand alone club sites, (San Pedro Elementary Center, San Pedro Middle School Center, San Pedro Teen Center, Wilmington BGC, Wilmington Teen Center, Dana Strand BGC, and the POLA BGC,) as well as 10 LAUSD after-school sites. Our organization provides youth enrichment programs in the areas of Arts, Athletic, Academics, and Character Building. Great to see you here and look forward to sharing all the great things we do!