Keshena gets Boys and Girls Club

Club providing 4 hours of activities 5 days a week
By: 
Lee Pulaski
City Editor

KESHENA — The Menominee Indian School District is joining forces with the Woodland Boys and Girls Club in Neopit to provide a second Boys and Girls Club on the Menominee Reservation.

A kick-off event held Wednesday gave people a glimpse of what to expect from the organization at Keshena Primary School. The district and the Neopit club have been collaborating to develop a program for the first through fifth grades since September, according to Karl Morrin, the district’s assistant superintendent.

“We were approached by the Boys and Girls Club about having another site in Keshena, because they have the one in Neopit, to see how we can help the kids and the community,” Morrin said. “We want to provide a safe place for the kids to come after school.”

The district already has after-school programs of its own, but they only run three days a week for about an hour. The club would operate weekdays from 2-6 p.m., with some nutritional programming taking place at the end of the school day.

“As we go past 3 o’clock, there will be some other programs that take place,” Morrin said.

The next week, right before Christmas break, is expected to be a trial run for the new club, working out bugs in programming and giving students the opportunity to decide which programs they want to take part in, according to Morrin.

Eleanor Wayka, the Keshena site director for the club, said the students will be able to participate in a mentoring program, called Smart Moves. The program allows students to learn positive action and social skills, get help with reading and math through Wisconsin After 3, and help prevent diabetes with an active Trail Program.

There will also be some Menominee culture programs similar to what is done in Neopit, Wayka said.

“We do sweats up in Neopit right now,” Wayka said. “We have a dance troupe that does old-time dances from way back when, and the kids are coached by our elders. We do some singing and drumming, as well.”

The club will also provide dinner to its members at the end of every session. That part of the program will launch after the new year, and the club is hoping to find high school students seeking culinary careers to be interns and help the cooks prepare and provide the meals.

“This isn’t going to be just for the kids in the Boys and Girls Club,” Morrin said, noting that the dinner will be available to all students in the district, including the neighboring Menominee Indian High School. “They can get a meal before they go home, and it’s a way we can give kids another meal, if they need it.”

The Woodland Boys and Girls Club has about 500 members and serves an average of 60-75 youth every day, according to Wayka. Morrin said there are about 85-90 students that take part in the primary school’s after-school program, so it is expected that some of those students — along with others — will become part of the Boys and Girls Club.

“It’s a safe place for kids to be when parents are working late,” Morrin said.

Most Boys and Girls Clubs charge a nominal fee to families, but the Keshena club is offering membership free of charge, according to Morrin. The program will be supported through a combination of tribal and school funding.

lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com