Boys & Girls Club of Plymouth, Inc.

Designed to incorporate healthy living and active learning in every part of the Club experience, Healthy Habits emphasizes good nutrition, regular physical activity, and improving overall well-being. Empowering youth to eat right is a generation-changing, life-enhancing program goal. The fitness program and Triple Play’s nutrition component covers the power of choice, calories, vitamins, and minerals. The food pyramid and appropriate portion sizes are emphasized and combined with food preparation challenges.

• STEM has completed a very successful pilot program funded in part by Samsung for 2 years. Beginning this school year and Summer Camp 90 girls will be recruited and retained in STEM. Past sessions (2) averaged 15 members each.
• STEM for our girls and young women is an all-staff goal to increase the number of females in STEM high school science electives and college majors and ultimately STEM fields. We must amplify our experimental program to help involve more women in science.
Topics include: Electricity & Energy, Engineering Design (architecture), Food Chemistry, Intro to Aeronautics, Science of Sports.
• Currently our STEM program meets twice a week for 2 hour sessions during the school year. During the summer, we adjust the schedule to having a STEM activity every day for the age group 6-13 year olds. The school year age group consists of 9-16 year olds. The DIY STEM curriculum includes units such as Engineering Design, Food Chemistry and Science of Sports. The expected outcomes are as follows:
• Expose members to STEM subject areas and engage them in interactive activities that are fun
• Develop their interests & provide resources & support to explore career options
• Recruit and retain underrepresented members in STEM programs with a focus on female members
• Equip members with more support and resources to prepare them for in-school STEM curriculum.

The program has several goals. Bright Futures seeks to keep youths from experimenting with and regularly using or abusing alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and other substances (opioids). These goals are accomplished by targeting five objectives that are related to mediating variables for which there is sufficient empirical evidence:
• To increase students' beliefs about peer norms which consider that abstinence from the use of drugs is normal, acceptable, and expected by peers. (Normative Beliefs).
• To increase students' perceptions that substance use and abuse will interfere with their preferred lifestyles (Lifestyle Incongruence).
• To increase students' personal commitment to avoiding the use of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. (Commitment).
• To increase the degree to which students' are socially bonded to positive friendship groups and social institutions (Pro-social Bonding).
• To increase positive parental attentiveness, including increasing parental monitoring, communication, and supervision (Parental Attentiveness).
The underlying assumptions that guide the Bright Futures program are that it must change and improve these qualities if problem behaviors are to be prevented. That is, the program must change students' normative beliefs, ideals, commitment, and bonding and must help parents to be better at parental attentiveness.

Established in 1947, Youth of the Year is the national Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s premier leadership recognition program for Club members, promoting service to Club, community and family; academic success; strong moral character; life goals; poise; and interviewing ability. Fifteen to twenty Club members participate in the year-long program with ten to twelve completing the requirements of community service, academic success, evidence of leadership, mentoring other members, composing three essays on plans, goals, and overcoming obstacles, and rigorous interviews by a panel of judges.
A gala awards dinner is held for the three finalists where they complete their public speaking requirement.