Jennifer, the 2012 BGCM Youth of the Year with Ivan Gilreath, President / CEO of BGCM

On Saturday, January 28^th, Jennifer Jiminez was named the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands Youth of the Year before a group of area supporters, friends and family at the annual organizational competition held at the Woodmen Tower. She was one of five contestants, each representing an area Club to compete from the title.

Other candidates included Devin Young (Carter Lake Unit), Allysia Holm-Peoples (Mt. View Unit), Darian Henry (North Unit) and Devin Rollins (Westside Unit).

Jennifer, along with the other candidates delivered their speeches and gave interviews in front of a panel of judges including Victor Baez, Tom Kerr, Rick Kimble, Clarence Nichols and Marjory Podraza.

Jennifer began her speech in Spanish.

“I am the Boys & Girls Clubs,” Jiminez said, translating her original statement.

She recounted her early childhood difficulties in earning English.

“I couldn’t understand what the teachers were telling me at school,” Jennifer said. “I felt frustrated, dumb and out of place.”

On top of cultural setbacks, Jennifer said her family’s tight finances were another source of anxiety, leading the family to live out of a car for months and ration food.

“My parents never had money to put me in a sports class or a dance class,” Jiminez said. “But at the Boys & Girls Club, I didn’t care. I had this wonderful opportunity to enjoy being myself. I learned so many things that I still use today.”

Jiminez’s next stop is the state Youth of the Year Competition in Lincoln, March 20th. There she will compete against other organizational winners from across Nebraska for the state title. If selected, she will compete for the title of Midwest Regional Youth of the Year to win a $10,000 college scholarship. Regional Youth of the Year candidates compete for the national title in Washington, DC.

Pictures From the 2012 BGCM Youth of the Year:

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About Jennifer Jiminez

Jennifer  is currently a senior at Westside High School and has been coming to The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands South Unit for 4 years. She was born in Los Angeles, California and moved to Omaha, Nebraska when she was 7 years old. She’s been active in the Club, and is always willing to help. Upon high school graduation, Jennifer plans on attending the Art Institute of Los Angeles, where she will work towards a degree in fashion design. It is her dream to pursue a career in the fashion industry.

It’s time to mark your calendar for the event of the year.

Join us May 12th at the Omaha CenturyLink Center as The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands celebrates 50 years of making our community a great place to be a kid.

We’re brining in Boys & Girls Club alumni and rock ‘n’ roll legends Kool & the Gang to help us Celebrate Good Times and kick off another 50 years of service to our youth.

A sample of the evening’s entertainment:

Event Information

• Date: Saturday, May 12th, 2012
• Time:  6:00 pm
• Place: Omaha Centurylink Center – 455 North 10th Street (click for a map)

Formal invitations will be arriving soon. Follow us on Facebook for more information about our event and to learn about all Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands has done over the past 50 years and all we are continuing to do to make great futures for area kids.

If you have any further questions, please contact the Clubs at 402-342-1600 or by email events@bgcomaha.org.

Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) named Austin Hadfield the Midwest regional winner in its 10^th AnnualClub Tech Digital Arts Festivals competition for his entry in the Photo Tech category. As a regional winner, Hadfield, 17 will move on to represent the Midwest region at the national level of competition for the 16-18 age group.

For the Photo Tech category, Boys & Girls Club members were asked to create a poster that showcased citizens engaged in activities that give back to their community or depicts someone who models good character. Hadfield’s poster creation, entitled Great Leadership showcased his creativity and tech skills learned at The Boys and Girls Clubs of the Midlands. The entry will be judged by a panel of national experts.

Austin H.'s winning submission: Great Leadership

“Through theClub TechDigital Arts Festivals we’re able to inspire our future designers, game developers, filmmakers and musicians,” saidDan Rauzi, senior director of technology programs, Boys & Girls Clubs of America. “It is amazing what our kids and teens can do when given access to technology and allowed to express themselves creatively.”

Club Tech Digital Arts Festivals allow BGCA, along with founding sponsor Microsoft and Comcast, to give young people an avenue to get creative and design original pieces of digital artwork—from posters and PSAs to stop-motion animation and logos. The competition is one component of the Club Tech program which teaches critical technology skills. Members from across the globe, age 6-18 can take the tech skills they’ve learned through their Boys & Girls Clubs and enter various categories. In 2010, more than 20,000 young people participated in local contests.

“WithClub Tech, members are introduced to the world of clay animation, robotics, game design, digital movie making, photo illustration, graphic design and music production,” added Rauzi. “We’re giving them real-world skills that will not only help them excel in school, but create a future career.”

National teen winners receive an expenses-paid summer trip that includes sightseeing and job-shadowing experiences. In years past, winners have visited colleges and the offices of large corporations such as Microsoft, Comcast and Best Buy to get a behind-the-scenes look at potential careers.

The Festivals are just one way that Boys & Girls Clubs of America, founding sponsor Microsoft and Comcast hope to technologically enable some 4 million youth served by some 4,000 Clubs nationwide and abroad through Club membership and community outreach. Club Tech also provides software, develops and delivers curricula, and provides program management and computer training for staff and youth. The sponsorship allows Clubs to integrate technology into every aspect of the organization’s fabric, from overall management to core programs. To learn more about the technology programs offered at Boys & Girls Clubs, visit www.bgca.org/clubtech.

On November 10, 2011, our teens participated in our 4th annual Stock Market Challenge event in the afternoon, while over 200 participants from Omaha’s business community came together that evening to buy, sell and trade their way to the title of Stock Market Challenge champion.

In the end, The Kitty Cats team from our Council Bluffs unit were the champions during the teen event.  Our corporate winners that evening were the Energizers from Tenaska.

This event would not have been possible without the help of all of our generous sponsors, our 2011 Event Chairs, Judy Willour and Casey Fehringer, our Boys & Girls Clubs Family Guild, our BGC staff and our evening emcees — BGCM CEO, Ivan Gilreath and Channel 6 Newscaster, Jim Siedlecki.

The funds raised at our 2011 Stock Market Challenge help provide services to over 6,000 members that belong to one of our Clubs.  With membership fees at only $30 a year, the Club relies on support from the community to help  provide the programs we offer every day after school and during the summer.  Almost 160 of our Club teens participated in the Stock Market Challenge event in the afternoon, with the help of our partners from University of Nebraska at Omaha’s College of Business.  UNO College of Business faculty and students provided the training support prior to the game and served as our floor traders for both events.

Our winning teens, The Kitty Cats, ended with a net worth of just over $1.1 million and collectively received $5,000 from First National Bank’s Nebraska Educational Savings Trust and $400 in Visa Gift Cards.

On Saturday, September 17th, BGCM celebrated our Day for Kids!  We had over 600 people involved that included youth, parents, community members and staff.  We had music and dancing, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, and a “Reptile Show” by David Neives.  There were many community booths and volunteers from all over the city.

Mayor Jim Suttle attended our Day for Kids and he said he enjoyed dancing with all of the kids.  The Urban League was also very generous and sent people over to help with the day’s events.

There were so many positive and fun things that took place, we can’t wait until next year’s Day for Kids!

Click here for more pictures.