WOODVILLE – A five-year grant through a federal program allowed for a Boys and Girls Club to operate a site in Woodville, and according to its director, the program is up and running and drawing a good response.
Jacob Knonlock, who serves as the Woodville Boys and Girls Club site director, said the program, which has been open to Woodville children for a month, is thriving, and offers a variety of opportunities to its participants after the school day is done.
“Being able to create a safe space for children to be able to try new things” is what program specialist Carol Cardona said has been most rewarding about the program.
Cardona, who has been involved with the Boys and Girls Club for five years, said the opportunity to open the site in Woodville at the old Woodville Intermediate School multi-purpose building came about through the federal Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Center grant program.
Cardona, who lives in Livingston, has worked in a variety of positions with the organization. The Woodville location is one of nine such sites in the region called a “Texas ACE” 21st century afterschool program.
The ACE acronym, which stands for Afterschool Centers on Education, also has centers in Corrigan, San Augustine and Nacogdoches, as recent additions to the regional Boys and Girls Club program.
Knoblock, who lives in Warren, is new to the program, having hired on in September as the site opened, but is not new to working with young people. He was a fifth-grade math teacher and said he is eager to work with community members in helping to keep the program thriving in Woodville.
Currently, there are more than 30 children who participate in the program, and Knoblock said their goal is 75, which are first through fifth graders.
The children are brought over by bus from the school, and their activities start with snacks, and then an academic hour, where the Boys and Girls Club staff help them with homework and studying, and some sort of lesson on math or reading. The participants then take part in clubs, ranging from STEM to creative arts, depending on the day of the week.
Cardona said they are also hiring certified teachers to help out with tutoring. “One of the main goals of our grant is to align the after-school hours with the school day to support what they are learning and reinforcing what they learn during the school day in the afterschool hours,” she said.
Cardona added that they also offer a six-week summer program. “In most of these rural communities, there’s not much in small towns for kids to do after school,” she said. “Being able to provide a space for that has been very rewarding, and just seeing the kids take what we’re doing and go with it has been incredibly rewarding.”
Knoblock said that one reward he gets from working with the children is being able to provide a positive environment for children to work on things together and to develop friendships. "It's a safe space, and we want to make sure we're creating that, as well as allowing them to have fun and be kids, as well,” he said.
Cardona said they are currently looking for interested community members to join an advisory committee that will meet quarterly. That committee will help connect the organization with resources and connect to other organizations to help provide more opportunities for the students. Knoblock added that they are also trying to come up with a sustainability plan to continue the program beyond the five-year grant period.
The registration for participants is free for parents to enroll their children. The Woodville site is only open to Woodville Elementary School students, first through fifth grades, and the registration portal is located here . Knoblock can be reached via phone at 409-322-6465 or by email at knoblockj@bgcdet.org.
