By James Master
KNOX – On April 22, the Knox City Council was given the annual update, by Executive Director of the Starke County Youth Club Irene Szakonyi, about what the club has been doing recently.
“At club we really do believe that every kid is full of potential. Like there’s a seed in every kid and it’s full of talent and possibility and this enthusiasm for growth. But they need the right environment in which to develop. And we are lucky enough to be able to provide part of that environment for them,” she said.
Currently, the SCYC has over 300 children enrolled in club programs throughout Starke County. Szakonyi said that the club is helping them academically and personally. “We’re also helping working families and building a strong network in this community.”
In terms of academic support, she stated that SCYC provides math, science, language arts activities that are interactive and fun. “Kids who regularly attend the program earn a B or better or improve their grade from Fall to Spring. That’s what our data shows.”
The curriculum that the SCYC uses is skill building that helps kids develop their sense of empathy and kindness and develops accountability. “It develops problem solving. It develops their ability to have a healthy relationship with other people. And our parents tell us that their kids have improved self-esteem thanks to that. The kids tell us that it helps them work out their problems and feel less stressed which I think is a really nice benefit of an after-school program.”
She said that it’s surprising when you talk to the kids, how much stress they have.
The things that the club offered this year include after-school and before-school programs. They start at 6 a.m. until school begins and then from school ends until about 6 p.m. “One of the reasons I think it’s so important for folks to know about morning and after, we have folks who, their job schedule means that they are going to work before the school day starts and getting off after the school day ends. In order to be an economic driver in this community, keep people focused on work, that’s a support system we can offer to families,” Szakonyi said.
She said that the staff at SCYC thought that the kids would be sleepy during the morning program, but that wasn’t the case. “They were ready to go at 6 a.m.”
“Other things we get to provide, we would call enrichment camps,” Szakonyi said. She went on to explain that enrichment camps are events like spring break, family baking courses, a summer program that runs for four weeks and subjects of art, math, and science are explored.
One of these enrichment programs Szakonyi highlighted was a recent camp where the SCYC hosted a drone camp.
“We did this over at the public library and the kids learned about unmanned aerial vehicles. They got to be a flight crew, they got to establish a flight plan, they got to solve their own little problems and fly their drones around. It was really cool, and the kids learned workplace skills as well,” she said.
Teamwork was part of the drone camp. Szakonyi stated that the kids had to collaborate on the sessions. She said that the kids would meet four or five times.
“They want to do it more, so we’ll be doing another one of those,” she said.
Through the drone camp, the kids got to learn some workplace applications. “Because drones are used in agriculture, drones are used in lots of different workplace applications. So, the kids got to learn that as well,” Szakonyi said.
Another one of the newest programs that the SCYC held was the Youth of the Year program.
“So, our middle through high school students could apply to be the Youth of the Year. We’re trying to develop a generation of leaders, kids who are ready to succeed in their personal lives, but also to be ready to develop this community,” she said.
Students that applied for the Youth of the Year were paired with a local mentor and they had to build a resume. They also had to create and deliver a public speech about themselves and about their future, like what their goals are.
“They receive a scholarship for getting that award. And one of the things that our Youth of the Year winner told us this time was, ‘You know, I went to do that resume and I could not think of a single thing that I was good at.’ I was like, come on. And then she said, ‘but I spent an afternoon with my mentor and then I had a lot of things to put on my resume. It was really easy after that.’,” said Szakonyi. “And I thought she’s precious because one of the things she told us was that being at Youth Club helped her understand the need for these kinds of enriching experiences for kids. She wants to grow up and open a daycare. She’s a freshman in high school and she’s already planning what she wants to do when she graduates.”
May 2 is the annual SCYC Radiothon. It is the largest fundraiser of the year for the club. It runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at WKVI. The goal for the day is $55,000.
Mayor Dennis Estok asked if the kids at SCYC socialize more at the club. Szakonyi replied that the club asks the families those questions in surveys. They also survey teachers and other stakeholders.
“And the result is yes; you can see the difference for kids,” she said. “Yeah, they’re getting their homework done. They’re getting academic support, but they’re hanging out with other kids and building a community that helps them feel valued and also gives them this opportunity to practice those skills which otherwise they might not be getting,” she said.
Szakonyi told the council that this summer program is themed “sailing the seven seas” and that it’s “basically like pirate camp, so they’re going to learn a lot about things in the ocean, they’ll learn about shipbuilding, they’ll learn about aquatics and we’re kind of calling it the sea and the sky because our end of summer field trip we go to the Challenger Learning Center.
“They have a fully kitted space shuttle model and so the kids will be in groups training for an astronaut mission. It’s super cool, they get to wear a whole outfit. Each one of them gets to have a role in flight command and mission control. It’s super neat,” she said.
The SCYC wasn’t asking for a donation, they were simply updating the council about what the club had been up to.
However, later on, Council Member Bill Gustafson said that he would like to see about donating some funds to the SCYC. The city doesn’t donate to the SCYC currently. In the past, the council members would each contribute a set amount of money from their own pockets.
After some discussion, a motion to donate $500 to the Starke County Youth Club was approved unanimously.
