Boys
& Girls
club
Free after-school safe space
for kids to play, learn and hangout
Written and Photographed by Chloee Blair
That big blue building off West King - the one behind the chainlink fence, just on the east side of the tracks - is a safe space for more than 120 kids from 2:30 to 6 after school every day.
A place where they can play, learn, eat, hang out - just stay busy doing fun stuff. And there’s a lot to do.
The Boys & Girls Club in St. Augustine has drones and a dance team, 3D printers and Lego robotics, ping pong and pool tables, impressive video game systems and a full-size gymnasium, complete with six basketball hoops. The kids get their hands in the dirt and grow their own food with the Gardening Club of St. Augustine and build rockets from soda bottles with Northrop Grumman.
And it’s completely free.
The facility’s program is supported instead by state grants and generous donations, according to unit director and 17-year club veteran Ciara Winson.
“When it comes to a community, I’ve never seen this much being poured into a club. Sometimes I’m just baffled at the things that they do,” Winson states.
Some days an ice cream truck drops off frozen treats or a church delivers necessary items, like deodorant and hygienic products, Winson says. Recently, a manager with a nearby apartment complex brought new bicycles for all of the 2nd through 4th graders, according to the director. She says they also receive donations from local residents and businesses, the Jacksonville Jaguars, big brands, like Nike and Cricket, among many others.
A $1 million teen center featuring a podcast center, a barbershop and an area dedicated to cosmetology is also on its way, Winson says.
THE PLAYERS Championship, the PGA Tour’s premier annual event and the namesake for St. Augustine’s Boys and Girls Club location, wrote a $600,000 check to finish out the funding needed to build the center.
Once completed, the club will be able to accept more teens.
“And that’s the goal – to keep them busy when they get out of school instead of running around on the street,” Winson says.
Four women began the first club in 1860 in order to give boys an alternative to roaming the streets, according to the Boys & Girls Club’s website. More than 5,400 clubs across the country serve 4 million kids, according to the nonprofit.
“We do have a waitlist because we have parents who want their kids to get in here because - one, all of the cool things we’re doing and, two, parents don’t get off until later and this is a safe place they want them to be in,” Winson states.
Winson says she “tag teams” with parents of teens to ensure they stick with the club and stay engaged, and strongly encourages parents not to pull the kids out early so they have time for one-on-one tutoring with teachers.
“Our kids’ grades are a little higher than kids who go home and don’t do anything,” Winson states, emphasizing that STEM is “definitely at the forefront.”
“Do we have obstacles and hiccups along the way? Of course,” Winson admits. “But doing this for so long, I just roll with it and then make something else happen.”
Teenagers are also given a chance to make money and receive on-the-job training by pairing up with a mentor at a local behavioral health center, working alongside a doctor, nurse or administrator.
“It’s the foundational things – going to work, making sure you look professional, speaking to someone like you have some sense - all those little things that they pick up on,” Winson says. “I love it, and the fact that they get money, they love it, too.”
Winson says she focuses on positivity and will stop everything if she hears anyone say anything rude.
“You really have to be kind to these kids and teach them kindness.”
For more information about the Boys & Girls Club, visit its website or contact the St. Augustine location at (904) 825-1975.
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