Boys & Girls Club Seminar Pays Dividends

Francis McNamara said she is sure that if she weren’t involved with the Boys & Girls Club, she would be in a gang. But now, thanks to the club and her participation in the organization’s national conference last week, the 15-year-old is brimming with ideas on how to better herself and the community.

Francis, along with six other members of the Boys & Girls Club of Ventura, attended the three-day TeenSupreme Keystone Conference in Denver and learned important lessons on leadership, empowerment and responsibility.

“At first I joined to get away from a lifestyle I’ve seen so many of my friends get into,” she said. “But, now I’ve learned so much about what ‘keystoning’ is and that I can do something.”

The annual conference, held March 20-22, brought together more than 1,000 teens from across the country to develop leadership skills, exchange ideas on teen issues and devise strategies to deal with personal and communitywide problems.

“I’ve come back wanting to make the community a better place,” said 18-year-old Reuben Ojeda. “I’ve got a creative mind and have gotten a lot of good ideas since the conference.”

Ojeda said ideas have been bouncing around his head like a pinball since his return from the conference. He said he is anxious to make some of those ideas, like organizing a food drive for the homeless and mentoring younger kids, a reality.

“I want to do something where I can change their future,” he said. “I want them to look to me and say I made a difference.”

Besides the seminars and nuggets of wisdom, the participants said they were surprised to find that the issues they deal with in Ventura are the same ones teens face in places like Des Moines or Philadelphia.

“One of the great things was getting to meet all these people and finding out how they deal with things,” said 15-year-old Matt Nicholson. “That was important to me, because I learned ways to keep from getting angry and frustrated.”

This was the 14th year the Ventura Boys & Girls Club has sent members to the conference, and club directors said this is one of the most successful groups.

“Since the conference I’ve never seen them so energetic,” said David Gambala, a counselor at the club. “They’re really motivated to do something that will make the club and the community better than it already is and that’s what makes all this so important.”