Boys & Girls Club Seeks New Members

The Simi Valley Boys & Girls Club is launching a teen membership drive. Admission will be $5, instead of the regular $12, and the club will offer new programs to attract young people ages 13 to 17.

Included will be a music and art program, called “Hang Time,” that will give teens a chance to be DJs through sound and mixing-board training. Teens will mix tunes at club events. The program also will include pastel, air-brushing, cartooning and other fine-arts courses.

While the number of teens using the club has increased in the last year, said Program Director Earle Okamoto, officials want to further the trend.

“We have the capacity to serve a lot more teens,” said Athletic Director Jon Henley. “We get a lot of the younger kids after school every day, but we want to get more teens in here. . . . Any time kids have something positive to be involved in, it gives them that much less of a chance to get into trouble.”

Mailers will go out to homes in January to promote the new membership offer, which includes two free passes to club events.

The new and expanded programs come at a time when the local club is applying for grants with the Boys & Girls Club of America to include a Teen Center.