SEQUIM — The Olympic Peninsula Boys & Girls Club is revamping its offerings to teenagers in an effort to attract more of that age group and get teens more involved in deciding which amenities and programs the club will offer.
The changes will involve rearranging how some rooms are used at the club’s Sequim center, staying open later and changing some staffing.
A timeline for these changes hasn’t been established, although one modification takes effect this week — teen nights have been moved to Friday, from Thursday.
It’s also an opportunity to use a new program offered by the national Boys & Girls Club organization.
Called simply “The Club,” the program aims to establish a separate identity just for teenagers within a center’s existing offerings.
Club use after age 12
The organization started looking at teen programming because club use drops off precipitously after about age 12, said Cinnamon Falley, executive director of the Olympic Peninsula clubs.
“It’s a ‘boys and girls’ club, and they don’t identify with that anymore,” she said.
The idea so far is to relocate the existing teen room — which has a computer, a television set, lounge area, and pool and pingpong tables — to a room at the back of the building that’s connected to the snack bar and gymnasium.
That way, said Falley, the rest of the building can be screened off while teenagers still have access to the activities they want.
