Hi-Line Living: Boisterous times at the Club

The Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line gives students a safe, fun and educational place to go after they finish up their days at school, as well as an opportunity for parents to feel their children are being taken care of while they are still at work.

Tim Brurud, the director of the Boys & Girls Club in Havre, said Monday that the club has multiple activities for the kids who come in to do.

The children may come into the club whenever they like and parents are able to pick them up whenever they want to. The kids are able to travel to the club on one of the Havre School District buses and can check in at the front desk by themselves.

From there, the kids have a myriad of activities they can take part in with fellow students from their age groups or classes at their schools.

"They have free play for the first hour or 45 minutes every day and then they'll work on either math skills, typing skill and so forth," Brurud said in one of the rooms available to the kids.

The room was part computer lab and part music hall, and as children played games on their desktops, a couple were practicing songs on the piano under the supervision of one of the helpers, who also teaches interested children to play the piano.

"We also have a newspaper club, actually, where they can write club news," Brurud said.

The piano lessons are offered twice a week for 45 minutes, he said.

"There's a lot of different activities they can do in here," he said. "They spend a lot of time on the computers."

The kids run on a schedule set every day at the club. The schedules are developed with age-related activities.

Next door to the computer lab, a group of students were taking part in science activities.

"On different days, they're doing different things in here," Brurud said.

The science and technology room Monday had students whittling away at soft rocks to uncover dinosaur bones in an archaeology activity. They also show science movies in the room as part of the students' science education.

In another room in the club, students receive help with their homework and tutoring. Two club personnel members were helping the kids while they spent time trying to better their education. Club members receive a point for every 15 minutes they spend working in the room and Fridays, they can spend points at the club "store" as an incentive to get their homework done during the week at the club.

"It's a fun center," Brurud said in the colorful room filled with books and students working on their studies.

Another group of students was working on making snacks with a supervisor. As part of the grant the club receives for operations, they include a health awareness program in their curriculum.

"It's a program where they'll teach them how to make a snack," Brurud said. "It's really healthy. Today, I think they're doing a Valentine’s Day snack — not quite as healthy — but most of the time, they’re trying to teach them how to make healthier foods.”

The teen-age kids have their own space as well, but it has been cut off by the current construction projects at the club.

“We had to steal the other half of their teen center for the temporary snack room,” Brurud said. “Once that’s over, they’ll get that back and they’ll get their own kind of cooking space.”

In yet another room, a group of students were practicing their routines for a talent show that will be Feb. 13.

The construction at the Boys & Girls Club is going to expand the space in the building considerably. A large multi-purpose room that will have the option of being split into three sections or kept open will give the staff at the club opportunities to interact with the students on a large scale.

Through a grant, the club received dozens of Dance Dance Revolution video game pads and once the room is complete, they can lower a screen so that all the kids will be able to play the game at once.

The construction, which is slated to be completed at the end of March or early April, will also bring a full-service kitchen to the club. Before, they cooked thousands of meals a year on basic kitchen appliances like hot plates and George Foreman grills.  

For a youth to be a part of the Boys & Girls Club, registration for the year is $25 and $10 for the summer.

Considering the amount of money and the number of activities, lessons and exercise the students are offered at the club, the price is right.