Lakeland University Students have become increasingly involved with Sheboygan County’s Boys and Girls Club this school year, gaining valuable work experience.
The Boys and Girls Club aims “To inspire and enable all young people, especially those who need them most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.” This school year, students Bella Wolf and Taylor Stoelb felt inspired to join this mission and start their work with the local Lake Country Academy Boys and Girls Club of Sheboygan.
Sophomore Bella Wolf began her work at the Boys and Girls Club of Sheboygan County this school year. In her experience since then, she has enjoyed her work and feels connected to their mission, saying, “The main thing I want to do in life is help people, so helping youth, especially those who need us the most, is really important and inspiring to me. Their mission also discusses helping the kids become caring and I love watching that happen every day during club.” She notes how important kindness and compassion are for these children.
Wolf is a strong advocate for the Boys and Girls Club of Sheboygan County on Lakeland’s campus and has even encouraged several of her friends to become involved at the club. Following this encouragement, sophomore Taylor Stoelb found herself working with the club. She has since been working there for a portion of this school year and has gained important experience working with and understanding children for her future career aspirations. She notes that her favorite part about this experience is “Getting to know the kids,” and that the club is “special because you can tell that everyone there cares about the kids and works hard every day to make the club enjoyable for them.”
Wolf is currently an education major with a social justice studies minor. She feels that this experience is extremely helpful to her and her future career aspirations in the education field and has helped her learn important teaching skills such as classroom management. Stoelb also stated that she felt this experience has allowed her to better understand to how interact with kids and what works best for them.
The Boys and Girls Club of Sheboygan County was founded in 1995 and has since grown to six locations throughout the county. In 2023 alone, the Boys and Girls Club of Sheboygan County dedicated 8,453 hours to academics, 4,953 hours on creative programming and gave 34,850 healthy meals and snacks to youth. They served 780 youth where 94% of the youth reported they felt accepted at the club. To achieve this, the club “provides youth and teens with environments, relationships and experiences that build essential skills and equip them to achieve positive outcomes.” The mission of The Boys and Girls Club of Sheboygan County is clear. They are here to serve the youth and give back to the community. It is reported that for nearly every dollar that goes into The Boys and Girls Club, nearly $10 in benefits is returned to Sheboygan County.
Wolf feels that “there are many clubs with at risk and underprivileged youth so giving them somewhere safe, warm, and fun to go after school is a huge game changer. We know some kids may go home and not have food in the house, so every day, every child is guaranteed a snack. All children are treated with care, kindness and compassion to hopefully build their character no matter their background.” The ability to connect with a child can be the most rewarding feeling. Join Wolf, Stoelb and Lakeland University in connecting with their community nonprofits and creating and impact, like so, in their community.
