There were 1,623 elementary and secondary students in USD 475 enrolled in the Boys and Girls Club last school year. That number was reported to the JC Breakfast Optimist Club by James Russell, Boys and Girls Club Director.

He told the Optimists that “the current model being used for the local Boys and Girls Club has the highest number of registered students in the Southwest Region.

There are before-school activities including work on asignments and a light snack for club members, and an after-school snack that includes a 20-minute homework session.

The Boys and Girls Club has been housed at the Heim Building on the west side of Junction City, but Russell said the Club is in the processof being moved to the Karnes Building ( the former Freshman Success Academy  at 300 West Ninth Street. Students will have more space than before to work and play in the classrooms, gyms and field than was previously available at the Heim Building. Russell noted one of his goals is to establish intramural sports, which can be “feeder” programs for middle and high school basketball, football, soccer and perhaps other sports.