Boys & Girls Club Has New Leader for New School Year

With this week’s beginning of school for Healdsburg kids, many parents are breathing a sigh of relief.

At last, they can turn the youngsters over to the schools for the day, and let them grow and learn from the professionals.

But another question then arises: if the school day is 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and a parent’s job is 9 to 5, what happens to our loved ones during those crucial after-school hours? 

Of the several after-school options in town, the oldest and most familiar is the , part of the community since 1948, and in their present location since 1984.

They’re open from 6:45 a.m. until 6 p.m., bridging the hours of a busy family with a growing child’s life.

Emilie King was the director of the local Club for several years, but her successor Kathleen Kelly had a very short tenure this spring. The new program director, named in July, is -- a name familiar to many Patch readers as one of our correspondents since late last year.

Even though her own education is in mass communication and photography, Rika is drawn to kids as if by fate.

“I’ve always worked with kids,” Meyer said from her new daytime digs at the Club. “I’ve always done summer camps in summer, I spent a year teaching English in Taiwan, I keep getting pulled back to kids. They keep coming after me!”

Her husband shares her involvement with education. Aaron Meyer is Boys' Dean at , and the two share an enthusiasm for positive educational opportunity for a generation they are only barely older than.

(The two also share an undeniable musical talent, as shown in this YouTube video of their heart-felt rendition of an American standard.)

Rika is just 26, seemingly young even for the Boys & Girls Club. “People think I’m a teenager!” she said. “I get lots of parents saying, ‘Are you sure you’re not too young?’ I tell them I’ll be 27 soon!”

In many ways, Meyer is a brilliant choice for club program director, and her youth is only part of the reason. She’s a quick study, a believer in quality, and an engaging personality who makes friends easily.

But even she knows it’s not a simple task to run a Boys & Girls club for 180 kids – and their parents.

“My biggest goal is to bring the highest quality to this program to get staff retention and child retention,” she said. “There’s been instability in the past, in ca hange of leadership and just change of kids, but I really want this place to be a beacon for stability, a place where kids can call home.

"And to really be here for the ones who do need us,” she added.

Meyer assumed the position at the main Healdsburg club just a month ago, but she’s no stranger to the organization. She worked at the Windsor club since arriving in the area a year ago, and from February to June was the manager of the Healdsburg club’s “satellite” club at 405 Grant St. (across from the fire station).

“It’s very similar to [the main club],” she said. “They do homework every day, they have activities…  and it really did make a difference last year for these kids just having a place to go because a lot of their parents were working.

“By the time I left at the end of May, everybody knew who I was," she said. "It was cool – I could walk the kids home every day, the families were very supportive and very involved.”

Family involvement is something Meyer understands the importance of.

“I think the biggest thing that I want to communicate with parents is that we are a team, we are all here raising your kids," she said. "And their interaction with their kids is a thousand times more important than ours, but a lot of parents can’t with their kids during the day or they’re working full-time jobs, and that’s what we’re here for.”

The familiar club building overlooks the newly refurbished , and has room for plenty of activities with its gymnasium, art rooms, games and other educational-recreational activities.

Its location, too, couldn’t be better for many young students in town: a block from , three blocks from , only five or so from at University and Monte Vista. And it adjoins , providing a convenient open-air playground near by.

The Healdsburg Boys & Girls club begins its school-year hours this week, opening at 6:45 a.m. to provide a drop-off place for early-working parents, and providing a morning breakfast snack and activities until the school day begins.

After school, club staffers meet the kids at the nearby schools (or meet the bus from Fitch Mountain School) and walk them up to the club for afternoon activities.

Kids in the club are given a “healthy afternoon snack,” according to Meyer, then have a “power hour” of homework, and engage in two different “selectives” of activities the rest of the afternoon.

The day has structure but is not rigid, allowing both children and the engaged staff members a chance to allow for personal flexibility and growth.

“That’s a huge part of it  – connecting with kids, getting to know them more in detail and about their lives.” The staff members – about 9 or 10 of them, many of whom are but college age themselves, plus some community volunteers or community service workers – work closely with individual children and their parents toward the common goal of what’s best for their kids. 

“We try to touch base with parents as much as possible,” Meyer emphasized. "That’s why I try to be out on the floor at the end of the day, just connecting with parents about good things that are happening during the day, maybe some things to follow up with their kids when they go home.

"I hope it’s an on-going relationship,” she said.

The Boys & Girls Club of America is a national organization, and there are 30 clubs in the Central Sonoma county area.

Perhaps the best thing about the HB&GC is its affordability: annual membership is only $10, and while special programs and meals may add to the costs over a year, it’s still an inexpensive ticket to after-school activity and education.

“We’re federally funded,” Meyer reminds us. “We are here for the families that need us most.”

While Meyer may seen young at only 26 for such an important role in our children's lives, she seems to have the skills as well as the confidence to be the right person for the job.

"Every child is so different," she notes, " ... based on their family background and the way that they are.

"So just getting in touch with the kids and building relationships is a really big part of what I do," she says.