Boys Club Day at the Renaissance Academy

Phoenixville, PA – On Saturday, November 8th, 2014, the third annual Boys’ Club Game Day was held at the Renaissance Academy Charter School, Phoenixville, PA. Renaissance Academy boys in grades 3-6 were invited to attend and encouraged to bring along a male family member or adult family friend who they consider to be a good role model. The purpose of this free event is to afford the boys an opportunity to come together and enjoy time with each other as well as male family members and teachers.

Attendees participated a variety of activities such as basketball, Gaga dodge ball, “Jail Break”, and ultimate kick ball as well as spent time just laughing and eating pizza together. 6th grader, Shane Gleason said he really enjoyed the day and is glad he chose to attend. While his favorite activity was ultimate dodgeball game, he said that “the Boys Club Day is about more than just having fun. It is about learning to cooperate with others and making new friends.” This is the second Boys Club Day that Shane has attending and he said that he would definitely like to be a part of the next one.

The Boys’ Club Game Day was formed by a group of male staff members at Renaissance who wanted to build stronger, more positive relationships within the male population at the school and in the community, while fostering a positive outlook and strong self-esteem in the boys.

David Cosme, Student Achievement Director and one of the event organizers said, “Boys need to be able to interact with other boys and men in environments where they can just be themselves and have fun. The boys are still talking about how much fun they had and how they can’t wait until the next one! I am also impressed by how many men came to and participated in the event. Mr. Gabriel Soffer (ELS teacher) and Mr. Craig Gibson (Student Support Specialist) put together a great day!”

A number of Renaissance Academy high school boys also came out to volunteer and help with the day. Senior, Brian Allison said he found it remarkable to watch the interaction between the boys and men, whether playing games or simply bonding in general. “Although I was excited when I was asked to help with this event, I was surprised to find that it was even more fun than I had anticipated.”

The Renaissance Academy Boys Club organizers are already planning the next game day which will be held in spring of 2015.
Established in 1999, Renaissance Academy is a K-12, award-winning, tuition-free, college prep charter school located in Phoenixville, PA. The school currently educates over 1000 students from 20 surrounding school districts. Renaissance Academy was named as one of Newsweek’s 2013 Best High Schools in America. More information on the school can be found at www.rak12.org.
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