Conejo Valley praised for opening the new Boys & Girls Club

Conejo Valley praised for opening the new Boys & Girls Club

On Jan. 21, on the campus of Los Cerritos Intermediate School, the dream of one man in our community came to fruition.

Recognizing a need for those students who were unsupervised before and after school and knowing programs offered by the Boys & Girls Club of America were tailored to address that need, he moved to create partnerships with key community stakeholders.

Bringing together the Conejo Valley Unified School District, the city of Thousand Oaks, the Parks and Recreation Department, Amgen and other community leaders, his vision of a Boys & Girls Club on the campuses of the four middle schools in CVUSD was determined to be "doable."

Prior to selecting the site for the first club, a number of planning meetings were held with members of the school and community. With financial backing from Amgen ($2 million), the city of Thousand Oaks ($1 million) and a myriad of donations coupled with the contribution of land from CVUSD, all the pieces were in place to build the first Boys & Girls Club in the Conejo Valley. In less than six months, construction of the 10,000-square-foot blue and white structure was completed and open to serve the students of the community.

So when you drive by the club on the Los Cerritos campus, you can thank one man, Cal Johnston, chairman of the Boys & Girls Clubs. Cal realized that when you are successful in forging partnerships with community leaders and have them focus on a common goal, the dream of enhancing the lives and future of our youth can become a reality.

Tim Stephens

Member, CVUSD School Board

Westlake Village