BRATTLEBORO — From April 16 to 18, six teens from the greater Brattleboro area joined more than 1,600 of their peers from all over the world in Orlando, Fla., at the 48th annual National Keystone Conference.
Keystone is the Boys & Girls Club of Americas teen leadership group.
As a Keystone Club, the teens locally do projects about career exploration, community service, and academic success, as well as a national project designed to address issues facing teens today. The group performed those projects and represented the Brattleboro club and the state of Vermont, at the national conference.
The Brattleboro club is the only club in the state that has a Chartered Keystone Club. This was the first time in four years - and only the second time in the club's history - that a group from Brattleboro has been able to attend the national conference.
The six club members who attended had to raise the money to go to the conference and, along with two advisors from the club, drove more than 24 hours to get to Orlando. Once there, they attended workshops on everything from fulfilling goals, planning for the future, social media, stepping outside comfort zones, fundraising, public speaking, time management, and addressing community conditions for teens.
They also had a chance to socialize and make friends with teens from around the world, participate in activities and enjoy a trip to Walt Disney World, a first for most club members. They also got to swim in the ocean.
This trip was life-changing in many ways for the members who attended. For most, it was their first time in Florida. For one, it was her first time outside of New England. On the trip down to Florida, the group made an extended stop in Washington, D.C. For many, this trip marked their first time spending a night in a hotel and the first time spending more than one night way from their families.
The Boys & Girls Club of America is the largest youth-serving organization in the United States with more than 4,000 clubs in the United States as well as club sites on U.S. military bases overseas that have families on them. All serve youth from age 6 to 18.
The Boys & Girls Club of Brattleboro serves more than 1,200 youths at three club sites. The main clubhouse is at 17 Flat St., with a club site in the Community Center at Westgate Housing in West Brattleboro, and a new site at 41 The Square in downtown Bellows Falls.