When I grow up I want to be somebody!
It’s been a challenging year but the Boys & Girls Club is focusing on the future. Our teens have used the hardships of this past year to share an inspirational message with their peers and in the process found a new passion.
BGC Rising is a teen empowerment program at the Boys & Girls Club of Westminster that motivates teen members to make positive lifestyle choices. This year the program was run during Friday teen nights, giving teens a safe place to reconnect with friends. Each teen night starts with a family style dinner, games, icebreakers and a lesson about positive choices.
Music is always an important component of the night and this year we took it to the next level asking our kids to create their own song! Working with rapper Brian McCall, aka “B-RAiN” teens wrote a song about the challenges of adolescence and how they use healthy coping strategies to get through the “hard stuff.” What started as a fun activity became an empowering experience which motivated everyone to share their story. The song soon became the focus of teen nights and the lessons about positive choices became a mission to help other teens.
As the song took form, the theme was obvious — when I grow up I want to BE SOMEBODY! Using the BE SOMEBODY slogan, the teens created a logo, a music video and even filmed a documentary about their journey. Selena, a high school member said “the lyrics are real and authentic, the words express our lives. I hope when other kids hear it they can relate.” One thing that is abundantly clear in the song is that our youth want people to “take time to listen” to them. They have important things to say and want to make a difference in the world. They believe that surrounding yourself with positive friends is important and that they are always “stronger together.”
The enthusiasm of the BE SOMEBODY campaign extended beyond teen night. Our younger members got involved too and wrote letters to their future selves, sharing their hopes and dreams. They want to BE SOMEBODY when they grow up, too, so setting future goals was the perfect activity for them. Studies show that if kids have goals, they are more likely to stay on track and find success.
On May 14, the teens celebrated their success at a red carpet premiere of the BE SOMEBODY documentary. “When I hear the song it makes me so happy — I can’t believe we did this, said Selena. We all need to hear more messages like this, I hope it reaches as many people as possible.”
Boys & Girls Club of Westminster will post the documentary and music video on its website www.bgcwestminster.org and share it for the community on public access channel 19. Funding for this program/video was made possible by a grant from the Maryland Opioid Operational Command Center.
Erin Bishop is the marketing director for Boys & Girls Club of Westminster.
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