The Sedona branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northern Arizona is looking for a new leader.
Since the departure of former Branch Director John Lupo in November, the Sedona branch has been run on an interim basis by Phil VanGorp, a three-year employee who was promoted to Cottonwood branch director about a year ago.
Lupo declined to comment on his reason for leaving, but said he left behind a great program he was happy to see become more successful, bringing in about 55 children a day. Lupo said when he was hired, the average daily attendance was about 12 to 15 kids.
Lupo said the key was in hiring great staff.
“People with master’s degrees, parents with children in the program,” he said. “When you hire young people, unexperienced people and don’t give them guidance, you can have problems.”
“He chose to pursue other opportunities that were available to him,” said Debbie Pickard, Boys & Girls Clubs of Northern Arizona Board president, about Lupo’s departure after fewer than 90 days in the position. Lupo now works with a biomass treatment company in the Village of Oak Creek.
“We’re trying to stay positive and rebuild our program,” said Connie Dedrick, executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northern Arizona.
Dedrick was a board member for two years 2010, Pickard said. Dedrick stepped down from the board after the departure of former Executive Director Hayley Bruemmer, who returned to her native Washington state in June. Dedrick served as interim executive director until elevated by the board to the permanent position on Nov. 12.
Dedrick oversees the two branches and 12 employees of the program. The five employees in Sedona serve 35 to 50 children a day while the seven in Cottonwood serve 75 to 100 a day.
There are 250 total members of the Sedona branch, most of whom are between ages 5 and 12. Only 25 members are between 15 and 17. Some members attend daily, others only during the summer or breaks and some only for special events, Pickard said. Clubs operate after-school programs during the academic year, but when schools are closed, clubs are open all day. The Sedona branch returned to normal hours Tuesday, Jan. 3.
“We do have more teenagers at the Cottonwood club at the moment,” Pickard said. “Most of that is just due to ease of access of the club.”
The Cottonwood branch is located in Old Town Cottonwood within walking distance of Cottonwood Elementary and Cottonwood Middle schools. The more isolated Sedona branch is headquartered at the city-owned Sedona Teen Center at Posse Grounds Park, adjacent to West Sedona School. Except for WSS students, other club members have to be bused to the site.
One problem the Sedona branch has is separating teens from the younger kids, Pickard said.
“The city would like us to separate the two groups,” she said. “We want to get the teens into their own place that they can call their own.”
Pickard said in the past, the Sedona branch held teen dances and band competitions to draw in older members.
“We’re looking to bring that back into the Boys & Girls Club program,” she said.
“We have more 12- to 15-year-olds than high schoolers,” Pickard said. “We’re competing against competitive sports, cheerleaders and driving age kids.”
Pickard said the local clubs are trying duplicate the direction of the national Boys & Girls Club model — retain young children as they grow up and have them return as teens to serve as mentors and volunteers.
Pickard said the search is on for a new branch director.
“We’re looking for someone who has experience with children; someone who understand the mission of the Boys & Girls Club and continues to build the program and provide quality programs for kids,” she said.
Aside from dealing with parents, finances and programs, branch directors supervise programs directors; sports, fitness and recreation coordinators; art coordinators; education and career coordinators; character and leadership coordinators; and membership coordinators.
Christopher Fox Graham can be reached at 282-7795, ext. 129, or email
cgraham@larsonnewspapers.com
