The Brighter Horizons Youth Center staff. Front L-R: feeding assistant Jennifer Rich and director Shari Mefford. Standing L-R: YMCA COO Tianna Storey, director of executive administration Ellie Southern, after school counselor Jennifer Nande, after school counselor Rhonda Fetzko, and aftger school counselor Amanda Steele.
Brighter Horizons director Shari Mefford holds a “Pineapple man” one of her her student made from Legos in the STEM activity room last week.
Brighter Horizons Youth Center staff packing meals to be delivered to the eight on-campus elementary school YMCA programs in Hawkins County.
Students are free to leave their mark on the “chalk board wall” in the multi-purpose room.
The Brighter Horizons Youth Center staff. Front L-R: feeding assistant Jennifer Rich and director Shari Mefford. Standing L-R: YMCA COO Tianna Storey, director of executive administration Ellie Southern, after school counselor Jennifer Nande, after school counselor Rhonda Fetzko, and aftger school counselor Amanda Steele.
Brighter Horizons director Shari Mefford holds a “Pineapple man” one of her her student made from Legos in the STEM activity room last week.
Brighter Horizons Youth Center staff packing meals to be delivered to the eight on-campus elementary school YMCA programs in Hawkins County.
Students are free to leave their mark on the “chalk board wall” in the multi-purpose room.
Rogersville’s Brighter Horizons Youth Center opened its doors for the first time Wednesday with two students, followed by four on Thursday, and eight on Friday.
It was a slower than expected start for the new YMCA program, although if attendance maintained that pace of doubling every day they’d have a full house within a week.
Brighter Horizons director Shari Mefford told the Review earlier this week that at this point she’d be happy to have 16 students. The Youth center, which serves students in grades 6-9, has the capacity to serve more than 50 students.
Mefford attributed the new Youth Center’s slow start partly to the bad taste left in the mouths of the community by the facility’s previous tenant, the Boys and Girls Club, which abruptly ceased its Rogersville program in 2021.
“I think a big part of it is people haven’t gotten the word yet,” Mefford said. “We’re still fighting the Boys and Girls Club stigma. I think a big chunk of it is, kids don’t know what we are or what we’re going to be doing, so they’re not sure if they want to come.”
Brighter Horizons Youth Center, 1604 E. Main Street, serves Rogersville Middle School and Rogersville City School students in grades 6-8, as well as freshmen at Cherokee High School.
The Youth Center and all activities are free. Applications were sent homes with students, but if a parents needs an application they’re available at the Youth Center, as well as at RCS and RMS, and on the Cherokee website.
The program provides youths in grades 6-9 a place to go after school and have a meal, do fun activities, play games, do their homework, or just hang out with friends.
“We have several kids whose mom and dad work, or single mom and mom is working, so she’ll let the kids come in the afternoon,” Mefford said. “We’ve got a couple who are home schooled, and so they come in the afternoons for socialization with kids their age. We’ve got just kind of a hodge-podge. We’ll take anybody. We just want kids to come and enjoy the building and the activities. We are handicap accessible, so anybody who wants to come can come.”
A video tour of the Brighter Horizons facility can be seen in the online version of this article at www.therogersvillereview.com
Brighter Horizons is open weekdays after school 3-6 p.m. Bus No. 79 delivers students from Cherokee and RMS; and Bus No. 50 delivers students from RCS. They enter the side door into the multi-purpose room and check in at the front desk to let staff know who is going to be coming later to pick them up.
After having a snack and visiting for a few minutes they break up into groups and rotate through various activities.
Students will have access to the library, computer room, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) lab, game room, art room, or the outside play area where there’s a GAGA pit and basketball court.
The STEM room contains a wide variety of projects and activities which are both fun, but also stimulate a child’s brain. The game room had board games, Corn Hole, puzzles and Skee-Ball.
There are also group session were students speak to counselors about their day, their homework, or what’s going on at school.
Before going home students have a meal, which on Monday consisted of a salad with chicken and ranch dressing, a fruit cup, a bag of Doritos, and a chocolate milk.
Aside from the regular daily activities there will always be special events to look forward to.
For example, on Tuesdays and Fridays a professional artists holds and art class for students.
They’re going to install a Pickle Ball Court outside, and next month an ambassador from the U.S. Pickle Ball Association will be coming to the Youth Center to teach students how to play.
Another special visitor next month will be doing a presentation on adventure photography and talk to students about his time in Africa on the Serengeti taking pictures while he was there.
Aside from serving the grades 6-9 after school at the Youth Center, the YMCA also has after school programs for younger students at several schools in Hawkins County including Mooresburg Elementary, St. Clair Elementary, Bulls Gap School, Hawkins Elementary, Joseph Rogers Primary, Carters Valley, Church Hill Elementary, and Mount Carmel Elementary.
Those on-campus elementary school YMCA programs also include a meal which, with the opening of Brighter Horizons, is now prepared in a brand new commercial-size kitchen.
According to a recent study 22 percent of Hawkins County children face food insecurity, so between their school lunch and their YMCA afternoon meal the hope is that children are getting enough to eat, at least on weekdays.
Mefford said students know when they arrive at the Youth Center, or their on-campus YMCA program each afternoon, “They’re going to get food and they’re going to get loved on.”
“We have fed over 200 kids per day for the past two weeks,” Mefford said. “Jennifer our amazing kitchen manager organizes our volunteers. They come in and package meals in brown bags. Jennifer rolls them up, Puts them in coolers, and then we have a driver who drives them to those eight different after-school locations.”
The Feeding program is looking for volunteers to help cook, prep, package, and deliver meals to the school sites.
Volunteers would be asked to come to the Brighter Horizons Youth Center weekdays between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
For more information email Mefford at smefford@ymcakpt.org or call (423) 500-4891.
Mefford noted that the Kingsport Family YMCA Brighter Horizons Youth Center is able to bridge the gap and make an impact because of the continued support from donors, partners and volunteers in the community.
“Through such generosity, we can connect more people to the assistance they need and help strengthen communities,” Mefford said. “As a non-profit, we rely on volunteers and contributions to operate the programs and services that enrich the lives of students, parents, and families in Hawkins County. If you are interested in volunteering to help strengthen our community, please fill out our volunteer interest from by visiting ymcakpt.org/volunteer or visit the Brighter Horizons Youth Center to fill out a volunteer application.”
If you would like to make a monetary contribution to our outreach efforts Hawkins County, please visit ymcakpt.org/give or mail a check to:
Greater Kingsport Family YMCA, 1840 Meadowview Parkway, Kingsport TN, 37660
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