Charlie Kimmey, center, is the executive director of the Ralph Wilson Youth Club in Temple. Much larger than the previous facility, it has two billiard/game rooms, video game rooms, a full kitchen for culinary classes and a movie theater. Children from Temple, Belton and Little River-Academy are enjoying the new building.
Ralph Wilson Youth Club educates and entertains Story by CATHERINE HOSMAN Photos by JOSH BACHMAN
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alk through the doors of the new Ralph Wilson Youth Club and listen to the joyful sounds of kids at play. Children ages 5 to 14, all 550 of them, are scattered throughout the facility, focused on their activity of the moment. While some are playing dodge ball or basketball in the large gymnasium divided by canvas partitions to create three separate courts, others are playing pool, foosball and ping-pong in either the boys or girls game rooms. “Look around you,” said Executive Director Charlie Kimmey. “We are helping the fight against child obesity. We’re keeping kids fit.” There are one or more junior staff counselors with every group of kids in the building, Kimmey said, watching the kids playing ball, running or skating. They
keep a close eye on the activities, run interference with emotional youngsters, or watch as a foursome of boys walk arm-inarm, looking for their next fun activity. While traversing the halls, watch out for the kids running and playing. Some stop to greet Kimmey with a resounding, “Hi Mr. Charlie,” while others say “Hi” on the fly. Occasionally, one of the children latches on to a hand and walks with you through the maze of halls that lead to study rooms, play rooms and the Acer Alley computer room. “Acer donated 16 new computers and Chromebooks,” Kimmey said. “Whatever the kids can access from school, they can access here.” In addition, the club has its own theater that shows kid-friendly movies, a full-service kitchen where kids learn about healthy eating, a dance studio, a roller rink that plays today’s popular tween songs on a Bose sound system, a covered outdoor patio and a playground. A 15-passenger van sits out front and
three donated blue school buses (two more are on the way) are parked in the lot on standby to pick up kids around the area that attend the club, or get ready to load up a group for the next field trip. The club’s educational field trips go to local attractions including Cameron Park Zoo, an Amtrak train ride from Taylor to Temple, Inner Space Caverns, Dr Pepper Museum and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, or hiking at Chalk Ridge Falls. Some kids recently got to fly over Belton Lake on water jet hover boards. Former middle school Principal Donna Lammert is the Academic Director at the RWYC and said before each field trip she gets the kids excited by researching the area they will visit. For example, before heading over to Chalk Ridge Falls, Lammert said they read some books about the area and talked about the different kinds of animals and plant life they might see. “Kids have a better experience with Continued TEXAPPEALMAG.COM
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