Nearly six months have passed since I began my fellowship as the director of The Galaxy. As I approach the midpoint, I am beginning to fear that the second six will evaporate before I find the time to accomplish all that I envision possible. I am officially attached to this place, this project, and these kids to a degree that I had not imagined back in June. All in all, I love what I do. And who knows when I'll find myself in another position with so much responsibility and freedom. So I hope that Time will cut me a little slack in these upcoming monthsâ¦
New Trends
Since I last reported, The Galaxy is running on the energy of a new group of "regulars." I think that the combination of the membership system, our extended afternoon hours, and the general change in atmosphere have allowed a group of middle school kids to claim their piece of a space previously dominated by 18 year olds (perhaps our plugs at the middle school health fair didn't hurt!). Not only to we have a solid group of individuals coming during our open hours, but we are opening our doors to groups like G.A.T.E.S and S.A.D.D. as regularly as they want to use The Galaxy as their meeting place. It is really great to feel the energy of 45 kids bouncing off of the walls on early-out Wednesdays! Though it was incredibly hard to lose the interest of last year's regulars once we instituted an age cap, I understand this shift as one crucial to the future success of Grinnell's youth center. If we can establish a solid group of kids who appreciate the space early on and want to invest their time and energy into its development, they will carry it forward.
It has been a discouraging 6 weeks so far as High School attendance goes. This quarter, I learned a lesson crucial to my understanding as the director of The Galaxy: high school football isn't a game in this town it's a way of life. It didn't take long to figure this out, as The Galaxy's 5th Quarter plummet paralleled the Tigers' losing streak. The feedback that I got from kids and parents alike was that kids don't celebrate after losses, they go home. This blows my mind! And although it was discouraging to watch our attendance fall from 120 to 2 after the team lost homecoming (and every game thereafter), I was far more frustrated with the apparent "group think" going onâ¦if football players and cheerleaders didn't pave the way, no one would come to "5th Quarters" after the games. Where does one go from here? Essentially, I put the season behind me, thinking that attendance would rise again out of season. Recently, however, a group of college volunteers threw a H.S. Karaoke night, and three kids showed. So I'm at a loss. Ideally, I'd like to arrange some kind of Galaxy talk-back assembly at the high school, and give kids the chance to offer their input directly. In the meantime I've been brainstorming ways in which to empower the high school kids to design and execute their own events. Part of the problem is that not many of them are currently involved in the process. We have 3 active H.S. youth council members, and 12 middle school representatives. Hopefully, our plan to ask student-run groups to throw their own events as fundraisers at The Galaxy will get them involved, excited, and create a trickle-down effect. In the meantime, I'm trying not to get too bummed, as we continue to have middle school kids lining up at the door.
Fundraising
Although there are too few hours in the day for me to dedicate as much time as I would like to grant writing, day to day donations and small fundraisers do add up. I was amazed at how well we did with G.C. home football game concessions. We raised over $2000 for The Galaxy. That kind of money covers small operating expenses, but our focus is now on raising the funds to support next year's director, and any additional staff necessary. Recently, I've been focused on our annual mailing aimed toward this purpose, and am excited that it has finally gone to press! If I have learned anything in this whole process, it is to allow several extra weeks for things like proofing and printing. As soon as the brochures are closed, labeled, and mailed, I'll begin to think about The Galaxy's first annual golf benefit, to take place on May 10th. Oh man - "Fore!"
