Making a difference — one child at a time

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Bobby Hoffman was close to graduating from the University of Findlay with a major in sport and event
management. To make some extra money, he’d been working with the Community Learning Centers around Wood
County.
The summer before graduation, he was stationed at Luckey Elementary in the Eastwood school district. He’d
become quite fond of a 5-year-old boy and went out of his way every day to say “good morning” and ask
him how things were going.
They got to spend some extra time during a fishing derby, and Hoffman helped the boy catch his first
fish.
Later in the summer, the boy’s mom came to pick him up. She introduced herself to Hoffman, then broke
down crying.
Her husband, the boy’s father, had left after their son was born. There were no male role models in her
son’s life, and Hoffman was making a huge difference.
Hoffman was hooked, and his career plan did a 180-degree turn.
Armed with that sport management degree, he is now site supervisor of the Crim Elementary Community
Learning Center.
“It turned into something I can’t even imagine myself walking away from,” Hoffman said as he watched a
dozen kids dribbling and shooting in the latest component of the CLC branch. The Adventure segment in
basketball started this month, after school at all of the Bowling Green elementary schools.
Susan Spencer, CLC director through the Wood County Educational Service Center, understands Hoffman’s
career change.
Her bachelor’s degree is in geography. Her master’s is in urban planning.
But after working at a preschool and teaching briefly at Bowling Green State University, she knew that
being with underprivileged children was her calling.
As CLC director, she oversees the 11 sites around the county, including the Rossford Recreation Center
and Powell Elementary in North Baltimore, that serve children before and after school. She’s in charge
of the myriad of funding that comes in from local, state and federal sources, and is responsible for a
$1.7 million budget. Over 1,500 children are served.
Spencer is also constantly beating the bushes for new volunteers and partners.
Over 100 students come from BGSU for a daily Bobcats PAWS tutor program. She’s working on a similar
academic partnership with Owens Community College.
About 70 percent of the children in CLC are from low-income families. Every child is welcome to
participate in the umbrella of CLC programs: STARS, a before and after school program; Bobcat PAWS with
tutoring; and Adventures, which come with a theme like cooking or sports.
The activities are intended to be holistic and help children and their families in every way possible,
Spencer said. There are free hot meals, cooking classes, trips to the zoo and Spanish lessons. She is
even trying to line up back-to-school haircuts by students at Penta Career Center.
“It’s just my goal in life — finding a way to meet these kids’ needs is the most important thing I’ll
ever do,” Spencer said.
Hoffman has been known to tuck groceries into kids’ backpacks to take home, and attend children’s
football or basketball games on the weekends.
With this latest Adventure program, which is a partnership with Bowling Green Parks and Recreation,
students stay after at Crim, receive a free warm meal (thanks to Connecting Kids to Meals), 15 minutes
of homework help and one hour of basketball. The basketball programs are also going on through April at
Kenwood and Conneaut elementaries.
It can be a long day for some kids who use STARS. Many are dropped off at school at 6:30 a.m. and picked
up at 6 p.m. But Spencer said the positives are that the kids are participating in a structured
environment, getting exercise and leaving at night with homework done.
“The nature of the American family has changed. … We’re filling a need in the community,” she said. “We
have parents constantly thanking us for a safe place to go after school and making homework a little bit
easier.”
The learning center does not take the summers off — in fact, they’re possibly even busier. Programming
runs for almost 12 hours a day and includes field trips and swimming every Friday.
This year will also include a “1 Book” activity, featuring “Charlotte’s Web” and a STEM day at BGSU.
“It is an honor for me to work with these children and affect their lives. I still run into former STARS
students who are now close to adults, and they always thank me for changing their lives for the better,”
Spencer said.
“It’s the greatest job on Earth. It really is.”
Online: clcstars.com

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