2026 Quarter 2 Club Champions

CLUB CHAMPIONS

Summer TIME

Spring Volleyball Concludes

STEM Room Launches

TISD impacts

NUTRITION through RWYC

Summer TIME

Summer represents a significant shift in operations at the youth club. Although the mission of providing a safe and structured environment does not change, the challenge associated with it does change. The mission expands from a three hour service day to an eleven hour service day. The average attendance goes from 205 to 375. The food operation goes from a simple snack bar to breakfast and lunch served by Temple I.S.D. School Nutrition. The staff increases from 25 to 55. There are 59 field trips and activities in 44 days. In summary, everything is bigger in the summer at the youth club. While everything may be busier, summer time represents a BIG opportunity to impact more lives and change the trajectory of so many kids. We embrace this opportunity with our arms wide open for our kids. In so many cases, we represent a CHANCE for our kids. A chance to escape what might be wrong at home. A chance to go on a field trip to serve as the vacation they won’t get this summer. A chance to make new friends from a campus they will never visit. A chance to forge a relationship with a staff member that can relate to what they are experiencing in life. A chance to be a kid and make kid mistakes and learn from them. At RWYC we give you a CHANCE!

Temple ISD impacts NUTRITION through RWYC

The TISD School Nutrition team assigned to the youth club during the summer months is usually comprised of 5-6 employees. These employees are tasked with the daily meal preparation for breakfast and lunch meals that are served at the youth club. Our partnership with TISD results in the youth club being designated as a feeding location for their summer feeding program. The summer feeding program provides free meals to members of the community 18 years of age and younger. As a result, all youth that attend the youth club during the summer are offered free breakfast and lunch. The youth club serves as one of the most visited locations throughout the community. The members of the School Nutrition team do an excellent job of forming relationships with our youth and the greater community to provide professional and personalized relationships with everyone that walks through the cafeteria. Our organization appreciates TISD’s commitment to doing greater good for our community. Their presence has a major impact on the health and well-being of so many in our community.

Room remodel results in STEM Room

The computer lab was renovated and converted into a STEM lab to coincide with the launch of Summer 2026. The decision to renovate was based on the desire to create a more hands-on engaging experience for our youth. The STEM room provides challenges for our youth in a variety of ways. Group interactions are a big part of the STEM room. Projects often allow our youth to work with one another on solving activities in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematic aspects of their learning journey. These types of interactions support social skills, fine motor development, teamwork, hand eye coordination, and critical thinking.

5 Year old Co-Hort grows in Year two

The decision was made with the start of Summer 2025 to allow 5-year-olds that had not completed kindergarten to attend the youth club’s summer program. The purpose of the change was to grant access to this younger group of kids in advance of their scholastic journey and hopefully to continue to serve this age group with the start of the academic year. To increase the likelihood of them having a positive experience that caters to the unique needs of their age group, we created a 5-year-old cohort. The cohort keeps them together and provides consistency throughout the day. In addition, they are under the leadership of the same staff members daily. This approach provides them with consistency in relationships with staff and fellow kids. Staff also implemented a daily routine for them. The routine ensures the cohort gets access to all areas of the youth club without having to navigate the older kids. In most cases, they get exclusive access when they are in an area. Summer 2025 featured 20 kids in the cohort. This year’s program is comprised of 55 kids. We are excited about the program and the possibility that these kids will have a long tenure in our program.

Volley Llamas - 12U Champion

At the core of the existence of Ralph Wilson Youth Club is providing programs rich in quality and affordable to the youth of the Greater Temple Community. The ability to successfully accomplish this task is directly connected to community support. Community support comes in a variety of ways. At the heart of support for the youth club is the Club Champions program.

The Club Champions program is the source of $100,000 per year in contributions to the youth club. This represents a significant portion of the $480,000 annually that is donated to support affordable programs for area youth. As the youth club approaches its ten-year anniversary this year, the Club Champions program will play a huge role in the ability of the youth club to address issues related to the growth and aging of the facility.

The tradition of Ralph Wilson Youth Club spans 60 years. Countless youth have benefitted from the experiences of Ralph Wilson Youth Club. Help us keep the tradition alive and well by renewing your commitment to being a Club Champion.

Past employee of the year joins Temple College Staff

2024 Ralph Wilson Youth Club Staff Member of the Year Alyssa Yepma has joined Temple College as a member of their Foundation team. Alyssa’s official title is Communications/ Events Coordinator. She will be working to support Temple College’s efforts in the area of events & communication. Alyssa’s impact on the youth club has been tremendous. We are extremely proud of her tenure, and we are excited to see her continued professional growth with our community partner Temple College. Alyssa received her Associate of Business Administration degree from Temple College and is currently working on her Bachelor of Business Administration- Marketing degree from Texas A&M Central Texas. Her goal is to continue to work in the area of Marketing upon graduation. She has a bright future and we are glad we played a small part in her journey.

Wildcat Mentors wraps up another IMPACTFUL year

The Wildcat Mentors program wrapped up another impactful year with their end of year event at Ralph Wilson Youth Club. This year’s program featured over 100 youth in the 5 grade across Temple I.S.D. The Wildcat Mentors program connects community members with at risk youth that benefit from the additional influence of adult mentorship. The end of the year program allowed mentors and mentees to have a morning of fun doing a variety of activities at the youth club ranging from pool, ping pong, basketball to air hockey. Everyone in attendance was treated to the famous RWYC burgers and hot dogs for lunch. RWYC is proud to continue to support Wildcat Mentors by hosting events and being active on the Board of Directors. th

Altrusan of the Year honored at ceremony at RWYC

In what has become a tradition, RWYC staff hosted the fajita luncheon that is a key part of the annual Altrusan of the Year ceremony. The youth club serves as the monthly meeting location for the local chapter of Altrusa. The service-oriented group recognizes a member for their exemplary service annually at the group’s late April meeting. RWYC takes pride in being the host location for their monthly meetings and the caterer for their annual event that recognizes the Altrusan of the Year. By supporting the group with a free meeting location and catering their meal, it allows Altrusa to utilize their funds to impact the lives of various groups in our community. The partnership between Altrusa and RWYC reflects how community groups can collaborate to expand each groups impact. This year’s Altrusan of the Year is Sarah Davison.

Bill DiGaetano awarded Silver Eagle Award

Longtime RWYC board member Bill DiGaetano was recently recognized by the area Longhorn Council at their annual award luncheon. Bill was the recipient of the prestigious Silver Eagle Award. The award recognizes leaders who demonstrate leadership, service and commitment that is reflective of the core values of scouting. The Longhorn Council cited Bill’s integrity, dedication, and deep passion for strengthening our community as foundation pieces of his leadership for our community. The greater Temple community is blessed to have a servant leader like Bill DiGaetano.

Staff Spotlight

Caden Berry

Caden Berry is a sophomore at Texas A&M University. Caden can best be described as the energy of the organization. Regardless of the assignment, he embraces it with passion and purpose and more importantly, a positive attitude. Caden is destined to be a leader. His values represent that of servant leadership.

High School: Academy High School

College: Texas A&M University

Major: Psychology

Did you attend RWYC as a kid?: Yes

RWYC Employment Tenure: 4 Years

Why RWYC?: “I enjoy working at RWYC because you get to shape how these kid’s summer goes. Every day you walk into the building you get to make a decision to impact each kid’s life in a positive way. Where else can you do that!?”

Jerica Henry

Jerica Henry will be a sophomore at UMHB in the Fall. She spent her freshman year at Concordia Lutheran. Jerica is an accomplished softball player and is pondering whether she will compete in the sport at UMHB. Jerica’s demeanor can best be described as welcoming and comforting. This serves her well as she has spent the past two summers working exclusively with the 5 year old program at the youth club. Jerica has been entrusted with our youngest precious cargo at the youth club. Her work with this group is to be commended.

High School: Academy High School

College: University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

Major: Interdisciplinary Studies - Education & Sports Science

Did you attend RWYC as a kid?: No

RWYC Employment Tenure: 2 Summers

Why RWYC?: “I enjoy working at the youth club because I get to build meaningful relationships with the kids and create a safe environment where they can have fun.”

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