Bob Burdette Center

The mission of the Bob Burdette Center is to provide West side children and their families with opportunities for holistic (social, emotional, spiritual, educational, and physical) development for healthy futures.

History of the Bob Burdette Center

The Bob Burdette Center, Inc. is an after-school program that serves West side children in grades K-5.  It presently operates at four sites – Emmanuel Baptist Church, North Charleston Community Center, Edgewod Elementary School, and Mary C. Snow Elementary School.

The program began in 1996 as the James Paige Learning Center and operated successfully under that name for two years.  Much of the impetus for the program’s inception came at the urging of Rev. Bob Burdette, for whom the present Center is named.  Rev. Burdette was the Associate Pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church from 1986 until 1995.  It was his long-time vision to see an after-school program opened at Emmanuel Baptist Church to serve the children of the West side community.

In 1998, the James Paige Learning Center was threatened with closure due to lack of funding, a potentially devastating blow to the West side community which depended on free after-school childcare.  Emmanuel Baptist Church stepped in to rescue the community by voting to organize and support a new non-profit organization to be named the Bob Burdette Center, Inc. Thus, the Center continued operation without interruption.

In the beginning, the Bob Burdette Center served twenty children (grades K-5) from Tiskelwah Elementary School.  Since then, the Center has expanded and now serves over 160 children in grades K through 5 from all West side schools.

The program provides a safe haven and enrichment opportunities for children who might otherwise go unsupervised after school.  Its overwhelming success emphasizes the need for afterschool programming on the West side.

The Bob Burdette Center receives operating revenues from a combination of federal* and state grant funding and contributions from foundations, churches, individuals, and businesses.  Volunteers are also a crucial part of making the program successful. Together with the community and Emmanuel Batist Church, the Bob Burdette Center is making a real difference in the lives of children and families here on the West side.

PROGRAM LOCATIONS

Emmanuel Baptist Church

1401 Washington Street, West

Served students in grades K-5

Edgewood Elementary

550 Hawk’s Ridge Rd

Serves students in grades K-5

 North Charleston Community Center

2009 7th Avenue

Serves students in grades K-5

Mary C. Snow Elementary

100 Florida Street

Serves students in grades K-5

PROGRAM ACTIVITIES

 Homework Assistance

Tutoring

Mentoring

Science, technology, engineering and math enrichment

Second Step Violence Prevention curriculum

Art

Crafts

Computer Lab

Organized gym games

Arts in Action Dance and Drum Classes

Nutritious snack and supper˚

*Funding for this 21^st Century Community Learning Center is provided in part by a grant from the United States Department of Education under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Title IV part B, with grant administration carried out by the West Virginia Department of Education

˚Funding provided by the Child and Adult Care Food Program with grant administration carried out by the West Virginia Department of Education Office of Child Nutrition