Quentin Jammer continues to show his commitment and generosity to Boys and Girls Club members and their families. On Tuesday, November 22, Quentin hosted a Thanksgiving dinner to benefit 23 families from the W.J. Oakes (Logan Heights) and Encanto Clubs. Several San Diego Chargers were also on hand to partake in the meal at Pappa Doc's restaurant. Quentin wanted children that might not be able to participate in a traditional dinner to have the opportunity of a home cooked, traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

Michelle Regan, the Boys & Girls Club's Vice President of Operations stated that, "staff and members were so grateful to Quentin for providing this opportunity for families in need to celebrate a very special Thanksgiving and share the opportunity to spend time together. Having Thanksgiving with Quentin and his fellow Chargers was an experience our members will never forget."

We had a chance to shine this year at the 99th Annual Boys & Girls Clubs of America National Conference held here in San Diego during the last week of April. Two staff members were recognized in addition to one of our Clubs, the Mitchell Branch, winning a National Honor Award.

Michelle Regan, Vice President, Operations, received the 2005 Professional Development Award of Excellence. The Professional Development Award recognizes an individual who has provided support to and has continually promoted the vision of Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Professional Development System. The system links Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s mission and business strategies to processes, tools and resources for achieving competency and organizational effectiveness in preparing professionals for the next generation of service to youth. The award was given to Michelle in honor of outstanding work in promoting the Professional Development System and Quest, the online delivery platform for the system. Kudos to Michelle!

Holly Malan, Area Director for the Inland Clubs, received an honor for her service as the outgoing president of Association of Boys & Girls Clubs Professionals. For two years, Holly led the national network which provides professionals with an opportunity to share knowledge, experiences and successes. The Association promotes and encourages the very highest standards of professional and ethical behavior among its more than 1600 members nationwide. Great job Holly!

Five Clubs from across the US received an honor award in one of each of the core program areas: Health & Life Skills, Character & Leadership, Career & Education, The Arts, and Sports, Fitness & Recreation. Our own Mitchell Branch in Escondido won the Health & Life Skills award for the program, “Planet Health.” Planet Health is an innovative, collaborative nutrition education program developed at the Mitchell Branch to combat the growing epidemic of childhood obesity. The program has had such a positive, significant and measurable impact on Club members that Planet Health has received another grant allowing the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego to implement this program into 12 sites, serving more than 1,200 healthy after-school snacks everyday!

Stan Murphy fondly remembers sneaking into, yes I said sneaking into, the William J. Oakes Boys Club as a youngster. His brother always told him how much fun he had there, so Stan decided he wanted to go despite the fact that he was too young for a membership. At that time you had to be 7 years old and Stan was only 6.

When he was seven, Stan formally joined the Club located in Logan Heights and attended almost every day for the following seven years! He learned so many things from the Club that he attributes to his success in life. He learned about athletics and how to build with his hands. More importantly, Stan learned about teamwork, friendship and community service.

At San Diego High School, Mr. Murphy found himself very busy between being a four-sport varsity letterman and studying to do very well academically. His hard work led to academic and athletic scholarships to UC Berkeley. He was an All-American Football Player in college and was part of the Pac10 All-Academic Team. Stan received his undergraduate degree from the University of California in 1971. One year later, he received his lifetime teaching credential from the same institution. He went on to earn his Master’s Degree in Education from San Diego State University.After college, Stan came back to San Diego High School, this time as a professional teacher, to teach History.

Mr. Murphy goes above and beyond as a teacher, reaching out to his students to give them experiences and opportunities they may not have otherwise. Each year, Mr. Murphy takes his 11th grade students on a five-day trip to visit college campuses and participate in tours given by San Diego High School alumni! Through developing sister school programs in Russia, Argentina and Austria, Stan has taken his students across the globe. He created the first ever secondary educational exchange program between the Soviet Union and the U.S. His program continues to be successful to this day! Stan supervises a service-learning project in which his “at-risk” senior students are able to tutor elementary students in reading!

After 28 years of teaching, Stan was honored as the 2005 California Teacher of the Year. There are 300,000 teachers in the State of California. He was also nominated as one of the four finalists for the 2005 National Teacher of the Year Award. There are 3 million teachers in the United States. Not only is Stan one in a million in the education realm, he is one in a million to us!

Dynamic, caring and giving: three adjectives that describe a great board member...three adjectives that describe Scott Ashline.

Originally from Colorado, Scott has traveled all over, accomplishing great things! In 1990, Scott graduated from Boston College and moved to Belize in Central America to teach finance and accounting at a college on a volunteer basis. He moved to San Diego and started with his company, Northwestern Mutual, in September of 1992. Ten years later, he joined our Board!

Scott is one of our most active Board members. He is very involved in Board Development, bringing on many Board members since he joined us in 2002. As the 2004 co-Chair and 2005 Chair of the Golden Achievement Award Dinner, Scott has helped raise over $470,000. He also finds time to spend with our kids! Every year, Scott volunteers with a group of Board members, taking 50 members on a deep sea fishing excursion. The kids love it!

Scott is very philanthropic and is very involved in the community. Not only does he serve on our Board, but he also volunteers at Carmel Valley Children’s Hospital Auxiliary, is a member of the Scripps Hospital Gift Planning Advisory Board, and acts as a member of the Fund-Raising Committee for St. William of York Catholic Church in Carmel Valley.

As a professional, Scott has been a qualifying member of the Million Dollar Round Table eight times since 1996. He served as President and as Vice President of Government Relations of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA, San Diego).

At home, Scott is a devoted, loving father and husband. Scott and his wife of 10 years, Noemi, are proud parents of two beautiful girls, Amanda (7) and Isabella (4).

We are so lucky to have such a wonderful person on our Board. Thanks, Scott, for all your hard work and dedication!

At the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego, we recognize our employees who go above and beyond their job responsibilities to help make their Club a positive place for the kids, fellow staff, and community members.

Level One Professional Achievement Recipients:

Natalie Claussen, Chris Maiorano and Erika Meyer—4S Ranch Branch

Lovic Daniel, Shanda Pollard and Bracy Smith—Clairemont Branch

Robert Banford—Encanto Branch

Connie Alvarez and Diva Mohamad—Market Street Housing Site

Fabiola Rios—Mitchell Branch

Michelle Goutier—Ramona Branch

Veronica Gutierrez—Valley Center Branch

Mike Cascioppo, Shawn Brown, Ram Barrera, Danielle Aeling and Kaitlin Ferree—X-Track Middle School Sites

Years of Service (5 or more):

5 Years: Suzanne Nguyen, Scott Lamb, Alissa Maness

15 Years: Betty Chiarez, Andy Hadley

Employees of the Year:

Management: Holland Conneely

Support Services: Kay Brand

Full-time: Andy Hadley

Part-time: Suzanne Nguyen