Mentor program at Boys and Girls Club gets $15,000 boost

Career Center updated as BE GREAT program aims to help 25 students. 

A $15,000 donation from AT&T helps boost a mentoring program.

The “career center” at the Boys and Girls Club of La Crosse gets updated just as the BE GREAT program begins this fall.

About 25 kids will take part in the mentoring program.

“We’ve got all brand new technology in there,” Boys and Girls Club executive director Jake Erickson said. “Some comfortable seating. A nice space for them to come in and work with their mentors.”

Over 130 students have dropped out of the La Crosse School District in the last five years – 90 percent of those were seniors.

Erickson says some kids just need a little extra push to graduate high school, and that’s what this program is for.

“Pair some of these vulnerable students with mentors and give them the confidence to graduate from high school,” Erickson said.