Wherry takes helm at youth club
New Plymouth resident steps into top slot at Ontario boys and girls facility
By Larry Meyer
Argus Observer
Monday, January 5, 2009 10:54 AM PST
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| Larry Meyer | Argus Observer
Kristi Wherry (standing), program director for the Boys & Girls Club of Western Treasure Valley, watches while (from left) Eli Galan, Rebecca Galan, Aaliyah Lopez and Belinda Riojas participate in game of Uno Friday. |
ONTARIO — Kristin “Kristi” Wherry, New Plymouth, believes that being program director of the Boys & Girls Club of Western Treasure Valley fits in nicely with what she wanted to do with her degree in sports and recreation management from Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa.
Now starting the second month on the job, Wherry said she oversees the day-to-day activities and the staff at the club facility, situated at 2441, S.W. Fourth Ave., Ontario.
“I started that Dec. 1,” Wherry said. “I’ve had a lot of involvement with young people.
“I’ve had a lot of involvement with young people,” Wherry said.
That includes, she said, camps and other activities with her church. She was especially interested in being a personal trainer and working with athletes to help them build their strength and improve their agility.
“We did a lot in Boise at the junior high and high school level,” she said. “We worked with a lot of people who were going to be freshmen (in college),”
Wherry, who attended high school in New Plymouth, said she became an athlete early on.
“It was always something I enjoyed —training the body,” she said.
She played basketball, volleyball, softball and participating in track while in high school.
“Then I went NNU on a track scholarship,” Wherry threw discus and javelin for NNU.
Having gone to school with the Poe children, Wherry knew Kelly Poe, director of the Malheur County Commission on Children and Families, who notified her that the position of program director of the boys and girls club was open. She was not doing any sports training, but was working at Jolts and Juice.
Wherry feels the new job is a better fit with her degree and the skills she obtained while in college.
“It’s amazing. I enjoy every part of it,” she said, adding she enjoys coming to work every day. “I love the kids. We have a great time.”
Being program director at the boys and girls club is a different focus than being a sports trainer, Wherry said.
“It allows me to work with more of a variety of kids,” she said.
The club focuses on personal growth, education and the arts, as well as recreation.
“It’s a holistic approach,” she said.
Open since Dec. 16, the club already averages about 15 children visits per day at the club’s activity center and has about 100 members who are registered, Wherry said.
“It’s so new,” she said.
A lot of parents may not know the club is available. Club officials are working with the school district and the Snake River Transit to have children dropped off at the center. While most of the youth participating are low income, the club is open to everyone, she said.
“Hopefully it will break down barriers,” she said.
