CIVIC PRIDE: CAPE CIVIC CENTER BUILDS HOPE FOR YOUTH

At right, Procter and Gamble division manager Nancy Gibson, speaks to young women in the program. The discussion focused on how to set goals.

Ninth grade student Diante Simms studies biology homework during a tutoring session at the Civic Center.

Above, Civic Center Director Calvin Bird spends time on the telephone planning activities at the center. At right, Assistant cirector and basketball coach James Collins conducts the team's first practice of the season. The team has placed high in the standings during the past several seasons.

At right, members of this year's basketball team pose for a picture. Below, Girl Scout Leader Lisa Lane tosses a "hot potato" to Sciout Sam Twiggs. The center sponsors both Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops.

Chelsey Simms, 11, believes going to the Civic Center is an investment in his future.

"I plan to become a lawyer," he said, "and do my best to make a lot of money first, then save the rain forests."

The staff and volunteers at the Civic Center hope to help Chelsey and dozens of other youngsters like him reach their goals.

"I've always been a dreamer, and, when people say it can't be done, I love proving them wrong," said Calvin Bird, director of the Cape Girardeau Civic Center.

Bird has a dream for the hundreds of young people who utilize the Civic Center.

"I want to see them become functional in society and not so dependent on society," he said. "They should be able to work in Cape and become good citizens of Cape.

"What we are trying to do is equip them with the skills they need to make that happen."

Three years ago Bird took over leadership of the Civic Center from Mike Heston, who had been director the previous eight years.

"I had three personal goals," Bird said. "The Civic Center had a negative connotation in the community. People felt like the Civic Center meant trouble. I wanted to bring the Civic Center from a negative to a positive. When people think of the Civic Center, I want them to think of something good."

The second goal was to develop a lot of new programs by tapping into community resources. And thirdly, Bird hoped to increase fund-raising activities.

"At the time, we felt this would be a five- or 10-year program. Little did I know after three years we would already be working on the third goal," Bird said.

"Now one of our main focuses is to change from a place for recreation to a place for learning and education," Bird said.

Sheldon Tyler, volunteer education director at the center, said: "Education is the only way to go. They can play basketball from here to eternity. One percent will go on to the NBA; the rest will have nothing. So we keep emphasizing education."

A tutoring program is offered once a week. Volunteers, including classroom teachers, offer youngsters help with their homework.

"It's still in the beginning stages," said Tyler, but grades are improving.

Chelsey, who hopes to become a lawyer, said before he started going to the tutoring program, he didn't always do his homework. "At home, when your mother tells you to do it, you can fake her out," he said.

Not so at the Civic Center. But now, he said, he doesn't try to fake anyone out. "I want a college education."

The Civic Center also offers GED preparation courses. Tyler, who also coordinates that program, explained that students enrolled in GED "could not or definitely would not go back to school.:

"They are here anyway. This way the get their education and still get to socialize," Tyler said.

The first person received her high school degree after going through the Civic Center's GED program this summer. She is now attending Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

Bird said: "She had dropped out of school. She has two kids. She came and talked with us and we stayed with her. She is majoring in accounting."

Tyler said she had already enrolled at SIU before she receive official word that she had passed the exam. "That's how confident she is now."

The Civic Center has been active in Cape Girardeau for 39 years.

"We have endured the test of time," Bird said. "It started with a dream, a mission to help deprived children, and that basic desire has continued over the years."

Bird said many of the young people are second-generation Civic Center users.

"I'm a Civic Center product," he said. "They can identify with me because I can relate to what is going on in their lives, not just empathize or sympathize. I know what they are going through.

"For years a lot of people have thought this is a black thing. We were kind of like the Lone Ranger, down here by ourselves," Bird said.

But it's changing.

"Yes, most of our youth are black," he said. "But we are trying to find ways to bridge the gap."

For example, a group of high school students from Jackson has been invited to the Civic Center over the past three years to discuss issues.

"We are trying to tap into the resources out there in the community," Bird said.

He and others at the center have begun writing grants to help fund the programs they offer.

Recently Project Open Door was funded through the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. "It's a preventive program to identify youth who are statistically at risk of dropping out of high school and putting a big brother or big sister with them to help guide them through high school," Bird said.

Career exploration is a big part of the program. "We want to show them the world is an open door."

Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts programs were chartered at the Civic Center this year. "These are excellent programs for young people," Bird said. "But for some reason our kids were not involved. Now they are."

A program for teenage girls called "In the Name of Love" was just completed. The program brought 14 girls together with community leaders to discuss issues. It culminated with a trip to the Botanical Garden in St. Louis to see the Japanese festival.

"To see those girls in an atmosphere they might never have had an opportunity to experience, was wonderful," Bird said.

The Civic Center is a United Way agency. When Bird took over three years ago, 93 percent of its budget was from the United Way; now the percentage is 76 percent because of increased fund-raising activities at the center.

"We are very thankful for the United Way. I would dare say without the United Way the Civic Center would have folded."

But today, Bird said, "We're ready to expand."

The Senior Citizens Nutrition Center, which has been renting space from the Civic Center, is building its own facility and hopes to move at the first of the year.

Just $49,000 is left to pay off the building. Bird said the board of directors is contemplating a capital campaign to retire that debt.

The center operates on a budget of about $56,000 a year.

"We operate very efficiently on that small amount," Bird said. "But, if we had $112,000, imagine what we could do, how much we could help these kids."

Kisuna Cobbs, a Central Junior High School student who took her clarinet to practice during a recent tutoring session, said going to the Civic Center is cool.

She also participated in "In the Name of Love." "I just love the people; they help self-motivate you," she said.

Kisuna said parties held at the center draw large crowds of teen-agers. "Everybody from all over come. Everybody is dancing and you get to know a lot of people."

A recent back-to-school dance drew a crowd of about 200 teens. Not one fight broke out, Bird said.

Diante Simms, also a junior high school student, said: "I think a lot of people think this is just for black kids, but it's not. The mall is not big enough and everyone gets in trouble out there."

So he goes to the Civic Center. He took his Spanish homework to a tutoring session. "I don't need tutoring," he said. "I just come down here because it's something to do rather than sit home. This is the only place to hang out."

Tony Smith, a Central High School junior, said, "I just like to hang out and play basketball here."

Tony said going to the Civic Center has helped him focus on future plans. He plans to go to college after he graduates from high school.

He said: "Calvin always says that if we ever need anything, just call. But, if you don't want to help yourself, they aren't going to help you."