Boom Squad, Inc. (BSI) is a year round youth development organization in Evansville, Indiana that has served over 1,000 youth since we began in 2003. BSI has benefited from the support of parents and community members who serve as leaders, mentors, and instructors for our programs. Because of the support from current parents and parents of former participants, BSI has operated as an all-volunteer organization.
Even though many of our youth come to us because of their interest in learning to play the drums, dance, or learn flag routines and becoming a member of the nationally known Boom Squad, our overall purpose is to provide a safe place for youth to learn, experience, and grow. As our tag line says; …”more than a drum line.”
Our mission is to provide youth, ages 4-17 the necessary skills to make well informed decisions leading to a healthy lifestyle and successful future.
We operate after school and summer programs in Evansville’s most urban residential district. We have five (5) primary programs with various components of each program. (Programs 1 – 4 run August through May and programs 2, 4, and 5 run June through July.)
- Academic Time. BSI monitors homework assignments, attendance, and grades for over 200 students per year at 41 area schools. If youth are reported to have missed assignments, a volunteer is assigned to work with the student to make up all assignments. Homework sessions are held 3 days per week.
- Mentoring. Mentoring targets students with significant academic deficiencies and provide long term remediation in core subject areas. This program is limited to 30 students.
- College Access. BSI provides support to parents and students by providing information on post-secondary educational opportunities. This program raises the expectations of participants to attend college by regularly touring colleges and encouraging students to believe they can enroll and graduate from college or trade school. We help parents and students complete College Entrance Applications and Financial Aid Applications.
- Drum Line. BSI’s most visible component is the performing drum line. The drum line is a combined model of the Youth/ARTS Development Project and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) show style drum line experience.
- Summer Programs. During summer months youth often time lose their zest for positive productivity. This is because the time they would generally be in school, they are now idle. As such, BSI provides summer activities emphasizing financial literacy, health education, career exploration, substance abuse awareness, and a host of life skills.
- Workforce Ready. BSI works concession at events for SMG and VenuWorks. Our members donate their time to work these events. During their time working, they are taught how to work cash registers, handle money, count inventory and many other skills that will help them build skills for success in school, college and careers.
Interested in becoming a member of Boom Squad? Click here to find out how.
