Boys & Girls Club of Elgin reopens to children of essential workers
The Boys & Girls Club of Elgin has reopened its doors with new requirements - such as wearing face masks - to a limited number of children of essential workers.
The club welcomed more than 30 children from kindergarten to sixth grade Tuesday after receiving an emergency child care license from the state, said Marta Knodle, the club's director of special events and marketing. The license is for centers serving children of essential workers; only two other clubs in Illinois are open under those guidelines.
The club, closed since March after the stay-at-home order, will be open Monday through Friday. The kids must have their temperatures taken, stay 6 feet apart, wear masks and wash their hands every 30 minutes. No more than 10 children per room are allowed, and there are outdoor activities in the community garden behind the club.
"It went well," Knodle said. "Obviously our staff is dealing with some new protocols, but we want to give them (the children) the same club experiences."
Being able to entrust her grandson Beckett to the club's care was a blessing, said Dawn Skarzynski of Elgin, who is the child's guardian. Skarzynski said she works in procurement/logistics/quality assurance for a food manufacturing supply company; she and Beckett live with Beckett's uncle, who is a police officer.
"I've been the only one going to the office since March, and he (Beckett) has been coming with me every day," she said. "He's been doing his e-learning while I am working."
The club's reopening means the second-grader at Century Oaks Elementary can socialize and learn while his grandmother can return to a semblance of a routine during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"They are a wonderful organization," she said. "It's such a relief."
Beckett said his first day back was "really fun." He did some school work, including a Zoom video meeting with his teacher and classmates, played outside and did arts and crafts, he said.
So what about the new requirements of wearing a mask and social distancing? "I'm OK with them," Beckett said.
There are 23 Boys and Girls Clubs in Illinois. Besides the one in Elgin, the others open to children of essential workers are in Dundee Township and Livingston County, said Bryan Soady, executive director of the Illinois Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs.
The Elgin club also had to meet the city's requirements for reopening, so the process took about a month, Knodle said. The club can accommodate up to 50 kids under the current restrictions. Parents or guardians must work in essential fields. More information and applications can be found at bgcelgin.org/children-of-essential-workers.
Child care centers can reopen under Phase 4 of Gov. J.B. Pritzker's "Restore Illinois" plan. Phase 3 is expected to start Friday.