Thursday, March 28, 2024

Club Metro Camp Arrived to Southlake This Summer

Club Metro is all about new experiences for our participants, and this summer, the program got a welcomed expansion!

With the popularity of our Club Metro outings during the Fall and Spring seasons, we knew it was time to expand our offerings. This year, the Community Services Department is proud to provide two Club Metro camp weeks for our world-class participants! Club Metro hosted its first week of day camp last week for our teen and adult participants. It was a week jam-packed with exciting outings, fun games, delicious meals, and good times with friends.

Here is a recap of what our participants were up to last week.

Outings Galore
Club Metro is all about having fun with our participants while teaching them necessary soft skills such as communication when out and about. That’s why we picked an exciting location to visit almost every day of camp. Campers enjoyed discovering new experiences, such as getting a strike at Alley Cats, witnessing an equestrian joust at Medieval Times, learning about the ocean at the Sea Life Aquarium in Grapevine, and getting curious at the Perot Museum in Dallas!

Yummy Eats
It wouldn’t be Club Metro if it didn’t include some delicious mealtimes for our participants to socialize, and Club Metro Camp was no different. Campers enjoyed Joe’s Pizza, Chili’s, and medieval cuisine at Medieval Times!

Crafts, Games, and Activities
We pride ourselves on running well-rounded camps that everyone can enjoy. Club Metro Camp included daily activities such as crafting pipe cleaner trees, field day with Kiddo Kinetics, sand art, bingo, scratch art, soccer, films in the fieldhouse, rock painting, and games!

With such a fun schedule planned for our participants, it’s no wonder this week of camp sold out before it even began. Our first week of camp was so successful that we’re doing it again in August! We look forward to continuing to create life-long memories with our Club Metro participants!

 

Club Metro to Ring in the New Year!

Club Metro had a fantastic year and is ready to welcome an even better one!

Club Metro is Southlake’s premier adaptive recreation program and a community-favorite service. Our goal is to encourage our participants to improve their soft skills and prepare them for success while they hang out in a fun and safe environment!

Here’s what our Programs Supervisor, Sabrina Pettrow, had to say about the last year:

“Since I started my position as Programs Supervisor for Southlake, I’ve really enjoyed watching Club Metro grow and seeing all the participants enjoy the planned activities and outings as a group. This program has brought joy not only to our participants but also to me. I appreciate all that our Club Metro participants, parents, and staff bring to make this program a huge success.”

Our team looks forward to hanging out with our Club Metro participants every week, but we love a party even more!

After a busy year of meetings, outings, sports, arts and crafts, and socializing with friends, Club Metro is ready to wrap this year up with a bow and look forward to a new year of creating life-long memories. Club Metro is ringing in the new year on December 29 at 6:00 PM at the Legends Hall Ballroom for a night of New Year-themed activities, great food, photo opportunities, and dancing! Just a few spots remain, so click here to secure your registration!

As we wrap up this fabulous year, we thank all our participants, parents, staff, and community for your continuous support. We can’t wait to continue providing world-class Club Metro programming to our residents in 2023!

Club Metro Wraps Up a Fabulous August!

Club Metro, Southlake’s premier Adaptive Recreation program, is wrapping up a busy August!

Club Metro completed its final week of the summer last week, and they’ve had an exciting month. During the last four weeks, Club Metro went to Alley Cats in Hurst to bowl their hearts away, cheered on the Rangers, played football, made crafts, and ate at Jason’s Deli!

No matter what Club Metro participants do, the main takeaway is always socializing with friends and having fun! One of Club Metro’s key goals is to help our participants learn soft skills to set them up for success. Going on field trips, playing sports, and eating dinner with friends is the perfect way to solidify those skills.

Summer may be over, but there’s plenty to look forward to in the fall!

Here’s a sneak peek into what Club Metro participants can expect in the coming months:

  • Tour a Fire Station
  • Eat at delicious Southlake restaurants like BJ’s and Cristina’s Fine Mexican Restaurant
  • Get a visit from the Creature Teacher
  • Enjoy a movie at The Marq
  • Learn to make cards to give to those that may not receive them over the holidays from a great local volunteer

There’s always something incredible happening at Club Metro! With so many fun activities in store for the fall, we can’t wait to see our participants enjoying the pleasures of fellowship, sportsmanship, and creativity!

Claim your Fall spot today!

Oscar Rodriguez Wins the Kristin Pitzinger External Customer Service Award

Everyone in the Community Services Department strives for world-class customer service and nobody does it better than Recreation Specialist Oscar Rodriguez!

Oscar Rodriguez is the servant-leader behind our premier Adaptive Recreation program. A full-time teacher during the day, Oscar leads all Club Metro evening activities and ensures participants have the time of their lives. His devotion to his fellow staff members and Club Metro participants comes through every day through his kindness, mentorship, and passion for Adaptive Recreation.

Club Metro is one of our most popular programs, and Oscar’s involvement is a major factor behind its success.

“When we all think about Oscar, we realize how many families in our community love him. He’s been the face of our Adaptive Recreation program for many years. We wouldn’t be the same without him. He’s an enthusiastic, inspiring leader to our team, and he leads with passion and excellence in everything that he does,” stated Director Chris Tribble.

“Oscar is the heart and soul of our Adaptive Recreation program. His passion for recreation enriches the lives of many kids in our community. The people who come to his programs adore him and think the world of him. Oscar is invaluable, passionate, and devoted. I hope that Oscar continues to find great satisfaction in the work he does, not only in the City but as a teacher. Our programs wouldn’t be the same without him.”

Congratulations, Oscar! Thank you for teaching us what world-class customer service really is!

Club Metro Throws New Year Kick-Off Party

It’s a brand-new year, and Club Metro partied like it’s 2022!

Club Metro brought in the New Year with a Kickoff Party on Tuesday, and the entire Club Metro community was invited! Participants enjoyed a night of dancing, fun with friends, and goal setting for the New Year. This celebration began a new season of world-class Adaptive Recreation programming for our differently-abled community.

Club Metro is Southlake’s premier Adaptive Recreation program. Our service philosophy is to encourage people of all abilities to engage in a more active lifestyle through community recreation. Our goal is to provide positive recreation and leisure experiences through adapted, inclusive, and community integration programs.

We have many exciting programs scheduled for 2022. Keep an eye out for the return of community-favorite offerings such as Sports Saturdays, our weekly Spring Sessions, and seasonal celebrations.

Happy New Year, Club Metro participants! We can’t wait to celebrate with you all year long!

Club Metro Hosts Annual Holiday Party

The year is quickly coming to an end, and our Club Metro participants have so much to celebrate!

Club Metro is Southlake’s premiere Adaptive Recreation program! Its goal is to encourage participants to improve their soft skills while making friends and having fun. This year had its ups and downs, but participants demonstrated again that they are the most resilient bunch in Southlake. Now that we are all back together and the year is wrapping up, there’s no better way to celebrate than with a Holiday Party!

It’s not a real Monday unless you’re hanging out with Club Metro, and next Monday will be no exception. Club Metro will host its annual Holiday Party on Monday, December 6, from 6:00 PM- 8:00 PM at the Legends Hall Ballroom.

All Club Metro participants are invited to join in the merrymaking. The celebration will include themed activities, delicious food, a Secret Santa gift exchange, and of course, dancing!

Our staff has been working hard to make this celebration extra special, so make sure to join in the fun!

“Club Metro is a place for fun in a safe environment. We are so excited to have our participants celebrate the holiday with us this coming Monday,” Gretchen Morgan, Programs Coordinator.

We’ll see you at Club Metro!

Eat, Drink, and Be Scary at Club Metro’s Monster Mash This Friday

We all know ghouls just want to have fun, and that’s just what Club Metro has in store at their Monster Mash!

Attention all gourd-geous souls and boo-tiful ghosts! Club Metro’s Monster Mash is sure to lift your spirits! Join Southlake’s premier Adaptive Recreation program this Friday from 6:00 PM- 9:00 PM at Legends Hall for the ultimate Halloween celebration that’s certain to creep it real.

The Monster Mash is a Southlake Halloween tradition and a crowd favorite. What better way to celebrate the end of Club Metro’s October meetings than with a party with friends?

Come as you aren’t for a night of time-warp dancing, creepy-crawly snacks, themed crafts, trick or treating, and a costume contest that’ll have you laughing ‘til you’re coffin! Everyone in Southlake knows that Club Metro participants are squash goals, and we can’t wait to celebrate the spooky season with this spooktacular group.

“Monster Mash is a special event for our Club Metro participants. I’m looking forward to having fun with our participants and celebrating Halloween together!”- Gretchen Morgan, Programs Coordinator.

See you at the Monster Mash… if you dare!

Meet Oscar, Club Metro Lead and GOAT

Club Metro is back for Fall! We have several weeks of outstanding adaptive recreation opportunities and a world-class staff leading the way!

Club Metro is Southlake’s premier Adaptive Recreation program. Focused on inclusivity and fun, Club Metro provides recreation and leisure opportunities to people of all abilities. Everyone knows that Club Metro is one of the best programs in Southlake, and that’s largely thanks to our world-class Club Metro Lead, Oscar Rodriguez.

Oscar exhibits a quiet kind of leadership. He is very calm and always has everyone’s best interest at heart. Oscar has been a Lead at Club Metro for the last ten years and teaches special education full-time during the school year. A servant-leader at heart, Oscar knows the importance of Adaptive Recreation. He always incorporates his exemplarily social skills, contagious happiness, and earnest collaboration when interacting with Club Metro participants and staff. Oscar makes sure that everyone feels included and has a seat at the table.

Oscar is also in charge of running Club Metro activities—a duty he executes with kindness and grace. If a Game Night is going on, Oscar teaches participants how to play and then joins in on the fun. Oscar is a mentor and a friend through and through. He never misses a chance to teach participants about the meaning of friendship, respecting others, and having fun.

His mentorship extends beyond Club Metro participants and onto the staff. Oscar always gives staff opportunities to grow and create positive relationships with participants. Fellow staff members feel comfortable reaching out to him for guidance on personal and professional matters. Oscar aims to make sure everyone feels safe in the Club Metro environment.

Here’s what Oscar has to say about being a Club Metro Lead:

What do you like best about Club Metro?
What I love most about Club Metro are the participants. I love seeing them grow and enjoy being there. You can tell that they want to come back the following week.

When I first started with Club Metro, we only had 12 participants. Now we have over 60! Every day is a highlight: their smiles, their stories. I like making them feel like movie stars every day because Club Metro is truly about them.

I like to focus on soft skills like communication, social techniques, and daily living skills. It’s critical to practice those every day. That’s what keeps me in the program. Some of the people I work with started the program as teenagers, and now they are successful adults in their 30s!

I love seeing them become independent, and we do various things around DFW, especially before COVID. When Club Metro has an outing, the focus is on safety and fun. We go to restaurants, the movies, the library, and it’s all about learning independence and having the freedom to be themselves.

What is one of your proudest achievements?
I love this question because it’s not about me, it’s about the participants. My achievements are their achievements. They are successful young adults, and that’s very rewarding.

I wish I could measure success tangibly, but it comes down to how they feel daily. Every day is different, but the best part is taking something negative and turning it into a positive. We practice sharing personal experiences and talking about what they have going on in their lives. Self-advocacy is key. We also do various sports like baseball and basketball—that’s what recreation is all about! Therapeutic Recreation is about learning real-life skills, and the recreational part is about having fun.

How did you know you wanted to go into Adaptive Recreation?
I started this career 30 years ago as a Special Education teacher. That experience made me want to continue working with this community and help kids with their individual educational needs. I also have a lot of after-school recreational experience. I used to coach sports, referee, and play!

There’s a real need for Adaptive Recreation in sports, and being a teacher taught me the special needs aspects of it. Therapeutic Recreation combines both of my passions into one!

I also really love working with my fellow staff members. Everyone puts their all into making this program successful, and I enjoy watching them grow. In the future, there will be many people just like me, and they will have the skills needed to work with this population.

In the words of Programs Coordinator Gretchen Morgan, “Oscar is literally the GOAT: Greatest of All Time!”

Club Metro would not be the success it is without Oscar. Get to know him at the next Club Metro meeting starting on September 13! Register here.

Club Metro is in Full Swing this Spring

Club Metro hit the ground running this Spring season to provide world-class Adaptive Recreation programs to our Southlake residents.

A Parks and Recreation Department is only as strong as its ease of accessibility to quality programming for every resident. Southlake’s Adaptive Recreation programs aim to encourage residents of all abilities to lead an active lifestyle. Club Metro is Southlake’s premier program, bringing together our community with opportunities for socialization, learning, and fun!

Club Metro has been busy this Spring welcoming back old and new faces alike. With multiple weekly in-person and virtual meeting options available, there is always something exciting happening at Club Metro! Club members can look forward to art, games, yoga classes, special guests, and more! New activities this season include Zumba classes and virtual themed-goody boxes for club members to enjoy at home.

This season, Club Metro is introducing two new opportunities for increased interaction! Due to popular demand, Mondays will now be offered to supplement Tuesdays, Thursdays, and virtual Wednesdays. In addition, Club Metro introduced Sports Saturdays on March 27. Sports like Kickball, Softball, and Basketball are now available to players of all abilities.

All successful recreation programs require passion and dedication from staff and the community, and Club Metro is no exception. The connections formed in Club Metro lead to incredible life-long memories for everyone involved.

“Club Metro has always been about meeting new friends, learning new and exciting activities, and of course having fun!” Exclaimed Club Lead, Oscar Rodriguez.

Register for the next Club Metro meeting here.