A Pathways Coach’s Journey
“I want the teens to know what they love and what brings them energy. I help them focus on what sparks passion and excitement in them rather than what I think is best for them. We work together to find a path. And then we follow it.”
Tahja Stewart, a Pathways Coach at Boys & Girls Clubs Teen & Community Center, understands Club teens. She was one herself.
She started at the Central Boys & Girls Club summer program in the third grade, but it wasn’t until she joined the Southside Club that Tahja really felt like she was where she needed to be. “Joining Southside was one of the best decisions my mom made for me as a child. I immediately felt welcomed and at home at Southside. We danced, held jamborees, had art exhibits at the VMFA, ran a cheer team, even cooked. I knew immediately I fit in at Southside.”
Because Boys & Girls Clubs staff are intentional about learning members’ strengths and interests through observation, conversation and exploring activities together, Southside Club staff identified Tahja as a natural leader. They saw that Tahja had a knack for creating activities for younger kids and encouraged her to design and lead her own program—one that she called Southside Superstars. “I was 12 years-old at the time and my students were 6-9 year-olds. We did arts and crafts as well as leadership activities. This sparked the leader in me at a very young age!”
Photos of Tahja during her Southside Club Years
Tahja stayed in touch with the Club throughout her teenage years and worked as a summer staff at the Northside Club during college. After graduating from Norfolk State University, Tahja heard about the Pathways Coach position at BGCMR’s new Teen & Community Center. The role would allow her to work with teens creating individual action plans to achieve specific and measurable goals. Tahja knew it was a perfect fit for her and was hired as a Pathways Coach at the Teen & Community Center.
Like the Teen Center, the position is new, and evolving. Coaching not only involves creating post-high school graduation plans and exploring college and career opportunities, but also providing guidance for the unique challenges of being teenagers. “Yes, there are new challenges for youth today—like the pressures of social media—but kids have a lot of the same needs I did when I was younger. The need for creative self-expression, positive relationships with adults other than family members, the need to be heard and respected, to be seen. At BGCMR, we have the ability to develop connections with teens that they often can’t develop with teachers who have classrooms of 25-30 students.”
Tahja’s ability to help members navigate a plan comes from her own experience. As a sophomore in college, she scrapped the idea of becoming a dentist. She explored a wide variety of fields, including agricultural biology programs. She plans to enroll in graduate school, but not before figuring out what she really wants to study.
“I’m a Pathways Coach on my own journey, too! I share this with the teens I work with. I tell them that even if they reach their goals, like I did earning my Bachelor’s, there are always new decisions to make and goals to think about. I want our youth to understand that change is okay. I have changed my career path so many times, and I do not regret it at all. It’s important to give yourself grace as you set goals and try to determine your career at such a young age.”
Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Richmond maintains a long list of academic and life-readiness outcomes we work toward with each member. A few of them are:
Naming emotions and developing appropriate options for dealing with them
Identifying characteristics or aspects of themselves that they like
Setting goals and working toward them in various areas of their lives
Embracing opportunities and overcoming obstacles to push through challenges
As a Pathways Coach, Tahja joins the rest of the staff in helping achieve these outcomes for all our members. “I want the teens to know what they love and what brings them energy. I help them focus on what sparks passion and excitement in them rather than what I think is best for them. We work together to find a path. And then we follow it.”
To learn more about our Teen Center programs and to take a tour, email us at development@bgcmr.org