Friends & Family Events

Fall

Friends & Family Night gives the 5th Dimension members an opportunity to share all of their amazing accomplishments in the program with the important people in their lives. The families of every single Fifth Dimension member are personally invited to join in Friends and Family Night, and members can bring whomever else they would like. Every Friends and Family Night is unique, however they typically involve the 5th D member acting as a tour guide to their guests, since they are the experts on everything 5th D related. The guests are shown various aspects of the program including the maze, the games, adventure cards, journey logs, other work by their 5th D members, and being introduced to at least one Wizards’ Assistant. One Friends & Family might include a “dance party” with music the members have created in Garageband, and another might include a gallery of different projects the members have worked on, or a viewing of speeches given on the Fifth Dimension speech box. Once the 5th D members and their guests have seen everything in the 5th Dimension, they are invited to enjoy dinner with the other families and the BCM Scholars.

Friends & Family Night is meant to celebrate and share the special and magical things that the kids do in the 5th Dimension. We want the families to know that their kids are doing great things and to see all that they are capable of. Furthermore, Friends & Family Night gives the BCM Scholars a chance to communicate and connect with the families of the kids they are working with. This helps to form a greater connection, not only between the different people these kids are spending time with, but also between the greater community. By forming these relationships, the BCM Scholars team can better understand what the community and its kids might need or want, and how better to serve and work with them.

Spring

During our Spring semester, in place of a Friends and Family Night we host two events to foster a supportive community. The goal of these events is to intentionally organize opportunities that brings together the families and friends of our citizens. These events are meant to create a casual setting that allows families and the BCM scholars and other staff to interact and engage in meaningful conversations. They are also meant to be fun!

Although these events can be different each year depending on what we believe would be relevant to the community, the past year we hosted a Family Movie Night and a Carne Asada. The Family Movie Night was held in the Boys and Girls Club gym and we watched Zootopia. The movie night was planned with the intention of giving families an opportunity to spend time together and for our BCM Scholars to meet and get to know the families and friends of our citizens. Our citizens and their families came prepared with blankets and snacks, and enjoyed a fun night out!

Our second event was our Carne Asada hosted at Michigan Park. The family-style picnic was a chance for families to get together and catch up as well as celebrate the beginning of Spring. With games, music, and a barbecue, families who've participated for years and those who were new to our program met and spoke with our BCM Scholars and community members alike.