Meet the Bands for the Charley West BBQ Fest

The Charley West BBQ Fest is quickly approaching! This annual fundraiser supports the Bob Burdette Center and brings the community together for a great day of food, friendly competition, and live entertainment. This year’s festival will take place from 2:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on May 16, 2026, at City Center at Slack Plaza in Charleston, WV. Attendees can look forward to barbecue cooking competitions, along with live music performances throughout ... Continue Reading »

Our Program in March

The Bob Burdette Center’s monthly theme for March was reading, and this was reflected in the lessons we taught, the activities we led, and the blog posts we shared. Each week, our lessons and activities were centered around a different literary genre, including fantasy, nonfiction, science fiction, and comic books. Having weekly themes that connect to the overarching monthly theme allowed us to break down our lessons into more ... Continue Reading »

The Bob Burdette Center Went Wild For Zootopia 2

As part of our new behavior incentive program, a select group of students went to the LaBelle Theatre on Thursday, March 20, to see Zootopia 2! This movie night was made possible by the generosity of Dr. Carter and members of his church. The event was originally scheduled for January but had to be postponed due to school cancellations and inclement weather. This movie night rewarded students for their positive behavior during ... Continue Reading »

Positive Behavior Incentive Program

In our first blog post of 2026, we discussed the launch of a new behavior incentive program at the Bob Burdette Center. Now that we have been implementing this program for a few months, we would like to share how it has been working. The behavior incentive program is designed to improve student behavior through positive reinforcement. There are two main ways we encourage and reinforce positive behavior. One method is ... Continue Reading »

Lessons We Can Learn From Dr. Seuss

To go along with both National Reading Month and the Bob Burdette Center’s monthly theme of reading, we are highlighting some of the lessons that can be learned from Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss is one of the most well-known children’s authors. It is estimated that he has sold between 500 and 700 million copies of his books. This number does not include the many people who have been exposed to ... Continue Reading »

Marching into National Reading Month

March is National Reading Month! This month highlights the importance of reading in adolescence and encourages daily reading among children, families, and communities. March was chosen because March 2nd is Dr. Seuss’s birthday. During this month, you can celebrate by reading more and encouraging reading within your family. At the Bob Burdette Center, we discussed the importance of reading in a previous blog post at the beginning of January. ... Continue Reading »

Studying the Stars

This month at the Bob Burdette Center, we took to the skies with our monthly theme: Space! The universe we live in has so many fascinating things to learn about. During February, our students became junior astronauts and learned all about space. Through many STEM lessons, art activities, reading lessons, and classroom instruction, our students became very familiar with space-themed concepts. Throughout the month, students learned about stars and constellations. ... Continue Reading »

Lettuce Celebrate! It’s a New Year in the Garden

The garden is a project we have been successful with for the past two years, and we are excited to announce that we will be bringing it back for its third year! Our Community Garden is located at the corner of Bream Street and Hull Street on the West Side of Charleston. This garden is not only a way to support the local community, but also a way to encourage ... Continue Reading »

Creating Space for Youth Voices at the Bob Burdette Center

The Bob Burdette Center is more than just a place for students to go when the school day ends. We are a space where our students can grow, explore new interests, and build meaningful relationships in a safe environment. One of the most powerful ways to strengthen these environments is through youth–adult partnerships. Youth-adult partnerships are an important relationship that occurs between a child and an adult that is ... Continue Reading »

Looking Back at Past Summer Programs

As we begin preparing for this year’s upcoming summer program, we are taking a look back at past summers that students have spent with us. Our summer program provides full-day childcare beginning at 8:00 a.m., and students must be picked up by 5:30 p.m. Throughout the day, we serve breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack. We follow the guidelines of the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) to ensure that ... Continue Reading »