Everyone deserves a night out now and then. Such occasions provide an opportunity to let off steam, socialize and have fun.

So why shouldn’t kids have the same opportunity?

At Jefferson Elementary School, kids kick back with Girls Night Out and The Men’s Club, and these after-school groups are a hit with fourth- and fifth-grade students.

School social worker Jill Schwenzen and school secretary Sherri Stipek formed the girls program last school year in response to taunting and bullying in the halls and playground.

“We decided we wanted to try to do something more proactive, since we felt we had been just doing reactive,” Schwenzen said. “We wanted it to be fun. We wanted them to learn, but we wanted it to be fun activities that they may not be exposed to otherwise.”

It would also provide the girls with positive role models, Stipek added.

“What we really wanted to do was teach them how to be friends,” Stipek said, “to look to the staff here as not just as staff (member), but as a friend to them, somebody they could come to and trust.”

The positive role model component was as important as the camaraderie and activities, the women said.

Jefferson doesn’t have a Girl Scout troop or 4-H group that meets at the school.

Started last year

Schwenzen and Stipek began the program last year with the fourth-grade girls as they had the most incidences of bullying behavior.

Students met after school once a month, and as expected, the girls were enthusiastic.

“The girls love it, and they get really excited,” Schwenzen said.

The leaders set high goals for themselves and their girls: They aimed for 100 percent participation from the 28 girls, and about 92 percent became active in the club.

Activities have included:

— Sessions with children’s book author Florence Parry Heide.

— Manicures with students from the Gateway Technical College’s cosmetology program.

— A meet and greet with teens from Bradford Positive Women, who have become pen pals with the girls.

— Making blankets for families at the Shalom Center shelter.

A future activity with Tremper senior Kiersten Gonzales, Miss Wisconsin’s Outstanding Teen for 2009, on the issue of bullying is planned.

Group for boys

The girls program was so successful that a similar option was opened to the fourth-grade boys last spring.

Joel Dutton, behavior intervention specialist, and resource teacher James Masterson facilitate the boys version dubbed The Men’s Club.

“We had noticed that when the boys were playing sports outside there was lots of aggression,” Dutton said. “They didn’t know how to resolve problems and how to talk to each other.”

Men’s Club members have participated in card collecting, bicycle repair, volleyball and flag football and making music with “Garage Band” software.

Rapala, makers of fishing gear, donated a dozen fishing rods and reels for club members, and boys were given fishing lessons.

$2,000 grant

Last September, Schwenzen and Stipek received a $2,000 grant for the project from the Wisconsin Retired Educators’ Association. Jefferson is one of five projects this year to receive funding through the association.

The grant money is being used for transportation and other expenses for the clubs, as the programs have been expanded to include fifth-graders. Each of the clubs meets once per month, and there are no dues.

“This grant has an umbrella over anything we want as long as it’s for the program, so we are going to schedule a fishing trip to Anderson Pond or out to Bong next spring,” Dutton said.

This year more than 100 students (61 percent of them girls) participate in the clubs.

The overall results have been promising. Facilitators noted a decrease in behavior problems and improvements in friendship issues.

“What we’re really trying to do is build positive, character-filled kids that will choose to make good decisions and be good people and treat their classmates with respect,” Schwenzen said. “And we want them to know that somebody cares more than just during the school day.”