Along with tribal leaders of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and students from the Center, Leslie McEntire and Anthony Swearengin cut the ribbon to officially open the Cherokee Boys Club Child Development John H. Gloyne Agelink Center in Cherokee, N.C. on the morning of Friday, April 17. (SCOTT MCKIE B.P./One Feather photos)
By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
One Feather Asst. Editor
CHEROKEE, N.C. – A vision was brought to life with the opening of the newly refurbished and renamed Cherokee Boys Club (CBC) Children Development John H. Gloyne Agelink Center in Cherokee, N.C. on Friday, April 17. The mission of the Center, serving the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), is “A caring Center for families where children learn, play, and grow.”
Leslie McEntire, CBC Childcare manager, commented, “To bring our vision for the John H. Gloyne Agelink facility to life, we collaborated, again, with LS3P, our architect, whose diligence and expertise were instrumental in designing a facility that meets both our needs and aspirations. We thank you. Their thoughtful approach enabled us to prepare a bid for this transformative project with confidence. Owle Construction skillfully brought these plans to realization, turning our shared dreams into a reality.
Today, as we stand together in this beautiful, remodeled center, we celebrate not just the completion of the building, but the renewal of our commitment to quality, excellence, compassion, and cultural pride. This achievement is a testament to what we can accomplish when we work together with vision, determination, and respect for our heritage.”
Ugvwiyuhi (Principal Chief) Michell Hicks speaks at Friday’s event.
Anthony Swearengin, CBC Childcare fiscal grants manager, commented, “To accomplish this project, it was kind of a three-phase part. In order to operate our program, we receive funding from the Administration of Children and Families Office of Child Care out of something called the Child Care Development Fund…that is the one who pays for teachers, we buy supplies, we pay for electricity, we pay for training.
We made a deliberate effort toward increasing services’ quality – how good are they? We had funding support for program success making visible changes to the overall program including, but not limited to, we increased salaries, but we also increased training. We also increased or raised expectations for teachers and we improved our facilities.”
He added, “This renovation or remodeling is just a part of the effort. While this is quite significant, called an accomplishment for the overall program, the final expense for this remodel was not the majority of our funding. The majority of our funding went to training people, raising expectations. So, while this is noticeable and wonderful, the money for this was not the bigger part of the funding.
We were a program of about 25 employees, and now we have a plan of 50 positions and a hope to have three teachers in every classroom so teachers will not become overwhelmed.”
Greg Owle, CBC general manager, said, “This is for the children. It’s our vision and over in Proverbs it states that where there is no vision the people perish. So, I think the good Lord has allowed us to do this.
It is so important that we raise the quality of child care. It is so important that we have a new facility, that we have better teachers, that we have the things that are going to make a difference in our kids’ lives.”
Owle went on to say, “We do want our children to feel loved, provided for, cared for.”
EBCI Ugvwiyuhi (Principal Chief) Michell Hicks commented, “This place has been here a long time and there are a lot of us that have been educated through this facility. So, we just appreciate the stronghold with the community, working alongside Dora Reed trying to coordinate all these kids and make sure everybody has a place.
It’s exciting to see our tribe move ahead. And, of course, the Boys Club has been here for a long time and many, many partnerships have been brought to fruition over time. It’s just great to see the continued growth, especially things that benefit our children.”
EBCI Dinilawigi Taline Gahvsgi (Tribal Council Vice Chairman) David Wolfe said, “I am a grandparent of a couple grandkids that have attended here. It’s always nice to be able to come in and see smiling faces waiting for the kids and the kids ready to come in and go to school and learn.”
At the end of Friday’s event, young members of the EBCI performed the Cherokee Friendship Dance and Beaver Dance. Jordan Oocumma sang the songs for both dances.
