NOTE: Throughout the month of July, BrownwoodNews.com is publishing stories daily on 40 standout citizens under the age of 40 making a positive impact and contribution within the Brown County community.
On April 1, 2019, Katherine Palmer was named CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Brown County. Nearing three and a half years in the role, Palmer has guided the Club through the challenging COVID era and back into a period of exceptional growth.
“Things are so different now than when I started,” Palmer, 33, said. “Of course, COVID had a huge impact on what we did and how we did it. We’re just now really back to the point where we were pre-COVID and back to those goals and mission moments and what we were planning and working on at that time.”
Palmer – a native of Mesquite who moved to Brownwood in 2006 and graduated from Howard Payne in 2010 with a degree in Social Work – has instituted a number of changes at the Club during her tenure.
“Some of the initial changes made at the Club were in the way of structure,” Palmer said. “We broke our activities up into age groups, so our staff had the ability to focus on activities that were age specific and engaging. We also created activity blocks, so kids are in an activity room for 40 minutes during the school year and in the summer the activities are an hour and a half. That really gave our staff the ability to plan longer, hands-on activities to keep kids engaged for those full blocks of time, instead of them just bouncing from room to room every so often. Now they’re engaged in activities in each of the spaces and the staff is working with them on projects and other things.
“Another big change is the addition of a teen room at the Club for middle and high schoolers. We started Teen Nights in the spring and plan to restart them this fall.”
Currently, the biggest change taking place at the Boys & Girls Club is the addition of a teaching kitchen.
“That is about 70 percent complete at this point, but it should be up and running pretty soon,” Palmer said. “We’ve been running cooking classes with counter-top appliances since 2019, so we’re very excited to have a full kitchen up and running and ready to go.”
Regarding the importance of the Boys & Girls Club of Brown County, Palmer said, “We lost an after-school and summer childcare program in Early just a couple of weeks back. We already were seeing a huge need for childcare during the after-school hours and during the summer even before that organization closed. Our numbers have been increasing steadily since January. In June we had 138 different kids attend the Club at one point, and we had a wait list at the time. We’re seeing not just the need for childcare, but the need for affordable childcare. Our membership dues are reasonably low. We charge $30 a month during the school year and $50 a week during the summer, which is less than traditional childcare options. We see a lot of families that say the only way they are able to work and have their kids in childcare is through this option.”
Palmer also spoke of additional plans for the Club in the future.
“We always are looking to grow and change,” Palmer said. “I’m hoping to do a back-to-school event. I’m going to be working on that this week, trying to get that coordinated. We’re hoping to be more involved with the community moving forward, we have a really strong leadership team now and we’re able to share the workload here at the Club, which allows us to step out of it more. That allows us to build up those community connections with other organizations, other non-profits, the schools, behavioral health offices, so we can serve our kids in the best way possible from a holistic approach.”
As for the most rewarding aspects of her job, Palmer said, “That would be when the parents come to pick the kids up and they run out and say they want to stay longer and don’t want to go home yet. That’s the best part. Seeing the kids engaged in activities and learning new things and being proud of what they have accomplished is definitely part of that.”
Away from work, Palmer is currently a Kiwanis Club member and has volunteered with Keep Brownwood Beautiful. In the past, Palmer was involved in roller derby and also served on the boards of Latch Key and The ARK.”
Palmer thanked her husband, Jared Johnson, and the Boys & Girls Club of Brown County Board of Directors for their constant support.
“I am very appreciative of the support of my husband who puts up with me working too much and talking about the Club all the time,” Palmer said. “Also, the board of directors here at the Boys & Girls Club are an incredible support and are always looking out for the best interests of the Club and are giving of their free time to make sure we can be successful here.”