Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2002 | 11:20 a.m.
Clark County schools were out Monday in honor of Veterans Day, but 13-year-old Steve Maglich said the last thing he wanted to do was stay at home.
Instead, the eighth grader at Thurman White Middle School spent the day playing basketball and stringing beads at the Donald W. Reynolds Boys and Girls Club near Robindale Road and Eastern Avenue in Henderson.
Maglich said his mother dropped him and his brother at the center on her way to work about 10 a.m.
"When we have the day off I usually come here," Maglich said. "Most of my friends come here too. I'd rather be here because staying at home all day would be kind of boring."
Maglich was one of hundreds of students who spent the holiday participating in sports, making crafts and playing games at recreation clubs and community centers throughout the Valley.
The Boys and Girls club saw about 220 kids Monday, the program's director said. Most kids were there the entire day, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Monday marked the third three-day weekend within the last four weeks for Clark County schools. Students had days off Oct. 25 in honor of Nevada Day and Nov. 1 for a staff development day.
School will also be out Nov. 28 and 29 for Thanksgiving.
But while most students welcome the three-day weekends, the days off can cause problems for working parents who are forced to find someplace to take their children for the day.
Terri Robertson, who Monday evening picked up her 9-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son from the Boys and Girls Club, said arranging child care during the days off are difficult.
"It's hard," she said. "If it weren't for the Boys and Girls Club, I wouldn't have anywhere to take them. Last year the club was closed a few days the kids were out of school and I had to pay $100 a day for day care."
Robertson dropped her children off at the club on her way to work at 9 a.m. They stayed at the club until she got off work about 5 p.m.
Paul Marsh, the club's director, said he also has to make special arrangements when school is out.
While about 15 staff members work at the Boys and Girls Club on an average school day, an additional five part-time employees work on the days school is out, he said.
Until last summer parents had to pay $20 a day for holidays or staff development days, Marsh said.
"There got to be so many holidays and days off of school that it made it difficult for parents to pay so we made it no charge at all," Marsh said.
Membership costs $50 a year for children 6 to 12 and $40 a year for teens.
The club also has a special track break program. During the summer months, Marsh said, the club often sees up to 400 kids each day.
Other local recreation centers also saw an increase in kids Monday.
Program assistants at Sunrise Recreation Center on Linn Lane near Lake Mead Boulevard said more than 30 neighborhood children spent Monday there.
The program usually sees about 20 kids each day, they said.
The Sunrise Recreation Center costs $14 per day or $65 per week.
Most of the students who talked to the Sun Monday said they preferred to be at organized programs such as recreation centers than home alone.
"I'd rather come (to the Boys and Girls Club) than stay at home when my mom has to work because at home I have to do chores," 13-year-old Jessica Hoover said.
Other area students spent the day at local malls or skate parks.
Travis Silva, a senior at Foothill High School, skateboarded at Haley Hendricks Park near Warm Springs Road and Emden Drive in Henderson with two friends.
Silva said the increase in three-day weekends are OK by him.
"Having three-day weekends are great," he said. "We should have more. I honestly think kids would do better in school if there were more days off."
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