A Charm School And So Much More
The idea behind ClubCharm is to give girls age 7 to 12 a foundation of both manners and personal responsibility before they hit those teen years. Violet Shimoko was thrust into the “kids’ club” business years ago when her brother asked her to teach his three sons dinner conversation skills. Today, Shimoko has moved to the other end of the spectrum and has opened ClubCharm, a private after-school club for young girls.
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The idea behind ClubCharm is to give girls age 7 to 12 a foundation of both manners and personal responsibility before they hit those teen years
Violet Shimoko was thrust into the “kids’ club” business years ago when her brother asked her to teach his three sons dinner conversation skills. Today, Shimoko has moved to the other end of the spectrum and has opened ClubCharm, a private after-school club for young girls.
“It was really simple, they were like 6, 7, 8 years old, and so we started The Gentlemen’s Club and we would meet once a month at a really nice restaurant,” she recalls of the first effort. “It became a little bit more formal than I anticipated. To be organized taking four boys under 10 to a fine-dining restaurant, and to stay on task, we all had our little notebooks.
“We followed a curriculum to develop conversational skills based on values. The boys would choose what our table topic would be the following month. We would start the dinner with the covenant of the Knights of the Round Table, we would recite that. I think it’s not that they’re perfect gentlemen right now, but they actually have a clue.”
A year ago Shimoko turned her attention to a desire to teach young ladies, specifically girls age 7-12, leadership skills, self-confidence, health and nutrition lessons, various types of exercise and more. Out of this idea, ClubCharm was born, and it officially opened for business Sept. 8.
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ClubCharm takes up the entire second floor and half of the first floor of its two-story building at 2051 Young St. in Honolulu. So the club’s atmosphere will evoke a sense of femininity, Shimoko chose to use bright green, purple and pink for various elements, including rugs, chairs, wall colors, decorations and tabletops. The club is in session from 2 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and members are welcome to come anytime during those hours. Upon entering, girls are greeted by a receptionist, place their things in their own cubby and proceed into various activities, including 15- to 20-minute workshops.
“Every member is able to take three workshops. It’ll be a curriculum of skill sets that you know they can use, very practical - from personal hygiene to exercise, sewing, health and nutrition, personal appearance. We’re really working on their minds and trying to create a strong foundation for them. I think it’s a time where they’re still very open; they’re sponges,” says Shimoko. “It’s just a place they come to hang out. Basically, it’s going to be driven by the member on what they want to do.”
For some of the workshops, Shimoko is bringing in people from the community to teach the girls about their craft. One such guest is artist Yuan Shaw, who offers lessons in oil painting.
Following the workshops, members are welcome to either work on their homework in “charm hall,” read, work on creative projects or hang out in the ClubCharm Cafe. Singing starts off each workshop because Shimoko feels that “singing contributes to self-confidence, so it’ll be just a silly song that they do together.” Workshops will end on a similar artistic note with learning a few steps of the ClubCharm line dance.
Yes, that’s right, ClubCharm has its very own line dance. The dance was choreographed specifically for the club by Lisa Simon, lower school dance director for Iolani School. Shimoko’s goal is to have members perform the dance once a year for family and friends at a special picnic.
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“All those little movements that we’re teaching the girls put together will be the ClubCharm line dance. We’ll perform that once a year for the families, for the parents in our little parking area and we’ll have a big picnic. We’re kind of excited about that,” says Shimoko.
ClubCharm also will have UH students serving as interns available to help members with special projects and during workshops.
“We have 10 interns, we call them CC interns, and they act as our members’ big sisters,” adds Shimoko.
A unique aspect of the club is that members will be rewarded for their hard work and good behavior using a charm bracelet system. When a member shows kindness, she’ll receive a heart charm, and if she is excelling in school, she’s rewarded with a book charm.
“They have goals to achieve. They can choose the projects that they want to work on. They’re learning, but they’ll do it in their own time. That’s why we have the 7 through 12 (age group),” say Shimoko. “It’s kind of a long range, but I think it’s real important to have that stability for those number of years, and then when they go into the difficult teen years, they’ll have a foundation.”
Because ClubCharm is such a positive, goal-oriented environment, there is no scolding or negative disciplinary action used. The girls are expected to be responsible for their actions, and should they do something that’s not in accordance with club rules, they must call their parents to be picked up.
“The only policy is that they get picked up within 30 minutes of that call. They’re welcome back the next day and we can try again,” she says. “We’re here to support parents, just reinforce what the parents are teaching.”
As for the future of ClubCharm, Shimoko hopes to set up a scholarship fund for girls who’d like join the club but can’t afford it. Proceeds from the sale of artwork created by current members would be used to build up the fund. She and her team also are looking to open a total of five clubs in Hawaii, as well as expand it to the Mainland.
“We want ClubCharm to exist everywhere because I think we’re providing a community service. We want it to be synonymous with fun,” Shimoko says.
Plans for a “mommy lounge” on the first floor are in the works, in addition to night workshops for parents.
Aside from Shimoko, several people have made ClubCharm come together, including Karen Elizaga, Chuck Painter, designer Cheryl Rivera, Wendy Mah, Seth Reiss, Karen Mukai, Charlie Higa, Lee Anderson, Candice Sombrero, Roy Yonoashi, Michael H. Higa, Liliane Tsuha, Catherine and David Steinmann and Nancy Pace.
For more information on ClubCharm and to inquire about registering your daughter, visit: www.clubcharm.org.
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