Tawanna Dial

Born in Ft. Leonardwood, Missouri, but raised here in Tacoma, Washington I have always had ties to the Boys & Girls Club in some way. Starting from when I was a child as a member of the East Side Boys & Girls Club, I felt I had found a place to belong and meet new people. It was there that I first learned how to play basketball and volleyball and I became part of my first team. Basketball continued to be one of my first loves and eventually developed into a scholarship which helped me to attend Cascade College in Portland, OR, after transferring from Skagit Valley College in Mt. Vernon, WA, where I also played for their women's team.

While attending Cascade, not only did my skills on the court continue to grow, but it was there that my passion to work with kids really deepened. I began to do internships with local organizations like Albertina Kerr, a foster care agency where I worked as a skills trainer; Ventura Park Elementary where I worked as a tutor; and in addition, I worked with the Portland Boys & Girls Club as a staff member for their after school program, also at Ventura Park Elementary.  

I had always enjoyed working with children since my first job at a daycare, but it wasn't until I did these internships that I really felt that helping and working with children was my destined career goal. So after graduating in 2005 with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on Psychology, did I move back to Tacoma with hopes of setting up roots in the community I was raised. Since then I have had my hand in various things, from coaching to teaching, but soon began to search for a job that would meet all my interests not only to work with children educationally, but socially and recreationally. I have found all those things here at the Boys & Girls Club and I look forward to many great things to come form being here.

In my spare time I like to surround myself with family and friends, shop, play basketball, or relax with a good book.