Staying Late
Posted February 15, 2008
Sometimes, what children do after school is just as important as what they do during the school day.
Kids who are active in sports, art and other activities aren’t as inclined to become couch potatoes or get into trouble after the bell rings, said Melissa Smith, after-school program coordinator with Port Huron Area School District.
Smith plans an after-school program for students in third through eighth grade at nine elementary and middle schools in the district.
The more than 30 students in the program at Chippewa Middle School worked with Lezly Straub, a teacher at Studio 1219 on Monday, making artists’ cards, which are business-card sized decorated pieces of paper unique to each artist. They can be exchanged between artists around the world via a Web site.
“You just might be able to trade with somebody who’s kind of famous,” Straub said of the card exchange.
Every after-school session includes time for a snack, a fun activity, such as arts and crafts or a field trip to a local destination, time for recreation and time for homework help, Smith said. The programs runs from about 3:45 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday at each participating school.
Students in the program have visited places such as the Knowlton Ice Museum in Port Huron Township and Sawmill City in Kimball Township.
There are 400 students throughout the entire district who participate in the program. This is the fifth year the program is funded by a 21st-century grant under President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act.
The program, which previously only was free to families based on income eligibility, now is free to all students in participating schools based on the overall poverty levels of the school’s neighborhoods, Smith said. Kids can join at any time during the school year.
Kristin McRobie, a program liaison at Chippewa and two other schools, said kids who attend the program aren’t able to procrastinate in doing their homework. If they finish their assignments right after school, they can spend time with their family when they return home.
“They can actually spend time together, since their homework is finished,” she said. Many parents don’t leave work until 5 p.m. or later, which means the program serves as a safe, supervised place for kids before their parents arrive home, she said.
In addition to providing a secure place for kids after school, one of the other stated goals of the program is to increase students’ Michigan Educational Assessment Program scores, Smith said.
“We have seen an increase in grades. On average, the grades have gone up. The MEAP scores have increased,” she said.
Cody Thompson, 13, has been part of the program since last school year. The seventh-grader said his grades in math and social studies have improved.
“It’s helped quite a lot,” he said. “Sometimes, I get stumped on (those subjects).”
He started attending at age 12 and continues to go because he enjoys spending time with friends and going on the field trips.
“The field trips are lots of fun,” he said.
The field trips to the Blue Water Area YMCA are a favorite for sixth-grader Desmine Lee, 12. She said she loves swimming in the pool at the YMCA.
Her grades have improved “because I’m getting help and learning more,” she said.
This story was originally published on February 13, 2008 in the Port Huron Times Herald by Nicole Gerring
