GRAVETTE — According to all those involved, the after-school programs and summer programs offered by the Gravette Boys and Girls Club are a resounding success. Ashley Oosterman, director of the Gravette club, conducts the programs for students in kindergarten through eighth grade with the help of three other staff members. She said that 349 different youngsters were served from June, 2016, to May, 2017.
Oosterman cited figures from the After School Alliance, whose studies show that seven in 10 students involved in such programs improve their homework completion and class participation and two in three improve their behavior in class. She said the program provides nearly two million children across the country a safe place after school as well as all the benefits from the summer programs.
Mandy Barrett, principal of Gravette Upper Elementary School, agrees that the programs are extremely valuable. They fill a need that no other area agency is meeting and are "absolutely essential," she says, because they positively impact so many families. Working parents especially appreciate the enrichment opportunities available to their children.
Boys and Girls Club staff partner with the 21st Century Community Learning Center to conduct summer programs from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the upper elementary, where certified teachers and classified staff help with the program. The students are fed both breakfast and lunch meals at no charge. At 1 p.m. they are walked over to the Boys and Girls Club, where programs continue until 5 p.m. The club is open until 5:30 p.m. in the summer and until 6 p.m. during the school year. A bus runs to and from Bella Vista, transporting students for the program.
Students in the after-school program, which runs from 3:30 to 5 p.m., receive tutoring and homework help and a snack. Extracurricular activities are conducted then, including Girls On the Run, a fishing club, Good News Bible Club and Girl Scouts. Participation in the after-school program averages 100 students per day.
Activities available during the summer program include computer coding classes, robotics, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) activities, physical activities and knitting. Special activities are offered for the younger students, kindergarten through second grade, including art classes.
"We try to hit the students' interests," Barrett commented. She said both students and parents are surveyed to ask what they would like to see offered when the programs are being planned. Students go swimming one day a week at the city pool and enjoy frequent field trips. A recent field trip took them to the Wild Wilderness Safari at Gentry, and another is planned June 22 to the Amazeum in Bentonville.
Devin Courtney is the site coordinator for the 21st Century Community Learning Center in Decatur and oversees a similar program there. Activities for students from kindergarten through 12th grade are offered at the Decatur Elementary School. A new Boys and Girls Club was recently started in Gentry.
Summer Boys and Girls Club activities are funded through a U.S. Department of Education 21st Century Community Learning Center grant. Funds are administeredthrough Title II, the Every Student Succeeds Act and Title IV, Part B. All activities are completely free to parents.
Both Oosterman and Barrett say they are concerned that budget cuts proposed by President Trump could eliminate the CCLC programs. While they appreciate the need to be fiscally responsible and spend taxpayer dollars wisely, they say these programs in the field of education are just too important to be cut. They urge area voters to contact their congressmen and encourage them to support continuation of the 21st Century Community Learning Center grants.
Community on 06/21/2017