Sadaya Jones gets much needed academic help from the Mountaineer Boys and Girls Club in Morgantown, WV.
Sadaya Jones, left, 7, makes a name tag during power hour at the Mountaineer Boys and Girls Club in Morgantown, WV on Nov. 6, while talking to intern Jaclyn Foley, 23. Sadaya, who is in 2nd Grade, gets help with her school work Monday through Friday.
In West Virginia, 20 percent of K-12 children, about 54,551 students are without adult supervision afterschool according to research done by the Afterschool Alliance. According to a 2014 report done by America After 3PM,”52,325 K-12 children, 19 percent, of children in W.Va., participate in an afterschool program, yet 108,253 children, 48 percent, would be enrolled in a program if one were available to them.”
Children that attend afterschool programs not only gain education and receive better grades, but they meet children from other schools, learn social skills, meet mentors, and grow personally. Susan Gamble, Director of the Statewide Afterschool Network, said, “We like to say that learning for children happens in three areas: at home, school and there is a 3rd space, and that’s in afterschool and out of school time, such as weekends and summer months.”
Gamble said, “I believe there is room for growth in funding for afterschool programs in West Virginia and continued accessibility of programs.” The West Virginia Statewide Afterschool Network provides training and guidance to afterschool providers to create and sustain high-quality programs statewide with funds from the C.S. Mott Foundation and The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.
According to the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, afterschool programs can improve a student’s behavior, grades, and attendance, and can close the achievement gap. A child can receive not only help with schoolwork, but advice from tutors and staff members about a wide range of topics. Julia Hamilton, Extended Day Programs Director/ Liaison for Monongalia County Afterschool programs, said, “I feel like they get additional role models to look up to. Some families may not have a male figure in their home life. They get an opportunity to have other people to set those examples that they need to see in order to follow them, both men and women staff.”
Investment in quality afterschool programs is needed to help support and educate children as they move through school and grow up. According to the Afterschool Alliance, “The hours between 3 and 6 p.m. are the peak hours for juvenile crime and experimentation with drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and sex.”
Hamilton said, “If a child is in afterschool programs they are able to prevent them from doing drugs. Two to three hours of programming helps to keep them on the right path.”
Left to right, Alexis, 7, Brianna, 8, Jazlyn, 7, and Sadaya Jones, 7, talk to Andrew Reabe, Supervisor and Volunteer Coordinator at the MBGC, during power hour or homework hour at the Mountaineer Boys and Girls Club on Fortney Rd. in Morgantown, WV on Nov. 20.
In Monongalia County, there are many opportunities for students after school. Some of these include, The Mountaineer Boys and Girls Club, Visiting Homemakers, Kidematics, New Beginnings, The Shack, Suncrest Childcare Early Learning Center, and some day care centers such as Pleasant Day and Toys N Tots.
Monongalia County is fortunate compared to many other counties that do not offer as many, or any programs. The WVCBP found that the distribution of about 380 afterschool program sites in the state is not even across counties. In 2012, Gilmer, Grant, Hardy, Wetzel, Wirt and Wyoming counties had no officially reported afterschool programs. This could be because some afterschool programs in the state are not reported by the county to the state, particularly those affiliated with churches or non-school facilities. The Afterschool Alliance reports that about 71 percent of afterschool programs are located in public school buildings, so more often than not the programs are reported.
After school programs in the state are funded in a variety of ways but grants are available from a number of sources.
The PATCH organization offers 21st Century Community Learning Centers grants. These grants are used for students and families who attend low-performing schools and live in high-poverty communities. Grantees are organizations that apply for the grants, which are targeted at at-risk youth.
Any organization can apply, but the organization must meet the guidelines set at the federal and state level, such as that the money will go into providing students an opportunity for learning and success. This could be through mentoring, programs on drug and violence protection, or technology education programs. How the grant will be implemented is a huge deciding factor in which organization will receive the grant.
Sadaya Jones, right, and her cousin Tavion Dillestone, 9, sit on the floor in the main room at the Mountaineer Boys and Girls Club on Dec 3. Christa Varner, 1st and 2nd grade power hour teacher at the MBGC, said, “At first, when Sadaya came to the program she was very attached to Tavion and would have him help her with her homework. Now that they are in different power hours and Sadaya has become more outgoing she doesn’t spend as much time with him and trusts other people to help her with her work.”
The 21st CCLC has served 102,000 students in West Virginia since 2004 and there are currently 169 sites operating around the state. David McCutcheon, Executive Director of PATCH 21st CCLC said, “The 21st CCLC grants provide funding for a state that cannot afford afterschool on its own. The grant helps thousands of students a year to have a safe environment to be in and to learn.”
An evaluation of 21st CCLC afterschool programs in West Virginia done by the Afterschool Alliance said, “Teachers reported that 88 percent of student participants improved their academic performance and close to 8 in 10 attended class more regularly and increased their motivation to learn. Participants made significant improvements in their classroom behavior, improving work habits and self-efficiency, reducing the number of school absences, completing their homework and participating in class.” Students saw gains in math and English grades as well.
According to McCutcheon, every county has an equal opportunity to write for the 21st CCLC grant but some counties don’t write very well. This is why some counties have fewer programs than others. McCutcheon said, “There are a lot of poorly written grants that do not get funded because the organization does not have a game plan on how the program is going to spend the money. The more at risk places are more viable to get the grant, but usually have a poor ability to make it happen.”
This past year there were 9 grants available and 44 applicants. The top ranked grants get funded and then the grants are implemented. Next year there are no grants available because the grant is currently in a five-year rotation.
The Mountaineer Boys and Girls Club is funded through a 21st CCLC grant and many children have seen improvements in grades, behavior and social skills. Christa Varner, 1st and 2nd grade power hour teacher at MBGC in Morgantown, said, “I think the most successful part about the program is the homework hour, which is known as power hour. We see kids that their first report cards are Ds and Fs. By their last report card, at the end of the year, after going through power hour and having someone there to push them to do their homework, giving them extra worksheets, and extra reading assignments to help them, their grades actually do improve.”
Sadaya Jones makes a birthday card for her mom on Nov. 20 after she is done with her homework during power hour at the MBGC. Sadaya said, “This place make me like doing my homework. Before I did not like doing my homework.”
In addition to 21st CCLC grants, in 2010, West Virginia received 21.9 million through the ARRA-School Improvement Grants program to turn around its persistently lowest achieving schools. According to the Afterschool Alliance, “ARRA-SIG grants are part of the 3.5 billion that was made available to states in 2009 when money was set aside through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the FY 2010 budget.” 21st CCLC grants are typically used for afterschool programs, while SIG grants can be used for afterschool programs, but are used for other purposes such as improving failing schools.
Groups requesting funds for afterschool programs often don’t receive it. According to data from the Afterschool Alliance, “Only 1 out of 3 requests for funding is awarded. Over the last 10 years, $4 billion in local grant requests were denied because of the lack of adequate federal funding and intense competition.”
The continued support of growing afterschool programs in the state is important for the future of our children. Afterschool programs are proven to help children stay out of trouble, engage in learning, perform better on assessments, make friends, meet mentors, and learn social skills. The more funding and programs the state is able to offer the better the community will be as a whole.
Some children in afterschool programs have made terrific strides including learning how to read and write, which they couldn’t do before attending an afterschool program and getting the one-on-one attention that they needed.
Hamilton said, “The most memorable moment working at my job was getting one of our kids to read. He was so behind and was such an intelligent kid. No one had the time to sit him down and teach him. All of his teachers had told him how to do it, but it wasn’t until I actually sat down with him and put letter tiles down for him to put words together. All of a sudden it clicked, and he completely understood. When those moments happen it makes it all worth it. Giving children these opportunities to learn outside of a regular school environment ensured that I had the time sit down and make those connections happen.”
Links to published story:
Afterschool Program Health and Success of Students West Virginia Uncovered
Monongalia County Schools
This story was as well published by the West Virginia Statewide Afterschool Network (WVSAN) in their first e-newsletter Volume 1 Issue 1, January 2015. The newsletter is distributed to network members and affiliates on the latest happenings locally, statewide and nationwide.
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