Federal after-school grants focus on disadvantaged kids
‘When school is over, something comes to life’
Holding jump-ropes, the kids at Gary’s City Life Center listened intently as their instructor guided them through a complicated series of jumps culminated in a frog move.
“This is like competitive jump-rope,” said Angela Briggs, City Life staff director, who escorted guests on a tour of the after-school programs Thursday to celebrate a national event, Lights on Afterschool.
“When school is over, something comes to life,” said Briggs as children arrive about 3 and stay until 6:30 p.m. While there, they also get a snack and a full meal.
The Gary Community School Corp., City Life Center and Communities in SchoolsLake County were among 30 organizations in the state receiving federal grants to operate year-round challenging after-school programs. The organizations begin receiving grant money in January for 2 ½ years.
The Gary schools, which received $787,500, is partnering with the YWCA of Northwest Indiana to improve student academic performance.
City Life received a $662,000 grant, and
Communities in Schools, based in East Chicago, received $450,000.
The Re-Imagining Enrichment, Academics, and Community Health grants, issued in early October by the state Department of Education, will serve more than 100 elementary and middle school students at each site.
The initiative’s aim is to increase access to year-round, high-quality out-of-school programming for economically disadvantaged children. There’s a strong academic component with opportunities for academic acceleration, character enrichment and socialization activities.
“This isn’t babysitting,” said Briggs, who said the grant will help expand services in STEAM, or science, technology, engineering, arts and math.
Many children in the City Life program come from Gary charter schools. Marcus Jones, of Merrillville, said his son, Johnnas, 9, is in third grade at the nearby 21st Century Charter School.
Jones said he and his wife enrolled their son three years ago because their work schedules conflicted with his school dismissal time.
“I like that they focus on education and make sure his homework is completed,” he said.
The children at Thursday’s open house at City Life, founded by Bethel Church, gave guests a taste of the center’s different clubs, including anime, dance, football, jump-rope and football.
Gary school officials said their children don’t have many intramural or enrichment options, and the grant will help fill the void.
Potential club choices at the YWCA include athletics, theater guild, visual arts, musical arts, robotics, culinary arts, aviation, mechanics and entrepreneurship. Each child will get a snack and meal.
Additionally, GCSC will ensure at least 30% of students in the grant-funded programs have disabilities or are in foster care, homeless, English learners or migrant students.
“Our top priorities are keeping our students safe while they are learning and engaging in after-school and summer programs,” said Paige McNulty, manager of GCSC.
GCSC high school students can participate in after-school activities through a separate federal grant called the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program.
“Our staff is excited and ready to welcome the program participants,” said Caren Jones, executive director the YWCA.
In the summer, more than 1,300 students in grades K-12 participated in STEM activities and enrichment programs, a 58% increase from summer 2020.