WEST AFTER SCHOOL CENTER
NEWS & OPINION

August 2008

Our mission is to provide opportunities that enrich the educational, social, and cultural experiences of students and families in our community.

620 Garfield Avenue, Lancaster, OH  43130  --    740-653-5678  --  740-653-2402 FAX

Attention all Students — Join Us for Lunch Until August 15

Plan now to take advantage of the free summer lunch program being offered Monday-Friday during the summer months, 11:30-12:30 p.m. The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is a federally funded program that provides meal reimbursement to child care centers for serving nutritious meals. The objectives of CACFP are to:

· Improve the diets of children by providing nutritious meals.

· Help children develop good eating habits that will last through the years.

Again, ANY CHILD under age 18 can participate, regardless of enrollment status for the school lunch program.  The Summer Lunch Program will be expanded to Cedar Heights, South, and Tallmadge Schools this summer, thanks to grants received from the Governor’s Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives and the Children’s Hunger Alliance. Besides our center, lunch serving sites will be open at the Eastside Center for Success (East School), the Robert K. Fox Family YMCA, Cedar Heights, Tallmadge, and South Elementary Schools.

Email:  pyoung@westafterschoolcenter.org

Visit us at www.westafterschoolcenter.org

Dr. Paul G. Young, Executive Director

Mrs. Jane Hart, Student & Family Coordinator

Mrs. Julie Bibler, Tutoring Program Administrator

Mrs. Chris Kuttler, Office Manager

.WASC to Expand Services to Tallmadge Elementary Attendance Area

The Tallmadge Community Learning Center will become a reality for the 2008-2009 school year. The West After School Center has been awarded a 21st CCLC grant by the Ohio Department of Education to provide before and after school services for students and families at that school. The Tallmadge Community Learning Center joins the Cedar Community Learning Center, the Eastside Center for Success, and the West After School Center (WASC) as one of four afterschool program sites supporting students and staff in the Lancaster City Schools.

In 2006, the WASC Board of Directors set a goal to establish a collaborative partnership for the development of a city-wide after school program with Lancaster City Schools in areas with the most need. Each year since, this goal has incrementally been achieved. National research clearly shows that the learning day must be expanded for all children for numerous reasons and challenges. Those needs exist in Lancaster and the positive outcomes for children and families, as experienced across the country, are being realized in Lancaster’s 21st CCLCs. During the 2007-2008 school year, 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders attending both West and Cedar Heights made gains in all areas of reading and math achievement compared to the year before. Working together, we are helping children achieve success.

The 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) Grant Program's focus is to provide expanded academic enrichment opportunities for children. Tutorial services and academic enrichment activities are designed to help students meet local and state academic standards in subjects such as reading and math. In addition, 21st CCLC programs provide youth development activities, drug and violence prevention programs, technology education programs, art, music and recreation programs, counseling and character education to enhance the academic component of the program. The 21st CCLC Program is part of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Eat Better, Do Better

Have you been listening to the clever commercials on the radio sponsored by EatBetterDoBetter.org? If not, tune in and encourage your children to do so as well.

Eating better is all about making good choices. Research shows the kids who do eat well do better is school. That’s the message in the commercials. They focus listeners attention on eating proper amounts of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and proteins — all in moderation.

Help all kids eat better and do better this summer. Get your children involved with our summer lunch program, help them eat better, exercise, and enjoy a summer of good health and happiness—instead of allowing them to become a coach potato and graze from the refrigerator.

The Benefits of Enrolling Children in Summer Learning Programs

For some kids, summer means camping, family trips, and frequent visits to museums, parks, and libraries. But for others, it means long days alone without meaningful and engaging learning activities. Summer learning programs provide:

· continued interaction with trained teachers and access to books, computers, and other learning tools.

· opportunities to remediate and enrich academic skills.

· a safe, secure, and fun place to engage in a variety of recreational activities.

· healthy meals, snacks, and medical care.

For more than one hundred years, studies have shown that for many children, summer vacation means that learning loses momentum and opportunities for valuable skill development ceases. It is also a time when children often gain excess weight.  If you know children who are wasting away valuable learning time during June, July or August, help their parents learn more about the opportunities and advantages of summer learning programs.

Blockbuster Mentality

Summer is a popular time for the release blockbuster movies. Prior to a movie’s premiere, Hollywood film makers spend years writing, casting, taping, revising, and editing their product. Then they spin publicity to entice the public to view their creation describing it with words such tremendous, incredible, colossal, terrific, sensational and many more. Regardless of the hype, unless hundreds of millions of dollars are earned upon its release, the movie is often considered a flop. Despite the efforts of many, what was intended to be an unforgettable cinematic achievement quickly fades from public memory.

Blockbuster mentality has swept the nation. We expect blockbuster holiday retail sales, or business is thought to be in a recession. Key athletic events are hyped with the same intensity as movies, and losing teams quickly fade from polls and lose fan interest. Political campaigns continue to grow bigger and more is spent than ever before. The public seems to expect a quick, easy windfall for investments rather than the hard-earned, incremental benefits that come from hard work. Blockbuster mentality also affects how many in our society view public education. Like movies that fail to produce huge profits at the box office, or businesses failing to post huge earnings, schools fall short of success in the public eye without producing high test scores.

Do higher test scores really mean that schools are doing a good job, or even more, are students with high test scores doing better and really smarter compared to those in years past? Blockbuster mentality would lead one to assume that higher test scores would equate with high quality—but anyone with a brain who has sat though some recent blockbuster movies should know better. 

So many factors impact children’s ability to achieve high test scores that it is nearly impossible to create a an accurate spin on any outcomes—positive or negative. There are countless special effects, but also innumerable, unpredictable, and uncontrollable challenges that are unexplainable—or understandable—to the public.

Ultimately, public policy spinners will attempt to shows results from the No Child Left Behind Act that show higher levels of accountability and increased student achievement. That will be well received by those with blockbuster mentality. But look deeper at what is really important. To sustain our standard of living, we need to produce a generation of kids that truly are smarter (and healthier)—but not just better minimum-standard test takers.

To attain that goal, we help children increase their level of intelligence and capacity to critically think one at a time and in small groups. Many require extra time and accommodations. The special effects of context are considered when measuring real learning. Effort, hard work, and perseverance are highly valued. Incremental results become more reliable than blockbuster test scores for identifying progress, sustaining achievement, and developing life-long learners.

Watch our Television Show on  the LSN

Channels 6 or 9 digital - Time Warner Cable

New episodes air at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays.  Look for our "Summer Activities Show" playing in August.