WEST AFTER SCHOOL CENTER
NEWS & OPINION

June 2009

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

Email:  pyoung@westafterschoolcenter.org

Visit us at www.westafterschoolcenter.org

Dr. Paul G. Young

Executive Director

Mrs. Chris Kuttler

Office Manager

Mrs. Julie Bibler

WASC Site Administrator

Mr. Moses Garcia

Cedar CLC Site Administrator

Mr. Rob Libbee

Eastside Center for Success

Mrs. Jane Hart

Attention all Area Children and Youth — Join Us for Lunch Starting June 4

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 Summer Food Service and Feed Ohio Lunch Programs are federally and state funded programs that provide meal reimbursement to approved nonprofit organizations for serving nutritious meals. The objectives of SFSP and Feed Ohio are to:

· Provide access and improve the diets of children by providing nutritious meals.

· Reduce the incidence of teenage pregnancy (Feed Ohio TANF goal)

· Help children develop good eating habits and social skills 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 Medill and Sanderson school areas 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 East School, the Robert K. Fox Family YMCA, Cedar Heights, Tallmadge, Medill, Lancaster Club Apartments, River Valley Apartments, and South Elementary Schools. Lunch for adults is available for a cost of $2.00.  Volunteers are welcome to assist with the lunch and enrichment programs.

Flag Day is June 14

SUMMER CHILDCARE at the WASC

The West After School Center is accepting applications for its summer childcare program (safe, clean, affordable, and air-conditioned). Meals and snacks are included in the weekly cost of the care. Any school-age child (entering grades 1-6) from Lancaster or surrounding areas may register. Families that are eligible for Title XX benefits may have a portion or all of their weekly costs reduced. This program service will begin June 4 and operate until Friday, August 14. Students will be able to participate in daily fun classes and activities at the WASC, take walking field trips, and maintain and advance their learning skills throughout the summer. Registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Call 653-5678 to ask questions and learn more.

Looking for the Keys to Success with Homework

            Homework. The common complaints about it are that is assigned too often, there is too much of it, and that it is unfairly weighted in students’ grading. Some argue that it is an old-fashioned, tedious, unnecessary ritual with few, if any, benefits for young learners — irrelevant, uninteresting, and impersonal. Some critics even argue that homework can create family stress.

But compare homework with the practice that is expected with piano lessons—at home.

For that endeavor, people invest their money in a finely-constructed instrument and the services of a highly quality piano expecting assignments that are to be practiced daily between lessons. Practicing piano is tedious work.  Students don’t make progress without hours of deliberate practice. And performers can’t reach advanced levels of accomplishment by avoiding practice.

A piano has 88 basic keys. Unless a young learner fully understands the theory, rules, meaning, skills, and nuances related to each as well as the history and complexities of music, real achievement is illusive. Those who refuse to practice never advance beyond minimal levels of appreciation and competence.

Researchers agree that practicing and playing the piano can reap many rewards—coordination, concentration, self-discipline, teamwork, sensual awareness, self-esteem, and competition. Numerous studies show that children taking piano lessons develop higher levels of brain circuitry and score better on standard and spatial cognitive development tests. The same outcomes are desirable rewards from completing homework when  it is personalized and meaningful.

Piano pedagogy is well documented in literature and the standards of piano performance are continually pushed higher by each generation of musicians. To question the validity of practicing piano would be folly. So why is there such an argument about practicing basic academic skills and completing school homework?

Because too much of it is nonsense, inappropriate, impractical, and impersonal. But the concept of homework, applied correctly, is sound—and it would be folly to abandon it. Moreover, until school boards (like piano teachers) change their policies, it is required!

Kids must learn to work hard, accept challenges, and persevere. They learn every waking hour. They need to develop key understandings, master basic skills, and build self-esteem through trial and error—in and out of school. To argue that any child’s development should be exempted from the tenets of practice and hard work is folly. The keys are finding the right pacing for each learner, building effective teacher-student relationships, and showing meaning and application in all assignments. Piano players make strides when they learn to isolate the hard spots in music and spend their time deliberately developing the skills needed to play them with ease.

The best piano teachers are great mentors and masters of their art. They are motivators. They are performers. Most importantly, they find unique ways to bring out the best in their students and help them become performers. They always make sure their assignments have a predetermined degree of challenge selected for each student. They make sure their students develop a commitment to learning. They expect parent support and encouragement, even when the adult cannot play the piano.

And that’s the bottom line. When we fail to support and encourage young learners, they’ll gravitate to the lowest levels of commitment. It requires discipline to practice. When any type of learning becomes challenging, too many children are allowed to opt for passive alternatives. Some quit. In contrast, those who excel most always have adults that nurture and guide them through the peaks and valleys of their personal growth journey and help them acquire the benefits from deliberate practice—self-responsibility, discipline, and perseverance skills. Those are the life skills taught through homework. They are the keys to success with piano, homework—and adult life.                             

 - Paul Young, WASC Executive Director

Watch our Television Show on  the LSN

Channel 6 Time Warner Cable

New episodes air at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays.  Look for our "Outdoor Grilling Safety Show" in mid-June

We Thank Our Partners

The Ohio State University Extension   (Master Gardeners)

The Robert K Fox Family Y (Summer Lunch Program and Recreational Opportunities)

Children's Hunger Alliance

Eastside Center for Success (Summer Art Classes)

Lancaster-Fairfield County Community Action Head Start (ELI Classes)

Fairfield County Family, Adult, and Children First Council (21st CCLC Program Support)

Fairfield County Jobs and Family Services (custodial workers)

Governor's Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives

Lancaster City Schools

Ohio Department of Education

Ohio Department of Job and Family Services

Red Barn Productions

Sixth Avenue United Methodist Church

Eastland-Fairfield Career Center

Fairfield Foundation (Kitchen)

United Way of Fairfield County