WEST AFTER SCHOOL CENTER
NEWS & OPINION

September 2007

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

The Cedar Community Learning Center

The West After School Center will expand child care services and 21st CCLC programming for students in the Cedar Heights Elementary attendance area this coming school year. The WASC was awarded an additional 21st CCLC grant this month to make this satellite center a reality. Therefore, the Cedar Center will first enroll students based on their performance in reading and math. In addition, students will be accepted for before or after school childcare. Families that qualify for Title XX childcare support can enroll under a co-pay system developed with Fairfield County Job and Family Services. Participation rates will be made as affordable as possible.  The WASC is pleased to be working in the Cedar Heights area and to further expand our mission and address needs within the city of Lancaster.

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

Introducing the 2007-2008 Cedar Community Learning Center Staff

At the August meeting of the WASC Board of Directors, the following staff members were hired for program services at the Cedar Community Learning Center. These individuals will work with Dr. Jeromey Sheets, Principal at Cedar Heights, the staff at Cedar Heights and the WASC staff to provide before and after school services for students and families, Monday-Friday, 6:00 a.m.—6:00 p.m.

Site Administrator                        Moses Garcia

Student/Family Coordinator       Della Maynard

Academic Coach, K                        Kristen Smith

Academic Coach                             Ben Hopkins

Academic Coach                             Robinne Kerstetter

Academic Coach                             Lisa Post

Academic Coach                            Sherry Tracey

Program Assistant                       Jaclyn Elkins

A.M. Childcare Assistant           Jane Davis

Childcare Assistant                     TBD

Make a Date for Dinner — September 24, 2007

Good food, great conversations and loads of laughs—that’s what family dinners are made of.  If busy schedules are making it hard for your family to pencil in regular family meals, take a “time out” to consider all the benefits of gathering around the dinner table because family dinners are about more than just sharing a meal. 

Did you know that eating dinner frequently with your children reduces their risk of substance abuse?
Research by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA)* at Columbia University consistently finds that the more often children eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs. The conversations that go hand-in-hand with dinner will help you learn more about your children's lives and better understand the challenges they face.                                                                                                     CASA created Family Day — A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children™ in 2001, as a national effort to promote family dinners as an effective way to reduce substance abuse among children and teens. Family Day is celebrated on the fourth Monday in September.

Family Day is not just for families. It is a day for all to celebrate, including businesses, unions, religious organizations and community groups. The symbolic act of regular family meals should be promoted and celebrated inside and outside the home throughout the year.

Source:  http://www.casafamilyday.org/

A Typical Daily Schedule at the WASC

6:00 a.m.     Childcare Program Opens (call us to inquire if your child would qualify for

                     JFS latchkey reimbursements)

8:30          ChildcareStudents Depart for school (until 3:30)

                ELI & Head Start Classes Begin

9:30          Parent/Adult Learning Opportunities (GED), Tuesday & Thursday

11:30        ELI and Head Start Lunch

3:30          P.M. Childcare & 21st CCLC Tutoring Begin

5:30          Supper (free) for students (modest fee for adults)

6:00 p.m.   WASC Childcare closes      Optional Adult Learning      Opportunities (as arranged)

Call 740-653-5678 to learn more about our program offerings, those at Cedar Heights, and how to register your children.

September 12, 2007

Sidewalk and parking lot projects will be completed at the WASC by volunteers from the Lancaster Police Department

After School Programs Will Utilize

LeapTrack Technology in 2007-2008

            This coming school year, our after school programs at the WASC, Cedar Heights, and the Eastside Center for Success will utilize award-winning grade-level classroom and resource room learning kits that easily integrate assessments and interactive instruction for multiple learning levels in Reading, Math, and Language Arts. The LeapTrack Program delivers hundreds of engaging learning activities specially designed to promote student desire to learn. It promotes student learning through direct instruction and the following technology-empowered curriculum features:

· audio assistance

· immediate feedback

· an option to repeat instruction as often as needed

Leap Track provides opportunities for student learning that are directly related to specific skills students need to learn. It offers flexible, personal strategic tutoring in a self-paced format using affordable, personal learning tools (PLTs) and preserves teacher time with an engaging independent learning model. LeapTrack meets the needs of mixed-ability learners and strengthens the home-school connection. It promotes success through ongoing formative assessment and differentiated instruction and creates personalized learning paths based on system-generated assessment results. Teachers can prevent learning gaps with LeapTrack because the reports generated by the computer alert the need for early intervention or additional skill practice.

Can Your Friends Make You Fat?

It shouldn’t come as any surprise that the weight problems that many Americans are experiencing, especially children, have a direct correlation with the people they hang around with—particularly their best friends. In July, 2007, the New England Journal of Medicine released a report that showing that obesity had biological and behavioral ties to social networks. A study in Philadelphia showed that obese and overweight kids are more prone to miss school. It is well known that when contagious diseases spread through a community, people most likely pick up germs from their friends and family. Research shows that teens are more likely to smoke, do drugs, engage in sex, join gangs, or engage in violent acts if their friends do. Without a doubt, there are exceptions, but everyone understands the danger of bad influence. Good friends enable all sorts of other bad habits such as incorrect grammar and prejudices. But they can also can make everyone around them better. Think of the athletes who have aspired to great feats and become an inspiration for their teammates to do the same.

We want the West After School Center to be one of your “best friends” that aspires to high standards and inspires those connected with us to accomplish great things.

The findings in the New England Journal of Medicine report have implications for clinical and public health interventions. Our local initiative, the development of Healthy Living for Kids, aligns with those public health interventions. By teaching and showing the advantages of a healthy lifestyle, we want our students and the community to become like-minded health enthusiasts and make good choices about what they eat, engage in proper exercise, and promote learning and sharing of numerous other attributes of healthy child development. We are pleased to have developed strong ties with Action for Healthy Kids, the Ohio State University Extension Agency, the Robert K Fox Family YMCA, the Fairfield Department of Health, and the Fairfield Medical Center in our campaign to instill the tenets of healthy living for kids in Lancaster and Fairfield County.

Food and friends are ingrained in most every fabric of our society. We can meet together and share junk food and snacks, or we can provide better choices. The choice is ours. As a society, we’ve come along way to reverse smoking trends and to establish laws that remove temptations of that addiction from public view. We can do the same for our eating habits and exercise regimens. Best friends look out for each other. Together, lets befriend our children and help them develop into strong kids, in strong families, and within a strong, friendly community

Watch our Television Show on  the LSN

Channel 6 Time Warner Cable

New episodes air starting September 12 at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, right after Jack Greathouse's "STUFF"

CHILDCARE at the WASC

The West After School Center is accepting applications for its before and afterschool childcare program (safe, clean, affordable, and air-conditioned). The center will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. to accommodate the needs of working parents (based on adequate participation levels during those hours). Meals and snacks will be included in the weekly cost of the care. Families that are eligible for Title XX benefits may have a portion or all of their weekly costs reduced. This program service will operate everyday except legal holidays. The WASC can be a back-up, drop-in childcare location for working parents from anywhere in the city if children are pre-enrolled.

MEAL PROGRAMS

at the WASC

Busy parents can take advantage of the availability of supper at the WASC and Cedar Heights, Monday-Friday, throughout the year.  The snacks we serve are free, and the supper  program (5:30-6:00 pm) is open to any child in our programs or others that would sign up for supper, based on qualification requirements similar to the school lunch program. The WASC is a sponsor of after school meals for the centers serving children at East, West and Cedar Heights Schools.

We Thank Our Partners

Ohio University-Lancaster (Reading Academy)

The Ohio State University Extension   (Master Gardeners)

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

Eastside Center for Success (Summer Art Classes)

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

New Horizons Youth and Family Center

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

Fairfield County Jobs and Family Services (custodial workers)

Red Barn Productions

Sixth Avenue United Methodist Church

Eastland-Fairfield Career Center

Fairfield Foundation (Kitchen)

United Way of Fairfield County

The flagship program of the West After School Center is the After School Tutoring Program which targets those students needing additional help in reading and math.  But the scope of our services are expanding to other schools. If you’d like to know more about us, phone 740-653-5678 for answers to your questions.

Welcome Head Start!

We are welcoming students and staff from Head Start to our center this month in Classroom #1. Anne Stuart, Lisa Poling, and Linda Bratten join Deb Billings and Amie Azbell from the ELI class to inspire our young learners each day—and those of us not so young. Stop by and check out the kids’ curious eyes!