Pro Baseball Player With Message For Troops

Daniel Merklinger from the Milwaukee Brewers, an "Athlete For Hope", visited our Gregory After School Program on Monday, December 19th.  "Athletes For Hope" (AFH) is a non-profit organization founded in 2007 by a group of elite athletes who all share a common based bond which is a deep commitment to help others.  Daniel Merklinger wanted to show his appreciation to all the men and women serving abroad by writing letters with children in his community.

His visit was very special.  He wanted to come and join our children in writing special holiday letters to the troops in appreciation for their sacrifices for our freedom.   The event began with a self introduction and talking first about the significance of failing and then continuing to work hard to reach your goals.

Then followed an open discussion where our kids were able to ask the Pro some questions.  From silly questions like "what is your favorite football team" , to more serious genuine questions like "At what age did you decide to become a professional baseball player" were asked by our children.  The the conversation transitioned into how we should all be grateful for the troops serving in all the branches of our military.  It was definitely a fun and educational experience.

The Boys & Girls Club of West Orange would like to thank Daniel Merklinger and Athletes For Hope for facilitating this session.  It really did remind all of us of how incredibly grateful we are of every single one of our troops fighting for our country.  We wish them and their families well during this season and look forward to their safe return to all of us here at home.  

  

Pleasantdale Fun Foods Enrichment & Holiday Spirit

Irma Morales, from the Pleasantdale Elementary School, leads our "Fun-Foods" enrichment program at the After School Program.  Every Week on Monday and Wednesday she prepares and facilitates a fun filled food frenzy from 4:00pm to 5:00pm, available to all the children in our program.  

Mrs. Morales is always creating fun foods but this week I thought I'd share one of her special holiday projects with you.  Her theme this month is obviously the Christmas/Holiday Season and within the last few weeks she has created delicious snowmen, tasty teepees, and this week mouth watering wreaths.  

Katlyn Brennan, the site supervisor, is not only the administrator of that program but is fantastic at creating activities to make the after-school program organized and fun for all the kids.  She plans board game tournaments, clay modeling activities on Fridays, Pizza Parties, and creative art projects.  But she can't do it alone, right?  Matthew Orbin and Kanisha Bullock have been monumental in the success of the program as well. 

Fitness Friday - Gregory After School Dance Party

It is no secret that we are making an effort to implement more fitness activities in our after school programs.   In addition to our weekly gym and sports activities, we have recently added "Fitness Friday" to all of our after school sites.   For 15-30 minutes our kids can stretch, move, reach, bend, jog, or in yesterday's Gregory Program.....Dance.

With a DJ Speaker and an iPad DJ Application "Fitness Friday" turned into a Dance Activity led by Dawn Brennan with music being played by Youth Program Supervisor/DJ John Peterson (me).   This week Dawn and I thought we could shake things up by playing group dance songs like the YMCA, The Electric Slide, The Macarena, and more.  Almost all the kids and staff in our program, were following Dawn's lead as each song played.

Because the children behaved so well, we are thinking about doing this again real soon at Gregory.  We will also be introducing this idea to the others after-school programs as early as as next week!   Our after-school programs are doing some really cool things that you won't want to miss.  If you get a chance, fill in your email address above to subscribe to have these stories, pictures, and videos emailed to you immediately after they are posted.

See You All Soon!

More Than After School Programs....Family

Our programs are not just programs.....They are family.  While each after school program celebrated Thanksgiving their own way, Hazel and Washington School feasted like family.  Here are some pictures and videos from November 23rd.


Pictures:

Hazel School (first 2)
Washington School (The last pic)

VIDEO of Hazel After School Thanksgiving Performance: