Kids Becoming Aware: Smart Moves

Gale Richter has been facilitating "Smart Moves" workshops at our after school programs for the past few years.   What is "Smart Moves"?    The program uses a team approach involving club staff, peer leaders, parents, and community representatives. More than simply emphasizing a "Say No" message, the program teaches young people ages 6 to 15 how to say no by involving them in discussion and role-playing, practicing resistance and refusal skills, developing assertiveness, strengthening decision-making skills and analyzing media and peer influence. The ultimate goal: to promote abstinence from substance abuse through the practice of responsible behavior.

April Showers & May Flowers

The last few months have been pretty busy.  During our half days in March we invited back Arts for Kids Inc. to provide our programs with fun workshops for Black History Month.   Minds In Motion's Inc LLC (German Galindo) also returned to run follow up robotics workshops.  This time, our students competed in robot vs. robot strength matches.  To top off those long half days, we threw pizza parties at each site.

Things are getting much better for all of us now that the weather is cooperating.  Warmer temperatures allow for our kids and the staff to get outside to breathe and stretch out!  Speaking about warmer temperatures, our CAMP flyers were sent to all the schools this week.  If anyone needs information about the West Orange Community House Summer Camp, they can visit www.bgcwo.org.

The programs are running strong.   We are stocked with sports/gym stuff,  we have our arts & crafts supplies, and our board games still (surprisingly) have most of their pieces.   In addition to these components we are running Powerful Boys & Girls Club programs to help our kids develop into mature and confident young people.  Our site leaders facilitate "Power Hour" every day from 3:30pm to 4:30pm to assist and encourage our students to complete their homework. Every week LaChell Miller, Shoprite Nutritionist, visits our programs to discuss "Healthy Habits" and make healthy snacks with the kids.   Gale Richter has been visiting our programs this Spring discussing components of "Smart Moves".  Her classes are vital, tackling issues like bullying, drug awareness, and low-self confidence.    
  
 

GREGORY After-School Program Highlights

Gregory After-School Program Highlights   

They say, “time flies when you are having fun” and they weren’t kidding. Here are some of the Special Activities/Visitors from September through January.  

• WO Police and Fire Department visited in October and November (safety talk)
• Planted Flower Bulbs with our Americorp Member Helen Garcia
• Celebrated Latin Heritage month with Arts For Kids Inc.
• Created Healthy Snacks with Shoprite Nutritionist, Lachell Miller (monthly)
• Danced in the DJ Dance/Fitness programs with DJ/MC John Peterson
• Built and Raced ROBOTS with Minds In Motion of NJ LLC (Robotics) in December
• Students Performed in the very entertaining December Talent Show

Coming Up!

February 14th at 1:30pm:  Arts For Kids Inc. visits to help celebrate

African American Heritage Month

February 14th at 3:30pm:  Valentines arts & crafts project

February 20th at 4:15pm: DJ Dance Fitness Party (group dances and relays) YMCA, CHA CHA, MACARENA, ELECTRIC SLIDE, CUPID SHUFFLE, etc.  Parents are Welcome to join the fun!

Enrichment Classes Running:

Play Practice for The Wizard of OZ:  Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 4:30 to 5:30

(The Performance is Friday, May 16th)

Dancing With Dawn (Cardio Workout) - Tuesday and Thursday at 4:30 - 5:30

Parents are welcome!

All Sports with Paul Kirsch:  Monday through Thursday 4:00 to 6:00

(Gym Games/basketball/football)

Daily available activities: Power Hour (homework club), arts & crafts supplies, board games/legos, quiet time/space for those who still need to complete homework or read, etc.

for more information visit: www.bgcwo.org

Winter Activities and Acknowledgements

I am proud to work with such great staff!  Winters are always the roughest season to manage a program, but our staff has been doing a great job ensuring our kids are safe and having fun in the after-school programs.  When it's warm enough to go outside, (and after homework is complete) our staff brings our members outside to loosen up from being inside all day.  Lately, with sub-zero temperatures, our students must stay inside and we all have to work together to continue to ensure our kids have an optimal experience in our program.

You can check each site's calendar at www.bgcwo.org and see the fun daily activities posted by our site leaders.  You will also notice SPECIALS throughout each month.  In December we invited Minds In Motion NJ LLC into all of our programs to facilitate "Robotics"  workshops.  You will also see pictures of me DJ'ing/MC'ing the DJ Dance Fitness Parties.  The Gregory After School Program stepped it up a notch and hosted a December Talent show with a full house coming to watch it!

Special Acknowledgements: 

We want to thank West Orange Unico for donating new educational toys and games to our children at Washington Elementary School during the Holiday Season.  As you can see in the pictures above, they went so far as to beautifully wrap each gift and tag each gift in the interest of age and gender.  The children really appreciated your kind hearts!

Fall 2013 The After School Programs

It's been a while since I posted here but we have been pretty busy since school began.  First off, I can't believe it is already November!  I believe the last time I posted here it was 85 degrees outside, and now....brrrrrr... it's chilly out!  We are just heating up here at the After-school Programs at Gregory, Hazel, Washington, and Pleasantdale.

Since we began on September 9th, we have added various special activities and have invited very special visitors.   This is all on top of our basic programming staples which include; homework time (Power Hour), board games, gym activities, sport competitions, and arts & crafts.

As you can see, we were privileged to have the West Orange Fire Department AND West Orange Police Department visit to discuss various safety topics! In acknowledgement of Spanish Heritage month we asked West Orange's "Arts For Kids" to come and run special Latin music/dance workshops.   We are also working with a couple of members of Americorp, and together, we are coordinating community service projects.  Their first project was to plant over 150 flower blubs at Pleasantdale Elementary School and Gregory Elementary School.

Special Thanks to our wonderful associates and friends for helping our programs flourish;
Michele Thompson at Gregory Elementary School, Joanne Pollara at Pleasantdale, Ed Acevedo at Hazel Elementary, and Marie DeMaio at Washington School.

Coming Up:
Thanksgiving Activities and Parties
Late Fall Talent Shows
Holiday Parties
Magic Shows with Great Scott
Robotics with Minds In Motion
Basketball Site vs. Site Competition in March

Summer 2013

 

While the West Orange After School Programs take a break, the West Orange Community House and Boys & Girls Club keeps on movin' with the Summer Camp. Our camp has filled up to maximum capacity with a long waiting list.  The camp boasts generous hours from 7:30am to 6pm, weekly trips, pool trips, and many many daily activities.  The kids are having a blast and we still have the rest of the summer to keep on playing!

While the kids are playing, parents have already begun inquiring about our before and after school programs for the 2013-14 school year.  Registration will be fully available on July 15th online.   Again, we will be running the programs at Gregory, Hazel, Washington, Pleasantdale, and Mount Pleasant!  We will also be at the Edison and Liberty Middle Schools.  For further information, you'll have to visit our website at http://www.bgcwo.org.

We ran some excellent programs in the 2012-13 school year, and the upcoming year will be no different.  We are even talking about adding a few additional enrichment activities to each site to enhance the experience for our members.  If you have any questions and would like to talk to us, give us a call at the West Orange Community House at 973-736-1282 x19.  See you soon!

DJ Dance Parties in The After-School Programs

Held at the Washington, Gregory, Hazel, and Pleasantdale Elementary Schools

Youth Program Supervisor, John Peterson facilitates a DJ Dance Party every year for each after-school program.  Recognizing the need for our children to get and stay healthy, he turns fitness into FUN!

He brings his DJ Speaker,  iPad DJ'ing gear, and this year invited DJ (and program specialist from Washington School) Jean Marc Chery.   The theme of this year's visit was a balloon theme.  The kids had a blast relaying and popping the balloons.

Once the balloons were popped, MC Peterson and DJ Jean Marc Chery led group dances including the Cha Cha Slide, Chicken Dance, The YMCA, and more.  Our staff, school faculty, and even the parents couldn't resist the urge to Shake It Up!  Next time, we'll plan on formally inviting parents and staff to join in on the fitness and fun!