Robotics Workshop At Gregory

The West Orange Community House and Boys & Girls Club:  Enrichment Programs

On Thursday, February 16th, We invited Minds In Motion to run a robotics workshop at Gregory School.  Herman, founder of Minds In Motion, personally facilitated the workshop with our 56 members at the Gregory After School Program.  He had never worked with so many children in one session and we all knew it was going to be very exciting.

Although his usual sessions run much more than an hour, Herman's plan was to organize the children into groups of 5-6, build a robot/car, and then at the end of the hour compete in a big race.  Oh wow, was it exciting! Each group was given motors and wheels and then proceeded to the "parts" bin to grab as many pieces as possible to build the best looking robot car. You'll have to watch the video to see who won the race!

This was Mind In Motion's first visit within the West Orange Community House BGC Programs.  We have a few more half days coming up this year and can hopefully have Minds In Motion visit our Washington, Hazel, and Pleasantdale after school programs.   See you all soon!

Hazel Program Expands!

Thanks to Hazel School's Principal Edwin Acevedo our program has expanded into other areas of the school allowing for a more enriching after-school program. Our after-school program was previously facilitated in the gym/cafeteria for years with limited use of the classrooms.

Now, Marlene and her staff are able to offer students more effective and enriching experiences with use of a computer lab, library, and a classroom.  The classroom provides our children a quiet place to complete their home while the gym/cafeteria is used for physical activities.  It also serves as a great area to run their new "Fun-Foods" program and to do special arts and craft projects.  

Along with the classroom, Principal Acevedo gave the program use of the Computer Lab and Library on the 4th floor.  A few days a week our children play exciting educational games on the computers and participate in Ms. Marlene's Story-Time in the library.

Stay tuned for more great stories and advancements to come!

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:

No More Bullying!

Drug Free Programs and Gale Richter visits Washington, Pleasantdale, and Gregory School.

Your child probably may have been or is being subjected to bullying in one way or another. Bullies come in all shapes and sizes and this abuse does not only include violence.  Bullying is physical abuse, verbal abuse, or any type of harassment from one person or group to another.  Whether someone says something degrading or embarrassing to someone else or physically threatens or harms another person, it is still bullying.

A more recent type of bullying called "cyber-bullying" is taking the world by storm.  This bullying is seen online within social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace and is becoming more prevalent every single day. Although it is no doubt that we were bullied as children in one way or another, the world is changing and technology has enabled many more children with cell phones and computers to become bullies without even thinking that they are bullying.  Within recent months, a few teenagers even took their own lives as a result of cyber-bullying.  This is very serious and someone needs to address this to keep our kids safe in our community and to educate our children on why they need to avoid becoming a bully.

   

I am not an expert on this subject so to teach our children about Bullying, the Boys & Girls Club of West Orange invited in Gale Richter of Drug Free Programs.  So far, Ms. Richter has facilitated her programs at Gregory School, Washington School, and Pleasantdale elementary.   She engages our kids by putting on puppet shows, telling stories, showing videos, role playing, and even brings rewards for the kids participating in her program.  Ms. Richter will visit us again in the Spring of 2012 with some new activities for the members in our after school programs on "Bullying".   For more information about Drug Free Programs you can visit, http://www.drugfreeprograms.com.