Reading Community City Schools launched 16 special afterschool clubs that ran from February to May of this year. The School Wellness Team oversaw the process of creating the clubs with the goal of providing programs for all grade levels that would bring students together to learn while having fun and sharing experiences with teachers and peers.
Rhiana Hubbard is the district’s school psychologist and leader of the Wellness Team. She says the clubs foster a positive school culture and a sense of community. “Students also have a chance to build resilience by facing challenges, solving problems, and learning from setbacks in a supportive environment.”
The clubs ranged from cooking, art, and reading to gardening, engineering, golf, and board games. They also included:
- Rox, a girls empowerment program for middle schoolers
- Best Buddies, where students with and without disabilities got together for fun activities
- Virtual Flying Pig/Running Club for older elementary students
We spoke with several Reading teachers who led afterschool clubs and they were all enthusiastic about the experience and how it impacted students. Here’s a look at a few of the clubs.
Introducing young students to the stage
Reading Elementary School teacher Lanie Sorge ran the Musical Theater Club for 45 students in grades 1-3 with the help of Performing Arts Inc., a group that offers theater experiences for all ages throughout the Cincinnati area.
The club met weekly to rehearse choreography, singing, and lines in preparation for performing a kids’ version of 101 Dalmations. The students put on one show for their school during the day and had an evening performance for families and friends.
Out of the 45 cast members, at least 40 had never done anything like this before. “It was great to see how excited they were to put on the show,” Lanie says. “That’s all they wanted to talk about anytime I saw them during the school day. They were always asking, can we practice our lines?”
Lanie says theater fosters creativity and helps children gain self-confidence. “The students are socializing with their peers and they’re able to be proud of something that they’re putting on together as a group. It’s really great to see how much their efforts shine through on the stage.”
Learning to think like an engineer
Teacher Ben Kolb created the Engineering Club for junior and senior high school students. The 18 students who took part in this year’s club came up with ideas and projects they want to work on. Next year, they plan to put the ideas into action.
“I tell the students that engineering is all about finding problems and creating solutions for them,” Ben says. With that in mind, the club talked a lot about things they could do that would benefit the school, such as designing an irrigation system for the school garden or a holiday train for the gym.
Students also made connections for job shadowing and researched robotics competitions. The goal is to make the club student-led as much as possible, allowing them to dictate the direction the club takes.
Ben says the club has created a small community and a sense of belonging. “To have that team aspect, that’s something that is super positive for kids to be involved in,” he says.
Commonsense cooking for kids
The Cooking Club brought ten fourth- and fifth-graders together under the guidance of teachers Julie Rumpke and Jordan Meehan. The group met once a week for five weeks to learn basic cooking skills they could use at home.
Julie and Jordan wanted to give the kids a sense of ownership when it comes to cooking. “We let them know that some of this might be hard at first, but you can do it,” Julie says.
Jordan’s motto was ‘use your common sense’ – as in, you know when something’s hot and when you shouldn’t touch it. You know when something smells burnt and you should probably take it off the heat. You don’t have to be an expert.
The students prepared two recipes each week, making things like pancakes, quesadillas, salad, chicken strips, and even homemade salad dressing, pasta, and sauce. Julie and Jordan say the kids all learned a lot from trial and error.
Evaluations at the end of five weeks were overwhelmingly positive. Students said they wanted more time for the club and a bigger space to cook in. They loved learning to use knives, how to know that chicken is cooked through, and how commonsense really does help when cooking.
“We had a lot of kids come back and say I made pancakes again by myself at home! or I really want to make this for my family,” Julie says. “It was really cool to hear them take the knowledge and then apply it at home and be able to help their family out by cooking.”
Now when Julie or Jordan see one of their cooking club students in the hallway, they ask about what they’ve been cooking.
Growing young gardeners
Julie Rumpke also partnered with teacher Amy Celis on the Garden Club for third graders. Beginning in February, 17 students met on Tuesdays after school to start their garden from seeds.
Each student chose five vegetables or flowers to plant and maintain under grow lights. Julie says they selected peppers, onions, tomatoes, watermelon, chives, wildflowers, strawberries, and pumpkins.
The students learned all about gardening, including composting, decomposers, rain barrels, watering, and pollinators. Of course, they got dirty, too! Julie says the kids enjoyed digging in the soil, looking for grubs, pill bugs, and worms.
The club culminated with a planting session, once the weather was right and the starter plants were ready. Now the kids (and anyone else who’s interested) can sign up to help weed, water, and harvest the garden over the summer!
It’s obvious that these special afterschool clubs were a big hit among Reading students of all ages. An added bonus? Rhiana says the clubs provided skill-building opportunities that can help students develop a sense of competence and mastery that contributes to overall well-being and resiliency. “Long term, as students develop stronger emotional and social skills, they are better equipped to handle challenges and setbacks in the future.”