After-school program
boosts skills, offers ‘new hope’
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
ANGELA KELLEY, lead teacher of the SAD 1 after-school program at Zippel Elementary School, works with students who need a little extra help in math. The program, which is for Title I students in grades 1-5, meets Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3-4:30 p.m. at Pine Street, Zippel and Mapleton elementary schools. Created to help struggling students improve their learning skills in math and reading, the program provides the children a snack prior to getting started, and when the sessions are completed the students are bussed home. The program, which began Nov. 15, is expected to end at the beginning of April.
PRESQUE ISLE – SAD 1’s new after-school program, which was created to help struggling students improve their learning skills in math and reading, is receiving positive reviews.
The program, which is for Title I students in grades 1-5, meets Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3-4:30 p.m. at Pine Street, Zippel and Mapleton elementary schools. The program provides the children a snack prior to getting started, and when the sessions are completed the students are bused home.
According to Dan Duprey, onsite administrator of the program, 78 students are presently enrolled.
“We projected around 80-82 kids to start out with and that number has held,” said Duprey, noting that the program began Nov. 15. “We’ve really held strong … close to 80 in attendance for the program as a whole.”
Forty-three students are enrolled at Zippel, 21 at Pine Street and 14 at Mapleton. With a teacher-student ratio of roughly 1:8, the program features “more of an individualized approach” to learning.
“The teachers are finding out the skills that these students need to work on individually,” Duprey said, “and support them in their growth to reach their target.”
Four teachers are staffing the program at Zippel, three at Pine Street and two at Mapleton.
“Our instructors received two training sessions for math and reading … more for the assessment pieces,” said Duprey, who is also the principal at Mapleton. “Progress monitoring assessments are periodically done to see how the kids are moving along in the program.
“When I go around to the different sites, the kids are very excited. They’re engaged, on task, and I’m really pleased with what I’ve been hearing and seeing … not only from the teachers, but from the kids,” he said. “When I sit and talk to the kids, they like it. The kids who have been attending have really taken a hold of it and enjoy it.”
Angela Kelley is the lead teacher involved in the after-school project at Zippel, Karen Seeley at Pine Street and Cindi Condon at Mapleton. The instructors are pleased with how the students have been responding.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
LAURA HUNTER is one of the reading instructors involved in the SAD 1 after-school program at Zippel Elementary School. Hunter and Melissa Leavitt concentrate on vocabulary, specific skills (such as multi-syllable words, compound words, making predictions, etc.) and reading. The program, which will conclude in early April, helps Title I students who need assistance in reading and math at Pine Street, Zippel and Mapleton elementary schools. There are 78 students presently enrolled in the program, which is paid for with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.
“It is a great opportunity to reach out to students who need that extra time and patience,” said Condon, who helps students in grades 2-5 with math. “Because of the wide range of grades, the students’ skills differ greatly, so we have to rotate groups that target specific skills.”
“Not only are the students getting a better education and a much needed stronger foundation in either math or reading through our small group program, but they are also gaining higher levels of self-efficacy because they are mastering skills that they hadn’t previously,” Kelley said. “As we all know, self-efficacy comes from stretching yourself to achieve a goal that you thought you couldn’t reach. And, with a strong sense of self-efficacy, students are more motivated in school and in life, therefore becoming greater achievers all around, and they are having fun doing it! What could be better?”
At Zippel, Kelley and Amy Spinning work with students in math, while Laura Hunter and Melissa Leavitt assist with reading.
“As we have over 20 kids in the math portion of the program, Amy and I use differentiation in order to allow success for all students. Right now, our focus is place value. At the beginning of each unit, we pretest the students and then place them where their needs will be best met,” said Kelley. “Amy and I each work through a lesson with small groups every night, and while we are working with groups, the remaining students choose from a choice board and spend time increasing their place value abilities by working with math games on laptops, the smart board, by watching tutorials, using flashcards, or by playing math games. We rotate about every 20 minutes.
“In reading, Mrs. Hunter and Mrs. Leavitt concentrate on vocabulary, specific skills (such as multi-syllable words, compound words, making predictions, etc.), and reading,” she said. “The main goal of the reading program is to make sure the students can understand and comprehend what they are reading. They also use the smart board and other game-based approaches.”
Kelley said it’s beneficial for the students to have more one-on-one learning.
“With the after-school program, we meet the child where they are and work from there,” she said. “It’s at a much slower pace and the lessons are more concentrated. We are able to work with small groups, take our time, use differentiation, and teach to mastery.
“If a child struggles greatly in something, they begin to lose hope. What we are offering every child is a new hope. They are doing great and they know it,” said Kelley. “There are kids who came into this program either fearful of math or reading or completely despising it. There are no tears in the after-school program … only great big smiles.”
Condon agreed that the students are gaining more confidence thanks to the program.
“I have seen growth in the skills, but more importantly confidence. They feel better about themselves when they see the improvement,” she said. “The most important success story is the confidence boost and growth in self-esteem.”
Paid for with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, the after-school program is only expected to last until the beginning of April.
“This has been a great opportunity to provide some small-group instruction to students who need a little extra boost in reading and math,” said Duprey. “I am very pleased with the progress and the implementation we’ve made thus far with the program. The after-school program takes a total team effort as a district to pull this off … cooperation on the part of the parents, building administrators, teachers and staff, as well as the custodians and bus drivers. I’m extremely pleased with everyone’s help and assistance.”
