Facts and Researcn

Facts & Research

• In Kansas, 35% (168,614) of K-12 youth are responsible for taking care of themselves after school.
  
• Of all Kansas children not currently enrolled in afterschool, 31% (132,036) would be likely to participate IF an afterschool program were available in their community.
• 95% of parents in Kansas are satisfied with the afterschool program their child attends.
• 13% (61,403) of Kansas's K-12 children participate in afterschool programs, including 7,154 kids in programs supported by the U.S. Department of Education's 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative, the only federal program dedicated to afterschool.

For afterschool participation and funding levels in Kansas, refer to the Afterschool in Kansas Fact Sheet.

Explore America After 3PM for even more research on afterschool programs in Kansas.

Today's visit to Hillsboro

Today's visit was worth a MILLION!!  The collaboration between Tabor College, Hillsboro's  Elem. and HMS,  Mike Moran, Micah Leake is the successful foundation of the current CHUMS program.   

The college's onsite director is key to the outstanding orchestration of the two day a week hour program.  The onsite administrator, Mike Moran, is also a vital stakeholder as well.  The classroom teacher has the opportunity to nominate up to 5 at risk students to be considered as a potential CHUM.   Parents are totally on board and fully supportive of the program.  Your child is only guaranteed a year at a time in the program.  This year's program is mentoring 35 elem. children and 15 6th graders.

Implementation of my project continues to require support from my stakeholders,  patience, willingness to handle problems,  seeing and hearing the positive outcome for the selected students, classroom teachers, entire school, parents and the community. 

I wonder how many children have benefited from this program during the past 17 years?  I bet Bill Romaine is smiling down from heaven knowing his trust funds are being used as he had hoped.

Comments, suggestions and questions are always welcomed.

Short and Sweet

I will be visiting the Hillsboro public school system tomorrow (May 7th) as an observer of their version of C.H.U.M.S. (Caring, Helping, Understanding, Mentoring, Students).  Tabor College provides the mentors/funding and the school system provides the selection of at risk students,  intervention needs, onsite administrator and transportation where needed.  I'm excited to see 45 college students mentoring 45 as risk students. 

I'll share comments in my next post.
  
Thanks!

Education Club

Tonight was our first organized Education Club get together.   We agreed our meeting would conclude in 45 minutes and plan to follow that time frame next fall as well.  We had 10 education members present and 4 others that had a prior commitment.  Officers were elected, time and place for our meetings decided and concluded with the discussion about my next step in moving forward with the CHUMS program.   The students are passionate about serving RES students and hope this is just a start for McPherson.

I received a text yesterday from one of our clinical teachers and she had just been offered a third grade teaching contract from Oakdale Elem. School in Salina.   She was so excited and the passion in her voice is exciting.  Let's hope she will be mentored and supported by highly effective peers and administration that put students first!

We'll see if this time around our club will be active and productive.


I'm thankful for all of you and appreciate your input and comments.

Vision

I'm looking into my crystal ball and it's hard to believe the great challenges and changes that have occurred in my professional journey since last May.   What an incredible/stressful 9 months (comparable to both of my pregnancies years ago) as I continue to strive for patience, active listening and reacting with appropriate choices and action for a successful outcome in my current education path and the completion of my masters' project.  Some days are so rewarding, overwhelming, demanding and highly frustrating, which reminds me of each change I have made during my teaching career.  I'm assuming with a year under my belt and no major set backs I'll be confident to handle the unknowns with poise and patience just as I have done during the past years.   

I appreciate the support from many individuals for believing that a CHUMS version of an after school pilot program is possible and,  though it may sound quite simple it has required a lot of time and effort to make positive progress.

The success of my vision is finding qualified consistent mentors, reliable yearly funding,  an onsite administrator, teacher partnership with student mentors, onsite director and support from the college administration.  

As time moves forward,  my vision would be to continue to collect data on the NEED for quality infant through age 3 childcare without competing or disrupting current childcare facilities, before and after school care, professional training and professional development center.  The vision is there, now the journey continues to find what our community does and doesn't need.

Please take a moment to watch the link below and picture 50 college students from one college campus twice a week making a lifetime difference as a mentor with our elem-middle school students.   This is currently happening at Tabor College in Hillsboro's public elem. and middle schools.  The funding for this 17 year long after school program for Hillsboro and Smoky Valley was made possible by Bill Romaine who never wanted any recognition from others, but had his heart set on giving to others.  He has since past away but his presence will be around for years and years to come.
  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_efz-kMu9A

"Leading Change in Your School"

"Leading Change in Your School" by Douglas B. Reeves is a must read for teachers wanting to move into a leadership role in the field of education.   It's a powerful read!

Part 1: Creating Conditions for Change

Part 2: Planning Change

Part 3: Implementing Change

Part 4: Sustaining Change

At this time, our group has discussed parts one and two.  Looking forward to our group discussion over parts 3 and 4 in the next few days.

I'm going to end with these direct words from part 3:

"Make the case for change compelling, and associate it with moral imperatives rather than compliance with external authority."
An announcement that "We have to do this to comply with state and federal requirements" will never arouse the emotional engagement of the school staff.  Instead of citing administrative requirements, inspire staff members with a call for their best: "Student literacy is a civil right.  Faculty collaboration is the foundation of fairness.  Learning communities are the essence of respect."

"You won't close the implementation gap with another set of three-ring binders or announcements about the latest initiative.  Close the gap with immediate wins, visible recognition of what works, a focus on effectiveness rather than popularity, and a direct appeal to the values that brought us all into this profession in the first place."

"Children's Minds don't close down at 3pm."

Public Schools are taking a leading role in developing successful after school programs.  In 2001 2/3 of principals reported having after school programs in place.
(National Assoc. of Elem. School Principals, 2001)

Programs have shifted to more academically focused activities.

More than 75% of principals think that it is "extremely" important for schools to maintain their extended-day programs.

Community Learning Centers:
40 million 1998 to 1 billion in fiscal 2002 grant program supports after-school programs in about 7,500 rural and inner-city public schools in more than 1,400 communities.  Funding supports "community schools" or schools that operate before and after their academic day and host a variety of activities for their towns and neighborhoods. 

Findings:
A strong and growing research demonstrates that a skilled, stable and educated staff is the key to quality after-school programs.  Strong educational credentials as well as extensive experience working with youth.

83% of staff in academic after-school programs had staff with some college level education.