Wang Y After School Program

I began working with the Wang Y after school program this week, and will be continuing to so on Mondays and Tuesdays for the duration of my co-op. The after school program is designed to give students ages 5 to 13 a safe and welcoming environment to go to after school. During the program they receive snack, homework help and are led in physical activities. During the snack and homework portion of the program students are separated by age into two groups, 5-9 years old and 10-13 years old. After the initial day getting to know the kids better on Monday, I was happy to be returning Tuesday afternoon. I helped several students with their homework and enjoyed finding out what they are learning about in school and the types of activities they like. For example, one student told me she loves to read and another suggested that I bring in a food pyramid and teach them about nutrition (a great idea which I hope to implement soon!). The students are very motivated and I have been impressed by how conscientious they are when doing their homework. I even got to learn all about puffins from a student working on a project for the second grade. After homework time the students had free gym and I played some of the fun games with the kids that I had learned during the junior coaches leadership convention last week. Two of the students who go to the Josiah Quincy Elementary school participate in Playworks and they taught some of the other kids Playworks games as well. It was great to see how much Playworks effects students outside of the school environment and to hear how positively the kids who participate in Playworks speak of the program, even when they are not junior coaches. I know that Mondays and Tuesdays will begin to be some of my favorite days as I continue to get to know the after school kids and implement new games and programs for them to try out.