CH-UH's Boulevard's Lunch Bunch Promotes Social Emotional Growth
How does the act of kids learning hip hop dance or practicing yoga during lunchtime help alleviate Covid learning loss? According to Boulevard’s Chandre Ford, offering these organized activities for students to choose from is helping them reconnect with their peers, relearn how to socialize, and practice communicating … all while having fun.“There is so much social-emotional growth that just didn’t happen,” said Ms. Ford, the school’s PTA President and attendance secretary of the years of disrupted schooling that took place during the pandemic. Starting in January 2022, she worked with fellow PTA members, staff, and administration to come up with a manageable, in-school plan to address some of the gaps caused by social isolation.Thus was born Lunch Bunch, a series of enrichment activities provided by parents and community members for students to participate in during their lunchtime. Ms. Ford was adamant about keeping these offerings free and during the school day so as not to discourage participation from students who lacked transportation.Thanks to a $1000 mini-grant from Future Heights and some PTA funds, Lunch Bunch instructors receive $100 that can either serve as a stipend or be used to purchase necessary materials. Volunteers can also be reimbursed for the required fingerprinting and background check provided by the district. The activities offered range from comic book story-boarding to chess to yoga and hip hop dance. Students have the opportunity to sign up on their own, based on their own interests, without needing to wait for a parent to fill out and return a form.
Ms. Ford is very pleased with the response from students, who have enthusiastically embraced these opportunities. Several classes have ended up with waitlists and some instructors have opted to offer additional sessions on other days. “One of the best things about this is kids having the chance to interact with students from other grade levels,” including integrating students from special education classes according to Ms. Ford. “We are viewing all of this through an equity lens.”The activities usually run once or twice each week for 4 to 6 weeks, with new programs offered each session. They hope that baseball will return in the spring, along with a gardening program. Boulevard is also in conversation with Lake Erie Ink and Dobama Theatre about programming. A monthly book club is being hosted by representatives of the Heights Libraries, who provide copies of the chosen book for grade level bands to read and discuss together.If any community members have a skill or talent they’d like to share with the students of Boulevard, they can find more information and complete an application here.