Having a safe and educational place for students to learn after school is important for many working families in Fairview Park and nationwide. Recently, the district started its afters school activities for sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade students at Mayer Middle School.
According to the After school Alliance, a nationwide after school program advocacy group, 7.7 million children nationwide are left alone and unsupervised after school each day. Fairview Park’s after school activities provide a safe place for students to learn, grow, and make great friends.
“Especially with the year we’ve had with COVID, it’s nice to be doing something fun after school and not just running home to watch TV,” Carrie Sullivan, Family and Community Engagement Coordinator for the Fairview Park City School District, explained. “They’re socializing and being together and just learning something fun. It’s also helping the families who don’t get home until five or six o’clock.”
The three programs offered this fall are STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Warriors, Art Club, and Fiber Art. Both STEM Warriors and Art Club are offered at Mayer Middle School, while Fiber Art is offered at the Fairview Park Branch Library. The programs meet once a week for six weeks and only cost $5.
The activities are staffed by district teachers and provide fun and engaging enrichment outside of the traditional school day.
“I always go at the beginning and make sure that everyone is all right,” Sullivan expressed. “It was just so nice to see the kids in a different atmosphere, after school with some different people, and learning some new skills. The three teachers that are doing these units this fall, everyone is very pleased with the kids that are there and they are having a lot of fun with them.”
One of the more popular afterschool activity programs is the STEM Warriors, taught by Cody Doud from the Polaris Career Center.
“Students will get to explore a wide variety of STEM activities, including 3-D printing, Computer-Aided Design Software, computer programming, and electrical engineering,” Doud explained. “We will also touch base on our Medical Detectives program, introducing the kids to forensics, and the neurological system, along with a few opportunities of dissections.”
Besides having fun and engaging in these hands-on activities, Doud hopes that the STEM Warriors program will inspire students as they look to the future.
“I hope the students are able to understand the importance of learning through STEM-based programs and to get them better at using their problem-solving skills by these real-world experiences,” Doud said. “And hopefully, spark interest in a STEM-based career, and help them decide what educational opportunities they would like to explore in high school, college, or Career Technical such as Polaris Career Center.”
Although this fall’s afterschool activities are already underway, interested students and families should look for more information about spring programs in January 2022. New spring programs will begin in February or March, including a possible cooking class, according to Sullivan.
“We are pleased to be able to offer our students after-school programming,” Keith Ahearn, superintendent of the Fairview Park City Schools explained. “After-school programs are an important way for students to connect socially and explore their personal interests. This kind of programming is in line with our mission to educate the whole child.”