Toronto has come up with a very innovative club called Beyond 3:30 that helps keep kids off the street. As reported by Katie Daubs of the Toronto Star, the after-school program at Rockcliffe Middle School is meeting with fanfare from kids, teachers and the community.
This is something that Oakville and Halton could consider especially for high risk areas. We are not immune to some of the same issues as the city.
Below is an excerpt from her article. This is a great program that should be tried at other schools.
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“It’s the best,” the Grade 8 student says, as his friends goad him for being such a celebrity. “You can do anything you want and the teachers are nice and help with homework.”
And the soup, well, it “looks kind of weird, but it tastes nice.”
The Toronto Community Foundation, in partnership with the Toronto District School Board, started “Beyond 3:30” in October. It’s a pilot project that keeps inner city schools open until 8 p.m. It is touted as more than a homework club – and a visit to Rockcliffe Middle School shows as much – it is chess, yoga and homemade pizza crust.
Vicky Branco is the lead principal with Model Schools for Inner Cities, a Toronto District School Board initiative that helps eliminate learning barriers at schools where many students live in poverty. She said Beyond 3:30 was born out of the Toronto Community Foundation’s annual Vital Signs report that showed middle school students fall into high-risk activities because they have no place to go after school. Many children are from families who lack the resources to send them to music or skating lessons – and the new program aims to rectify that. It is funded by $300,000 from the Toronto Community Foundation.
“It’s wonderful to see all the children want to be in these programs, and parents not worried about the kids,” Branco said.
At Rockcliffe, near Jane St. and St. Clair Ave. W., 30 students were doing their homework in the lunchroom as Gaal and a few others chopped onions, garlic and “something masala.”
Rachel Masters, a nutritionist with the program, had a handful of students help her with the snack. After, more came for Chef’s Club to make their own dishes.
The favourite so far has been black bean quesadillas.
Grade 7 student Cherrice Henry says the only dish she hasn’t liked was chili. She’s partial to chickpeas, pineapple muffins and carrot-pepper pizza.
“We get to take the recipes home and show our parents,” she said. “I have two recipes I want to try.”
A site supervisor, along with York University and high school students, help with homework, while special instructors come in for music, yoga and other activities.
Mistey Blue Taggart, who used to hang out with her friends after school, likes the program because it helps her make more friends, and improves her grades.
“We were doing multiplication tables and I got 40 out of 60 on my test,” she said.
Principal Lorne Sederoff said enrolment in Beyond 3:30 is increasing and kids are talking about the program in the halls.
“They’re excited. It’s heightened morale,” he said.
Other schools with Beyond 3:30:
- Joseph Brant Senior Public School
- Dr. Marion Hilliard Senior Public School
- Brookview Middle School
- Lawrence Heights Middle School
- Valley Park Middle School
- Smithfield Middle School
- Beverly Heights Middle School (one day per week)
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Communities should work together with the school board to find out ways to engage students like this example whenever possible.
Let us know what you think.
Beyond 3:30 is investing in after-school programming to make communities safer and to enhance learning outcomes. Photo courtesy Toronto District School Board.
