The Greater Providence YMCA is looking ahead to the spring and summer with programs ranging from culinary arts to engineering to keep kids learning year-round, continuing the recently launched after-school program at Hugh B. Bain Middle School.
The After School Enrichment Program was created through a Learn365RI grant from the state. Learn365RI is an out-of-school learning initiative by Gov. Dan McKee that aims to extend learning opportunities beyond the traditional school day and calendar by supporting partnerships between municipalities, schools and community organizations.
Through a $366,327 Learn365RI grant to the city, the program works with other organizations, such as the Rhode Island Institute for Labor Studies and the Cranston Health Equity Zone.
Karen Santilli, CEO of GPYMCA, says the program is a wonderful collaboration, with each organization taking on a different role to ensure that students have enrichment opportunities.
The Cranston Health Equity Zone works to connect families to community resources and mentorship, while the GPYMCA implements the programs.
Students can join the program at no cost and can choose from over 12 studies, including culinary arts, 3D art, engineering, theater, art and crafts, sports zone and much more.
Jodiana Lombardi, program director of the After School Enrichment program, said that growing up, she did after-school programming. When she heard about the program being built at Bain, she was excited to be a part of it.
“I think for a lot of kids, especially for middle school students, there isn’t as much of a focus put on providing accessible opportunities for them,” Lombardi said. “So here we’ve tried to provide students with things from culinary arts and having the opportunity to learn how to cook and be with their friends, to sports and getting to develop their skill sets there to engineering. We want to help these kids discover who they want to be in the future as well as supporting their families. And I think with afterschool programming, especially with this age demographic, there’s so many opportunities within that.”
Bain has had after-school programs throughout its history, Lombardi said, so when the community heard it was coming back, teachers, students and families were excited and supportive.
“And we have parents who are showing up to almost all of the events that we’ve hosted to come and be a part of the activities we have,” Lombardi said. “The teachers have greatly enjoyed the program. Bain has been very receptive to all the programming that we’ve wanted to do here.”
Some Bain teachers have helped lead these activities after school despite working throughout the day from as early as 6 or 7 a.m.
“Almost all of our providers are Bain teachers, and they’re so committed to supporting their students and building this community and providing all these different opportunities for students to learn,” Lombardi said. “It’s just something that I really applaud and appreciate.”
Since its launch a few weeks ago, the program has enrolled more than 120 students. On an average day, Lombardi said, they have 45 to50 kids. But, during the warmer weather, there was one “chaotic” day when they had 98 kids at once.
Janiya Ashley, a leader in the program, says the program helps kids get out of their comfort zones and is a great outlet for them to have fun.
“I know the kids that talk to me, the ones that are usually here every day, they enjoy it,” Ashley said. “They love communicating with their friends. Even I think Esther said that she loves the staff. We do have a group of kids who will, when we’re signing people in, they’ll come sit with us. They’ll tell us about their day. Yeah, I think it’s good.”
Seventh-grade Bain student Esther Fernandez chose culinary arts.
That program is run by Robert Finelli, and he and Esther were working on Oreo balls together in the kitchen. She said she has loved her time being in the program, especially with the staff.
“I think it should be a part of, not just the kids who don’t have nothing to do after school, the kids who also have other stuff to do, but they can also come and enjoy time with their friends and some of the teachers that are in our original schoolwork here,” Esther said. “So that also helps them communicate more with the teachers.”
Quadir Blake and Myles Smith have been a part of the program, trying out different activities, and they agreed that the program has helped them with communication and talking to others.
Blake said Sports Zone, which is a fitness-focused program led by a Brown University fellow, Leah Carey, who comes in and teaches them various fitness activities, helped him a lot.
“In the Sports Zone I’ve learned to connect with more people and play with more people,” Blake said. “And usually before we go to the sports or anything, they let us have time to do homework and do communication or just talk to other people. So that helped me talk or get more friends.”
One hope for the program is that it will help with students’ attendance in school. Through the program, Santilli said attendance is something they will measure.
“One thing I can say, we’ve had really strong attendance,” Lombardi said. “We require students who attend our Friday programs, they have to be in school all week in order to attend. That’s one of our pushes. But also consistently, we have about 50 students who are showing up to our program daily. In order to come to our program, you had to have been in school that day. You can’t come in [only] after school.”
The current model of the program is based off three sessions. As the fall session ends, Lombardi said, they are preparing for spring and summer programming but hope to build a full-year model of programs.
The Learn365RI grant is only available for about a year and a half. Current plans are for programming through August 2025
“I want students to come here and feel like they can be themselves,” Lombardi said. “I want families to recognize our program as being a resource. So, we’re a group that if a family needs something, if they’re struggling, if students need something academically, emotionally, socially, we’re here to support.”
