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After school program provides a place for homework and funBy KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
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| Anyone who has experienced an
excellent classroom teacher may nominate him or her for the Excellence in
Education Award. That is, a parent, a pastor, a student, a colleague, an
administrator, or a parishioner may nominate a teacher who meets the
following qualifications:
The nominee for the Excellence in Education Teacher Award must be: 1. A Catholic school teacher currently teaching in the Diocese of Sioux City for at least 5 consecutive years at the time of nomination. 2. A teacher with a clear, integrated philosophy of Catholic education. 3. A teacher who has developed and implemented innovative/original curriculum strategies. 4. A teacher held in high regard by peers, students, and/or parents. The deadline for nominations is Dec. 19. After being informed of the nomination, teacher must submit the requested application forms to the Superintendent of Schools, Office of Education, 1821 Jackson St., PO Box 3379, Sioux City, Iowa 51102-3379 by Jan. 30, 2004. |
"It gives students a place to go after school and people to be with instead of some kids having to go home and be by themselves," said Petty. "It gives them an environment where they can learn how to interact with other students, get their homework done and have fun. It also helps the parents out, too. It provides daycare for them after school, so they don't have to worry about their students three days a week."
The students have the opportunity to spend time after school three days a week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, doing homework, arts and crafts and playing outside. The students are there from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on those days. The charge for each day is $2.
"It is going very well," said Petty, who is also a second grade teacher at St. Mary's. "We have 30 to 35 students enrolled and each night we have around 28 or 30 students.
A regular afternoon consists of reading a story or doing an activity, having treats, doing homework, playing outside for a little while, creating crafts and playing games or legos. They have also had speakers come in, such as the school cook and the art department, to talk to them.
Two students, who attend the SMASP, Tyler Weber and Ryan Peters, came to the consensus that their favorite parts of the after school program are playing outside and doing arts and crafts. Peters commented that he liked playing football during their recess time.
"If we don't have any homework, we can just do other things," said Weber. "I like to do arts and crafts. Last time I was there, we made little hand puppets."
In the near future, people from the Buena Vista County extension office plan on presenting a program for the students.
All St. Mary's kindergarten through fourth grade students are welcome to sign up for the SMASP. Parents can contact the school office for more information.
