- April 25, 2024
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Site Manager Tommie Moten works with Xxavier Taylor, 11, and Jhniya Steele, 10, making a hand wreath during the 21st Century program at Bunnell Elementary. Photo Jacque Estes
Zoe Kittrell, 9, and Kassidy Losoncy, 9, help each other during the art project at 21st Century Community Center program. Photo Jacque Estes
Exzaviana Jenkins, 8, traces his hand for the team wreath. Photo Jacque Estes
Hand tracing was the project of the day. Photo Jacque Estes
“If you can hear me, clap once.”
Half of the children in the room clap their hands.
“If you can hear me, clap twice.”
This time all of the children in the Bunnell Elementary cafeteria clap twice in response to site manager Tommie Moten’s, request and eyes are on her. Their first project as a group involved tracing hands, either your own or your neighbors’ and creating a team wreath.
The children are part of the 21st Century Community Learning Center program, funded by a federal grant administered by the Florida Department of Education. Bunnell, Wadsworth and Rymfire elementary schools are eligible for the after-school program.
“We’ve only been open two days but the parents I have talked to are thrilled. They pick up their kids, tired after a full day and they’ve already had supper and their homework is done,” Flagler Technical Institute Director Kevin McCarthy. “We had the grant many years ago,” Flagler Technical Institute Director Kevin McCarthy said.
The motivation to restart the program came from the local NAACP and Bunnell Principal Richard Dupont who also remembered the earlier program and its success.
With a week to write the grant, McCarthy and his team tackled the challenge.
“There was a geographical emphasis on school districts throughout the State of Florida that did not currently have 21st Century learning centers and Flagler was listed,” McCarthy said.
Before settling down to do supervised homework or academic study, the students are served dinner in the cafeteria.
“Some of the kids at the elementary level eat lunch really early just to get the volume through,” McCarthy said. “We know if they have an empty belly they’re not ready to learn.”
The students have an hour of academic study, sometimes with their teacher. Although the teacher and the classroom may be familiar the study approach is not.
“The afternoon curriculum is a different approach, not the same as during the day,” McCarthy said. “Traditional after-school tutoring is ‘bring me your homework and I’ll help you with what you are working on.’ We are looking at a different approaches and techniques.”
After academics the children get a well-deserved break.
“They’ve been in school all day and we have activity leaders to guide them in other activities with a focus on health and wellness,” McCarthy said. “Connie Armstrong, who many know as the P.E. teacher at Wadsworth Elementary, is one of the instructors designing health and wellness activities for our students.”
McCarthy said allowing the children to play is important.
“In other districts and states if the children don’t do well in standardized testing at the elementary level they have taken away recess and added more academic time and that backfires. There’s a value to unstructured playtime to young students,” McCarthy said.
The program will also offer academic assistance and workshops for parents. Workshops on how to assist their children with homework and academic assistance for the adults will be offered.
“We serve families that might have academic needs of their own, so we will be offering GED and English classes at each of the sites too, concurrent to the 21st Century programs. The program ends at 6 p.m. so the family member may be enrolled at the same time at the same school so they can leave together.”
The program is offered at no cost, only parental participation.
“There is no cost to the families, except their time and commitment. The rest is covered by the grant.”
During the previous implementation of the grant McCarthy said there was an increase of performance measures, including attendance and a reduction in referral rates.
“We only had it at Bunnell Elementary so a lot of the students came to FPC when I was assistant principal,” he said. Our goal is to have 100 % graduation rate with nobody dropping out of school and that’s a lofty goal. This is one piece of the puzzle. Early intervention is key getting the students excited and engaged about learning, so when I would see them walking in the halls of the high school I’d think ‘hey, we’ve gotten this far and we aren’t done yet.”
