The following symbols indicate the academic area(s) addressed by an activity.

Literacy

Math

Science

Bird and Butterfly Habitat Project
Program fifth through eigth grade youth reclaimed an overgrown field adjacent to the school and transformed it into a bird and butterfly habitat. They researched the types of birds and butterflies native to the area;...Read More

Book 'n Cook
The Book n' Cook program involves literature based, hands on cooking activities that promote literacy through cooking. Book 'n Cook uses books and videos to teach children a variety of math and science concepts, as...Read More

Books for Babes
Books for Babes is a before-school activity for the 12-15 students enrolled in the teen parenting class at North High School. For this activity‚ teen parents meet with the teacher and the school media...Read More

Celtic Harps
Students learn to build‚ decorate‚ and play small Celtic harps. They then join with the afterschool guitar class in arranging traditional Appalachian music and performing it for seniors at the senior center. They also perform...Read More

Children's Theatre Workshop
Elementary and middle school students learn about the dynamics and discipline of theatre while rehearsing and eventually performing one-act plays - many of which deal with character education. ...Read More

Colonial Camp-Out
Elementary, middle school, and some high school students participated in the overnight Colonial Camp Out that the afterschool program held at the elementary school grounds. This activity was one of many that we had during...Read More

Comic Book Project
The Comic Book Project is a new arts-based literacy initiative (in collaboration with Teachers College‚ Columbia University‚ and Dark Horse Comics) offered to fifth-grade students and geared toward promoting and enhancing students' skills as they...Read More

Cooperative Creators Club
Students work in groups of two to build objects using items like old telephones‚ VCRs‚ and light fixtures donated by parents or purchased inexpensively from a second-hand shop. Each group writes a story explaining what...Read More

Country Study
Participants in this activity use thematic units to study different countries. They study the culture of these other countries by reading stories‚ learning songs‚ listening to music‚ learning about and playing games‚ learning about food‚...Read More

Dance a Story
It is my profound belief‚ that every person has a story to tell and a dance to dance. Given the chance to explore their own story and to create their own dance‚ children will learn...Read More

Dinosaur Dig-Out Week
The week is divided into four overarching activities‚ the last of which is broken down further into ten stations. These activities serve as the culminating projects for our literature unit on Fossils. During the course...Read More

Exploring Science
This science class does experiments inside the lab and also outside the building. It is a more advanced class than they have during the school day. The specific activity the students have been doing...Read More

Family Fun Night
Parents are invited to take part in the program activities with their children. Students are asked to select an activity that both they and their parents can share in and that the students think they...Read More

Family History Cooking Project
Students read and check out stories on food. They take these books home to read with their parents. They then pick out a favorite family dish and discuss with their parents the history of the...Read More

Flight and Motion
Third-‚ fourth-‚ and fifth-grade students explore flight and motion through a series of hands-on experiments. Each day‚ students are presented with a problem to solve and the materials they will use. The students write predictions...Read More

GIRLStart
A daily literacy extension activity is offered to the children in our first- and second-grade literacy program which focuses on comprehension and active listening during reading‚ and engaging learning experiences while children create hands-on projects...Read More

Hamilton Wings' SCORE
Established in 1999‚ SCORE! is a two-year afterschool arts-immersion program for economically and socially disadvantaged Elgin youth‚ providing 40-60 children in Grades 5-8 with the opportunity to develop‚ produce‚ and perform their own original opera....Read More

HEART Garden Program
Students in the HEART afterschool Program grow vegetables‚ herbs‚ flowers‚ and other plants in a garden located on the Union School grounds. The garden was created through a donation of funds and services provided by...Read More

Kalendar Kidz
This program is designed to teach and promote economic self-sufficiency and financial responsibility through the creation and implementation of a student-run business. All aspects of starting and running a business will be experienced. Students will...Read More

Kids' Cafe
This program is specifically designed to educate and to serve highly nutritious meals to children at risk of hunger. Students buy ingredients‚ read recipes‚ and cook healthy meals. They learn about how to prepare nutritious...Read More

Learning All About Ponies
Students read books about ponies and horses. A local farmer teaches the students how to care for ponies‚ and a blacksmith visits the students and explains why horses need horseshoes. One week students are involved...Read More

Lego Lab
Lego Lab is a hands-on "Young Engineers" class. It includes mechanical‚ architectural and robotic engineering and design. Engineers from Lockheed Martin volunteer at the program every week and serve as mentors to the...Read More

Lights On Marketplace
Elementary School students‚ Grades K-6‚ participate in before and afterschool "Power Hour" (homework help) with a focus on reading‚ math and language arts. By participating a minimum of three times a week‚ they receive...Read More

Martha's Community Garden
Martha's Community Garden is a project in which children and caring adults come to share and nurture in a community garden. The majority of children involved in the project range from Grades 1-5‚ although there...Read More

McCabe Yearbook
The activity involves development of a digital yearbook by 8th-grade students for a school with approximately 540 students. Students apply to the project and are selected based on their ability to work in a group‚...Read More

Middle School Debate League
The purpose of the afterschool YMCA Middle School Debate League activity at the YMCA of Central Maryland is to encourage participants to use information analytically and effectively through academic debate. An environment is created that...Read More

PACT Drama Program
Students (Grades 3-5) produce an abbreviated (but not rewritten or modernized) version of Shakespeare's Macbeth. The performances are staged at a local community theater. Actors from that theatre company help throughout as directors‚ vocal coaches‚...Read More

PAL School Store
Students run a student store as part of a sports summer camp. The younger students in the camp are given points (PALbucks) based on good behavior‚ sportsmanship‚ etc. They spend these points at the store...Read More

Pathways
Violence prevention Americorps volunteers come to talk with students about various issues. These discussion take the form of Socratic seminars; they discuss topics such as the economics of drugs‚ diabetes‚ mental health‚ sexual orientation‚ racism‚...Read More

Quilting (Art Zone)
Sixth to eighth graders designed fabrics‚ sewed quilt blocks which included signatures of Program Steering Committee members‚ and tied the quilt sandwich at a celebration quilt bee. Students tie-died‚ stamped‚ and marbled fabrics to learn...Read More

Reading Buddies
We've identified six second graders who need help reading. They are paired with sixth- and seventh-grade students who sit with them and read a book of their choosing out loud for 20 minutes. ...Read More

Reading Rally
College students read to 25 elementary age students. The college students assist the elementary students in creating their own books. A puppeteer acts out stories from books they've read and makes puppets with the children....Read More

Robotics
Students participate in a robotics activity sponsored through CASE and Hewlett Packard. Students meet for nine weeks twice a week for an hour and a half to create a robot that uses light sensors to...Read More

Rocketry
Amateur astronomers involved with the Morgan County Observatory Foundation were interested in working with after school students in astronomy. The middle school students are more interested in rocketry‚ so the observatory director decided to combine...Read More

School Beautification Committee
In an effort to provide a clean and attractive learning environment for the students‚ faculty‚ and support personnel of Harding School‚ we've established a school beautification committee made up of second through sixth graders. Students...Read More

School Newspaper
Middle school students wrote‚ edited‚ and designed our school newspaper. The newspaper was then mass-produced and distributed to all students and faculty in the school as well as placed in various businesses in the...Read More

Scrap Book
Students in the sixth grade generate a scrap book about the afterschool program. They write about the program's activities‚ take pictures and present photo samples of what they have been doing. ...Read More

Snack Preparation
The purpose of this activity is for students to learn how to prepare a basic meal or snack with little or no assistance from an adult. Many students go home and don't have an adult...Read More

Stained Glass
In this activity‚ we will be doing a stained glass painting for the school. We will make a design‚ and then figure out how to implement that design to fit the size of glass...Read More

Summer Extravaganza
Summer Extravaganza is a summer program for rising fifth through eigth-grade students that focuses on real life application of math‚ science‚ and technology. The program was designed to give students a chance to see how...Read More

TALL Live! Recording Studio
Approximately 18 ninth through twelfth grade students are a part of TALL Live!‚ a music production project that meets daily from 3:00-6:00 PM. One student is the manager‚ who‚ in addition to being the...Read More

Wee Deliver Postal Service
Our older children worked through the local postmaster at the U.S. Postal Service to design and implement a Wee Deliver Postal Service for our entire school. ...Read More

West African Drum Club
The West African Drum Club is an activity in which children learn the history of West African music and instruments. The main focus is drums. Fourth to sixth graders participate in this activity. Children design...Read More

Work-Related Lesson Plans
The mayor of the city of Scranton's vision is "To Restore the Pride." Wanting to support the mayor‚ The BEST Program partnered with the city and the Everhart Museum to help to restore the...Read More

Youth Entrepreneurial Training
Youth Entrepreneurial Training involves the "Snack Palace" concession stand and the Beautification program. Participants in the Snack Palace learn inventory‚ customer service skills‚ cashier skills‚ minimum cooking skills with the microwave‚ and business planning. Participants...Read More

The Academic Enrichment Project and this website are supported through the generosity of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.