Earlier this year, Chrystel, 13, a student at Saratoga Afterschool was chosen to participate in Writopia Lab’s prestigious 11th Annual Worldwide Plays Festival. Chrystel’s original play Kidnapping was to be performed by a group of NYC theater professionals and off-Broadway venue The Tank in early May.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Worldwide Plays Festival will be performed online via a series of podcast episodes. Chrystel has been working via video conference with the professional actors and producers who will realize her play, which will be debuted via podcast later this month.

As for Chrystel, she’s hasn’t let these unexpected changes detract from her remarkable accomplishment. “At first I got disappointed, but what’s important is that it gets presented and that I’m growing myself as a person throughout” said Chrystel.

From an Independent Project Lab to Virtual Craft Club, our Afterschool & Recreation programs have been uniquely positioned to safely continue supporting HFH’s K-12 students while NYC schools are closed.

A Safe Space for Tutoring & Independent Projects

Social distancing and stay-at-home orders present unique challenges to students experiencing homelessness, many of whom share a small living space with their siblings and caregivers. That’s why Saratoga K-12 Afterschool & Recreation is making use of its expansive on-site program space to provide students with their own, socially distanced space for independent projects and tutoring.

Saratoga’s Independent Learning Lab relies on a partnership between parents, students, K-12 Afterschool & Recreation staff, and Family Services staff. Students and parents may request access to the lab by directly contacting K-12 Afterschool & Recreation staff. Family Services staff may also assist in arranging support and tutoring for students and families in need.

In some cases, students seem eager to make use of the space for their own learning projects. Isaac, an avid participant in Saratoga’s lego team, has been keeping his STEM skills sharp by building his own bridges in the Independent Learning Lab.

Dance Class, Craft Club & Storytime Go Virtual

All HFH K-12 Afterschool & Recreation programs have been developing a slate of virtual activities for students to stay connected while receiving academic support and enrichments.

DMF Youth, a longtime HFH partner, has shifted to providing their weekly lessons virtually while social distancing measures are in place. This has allowed HFH students to stay active by practicing their dance skills, while exploring social-emotional learning concepts like growth mindset, mindfulness, and positive affirmations. DMF Youth’s unique lessons combine fitness with social-emotional learning — both of which are critical towards developing our students’ health and resilience in the face of crises.

Heidy Mendez, Education Programs Coordinator at Prospect Afterschool, has been pro-active in creating original virtual learning opportunities, like virtual storytime and craft club for her students, both those who reside at Prospect and those who reside in the surrounding community.

At a virtual storytime this month, Mendez read to children from the book Dear Juno by Soyung Pak. The book tells the story of a young boy named Juno who exchanges letters, drawings and small gifts with his grandmother, who lives in Korea. The story ends with the grandmother sending Juno the gift of a small airplane, indicating they’ll be able to meet in person soon.

The story is particularly poignant during stay-at-home orders, while students may need new ways of staying in touch with friends and family until they can meet again in person.  Recognizing this, Mendez provided students with activity template for writing their own letter to someone special to them.

Connecting Families with Remote Learning Resources

Staff at all four HFH Family Residences have been connecting with families to help support their children’s learning. Staff at several sites have been conducing phone check-ins with parents to help navigate NYC’s new distance learning system. They’ve also been providing regular activity packets, filled with learning supplies and activity sheets.

Staff have also been connecting families to HFH’s new hub of virtual learning resources at HFH LEARN. At HFH LEARN, parents can access free online learning resources like educational websites, virtual field trips, online learning games, and more.

Saratoga’s Lego Team has advanced to the semifinals of the DYCD Youth Leggo my LEGO competition. The competition is a partnership between the NYC Department of Youth & Community Development (DYCD) and FIRST LEGO League, an international hands-on robotics initiative. Saratoga Afterschool forms a part of DYCD’s COMPASS NYC service, a network of more than 900 no-cost high quality K-12 programs.

The DYCD COMPASS Leggo My Lego League Qualifier saw COMPASS program sites, including Saratoga Afterschool, working to prove their STEM skills through a robotics competition. Competing under the name “Legends of the World,” Saratoga’s Lego Team worked together to design their own robot and complete a research project and lego construction for a vertical farm with a rooftop vegetarian restaurant.

To prepare for their competition, students researched the benefits of vertical farming in urban areas and took a field trip to Farm.One, a Manhattan-based urban vertical farm. Once they completed their Lego prototype, the team shared their project with other students at Saratoga, including children enrolled at Saratoga Early Childhood Education Center.

The vertical farm was a part of the competition’s City Shaper project, asking students to identify problems and design solutions for a better future. The second component of the qualifier saw teams participating in a Robot Game, building and programming their own robots using LEGO technology to complete a series of missions.

Saratoga’s Lego Team also displayed their embodiment of FIRST LEGO League’s Core Values—Discover, Innovation, Impact, Inclusion, Teamwork, and Fun—through two poster boards presenting their team and detailing their preparation for the competition.

“Sometimes we needed all hands on deck to figure out how to build one mission,” the Lego Team said in their description of Teamwork, noting that building strong relationships between team members was a key to their success. “When we broke into groups we mixed and matched an realized we were all good friends.”

They also highlighted their team’s commitment to Inclusion, citing their open-mindedness and receptiveness to new ideas from their teammates.

At the Leggo My Lego League Qualifier, the Lego Team’s commitment, research, and teamwork paid off. Not only did they receive a silver ticket to the next round of the competition—a city-wide semifinal competition—but they also received the Inspiration Award from the judges, recognizing the students’ special dedication to their Team.

A group of volunteers from Lufthansa embodied the spirit of corporate social responsibility during a visit to Saratoga Afterschool. Employees from the international airline spent the afternoon teaching students about aviation and global cultures.

Saratoga Family Residence is located close to John F. Kennedy International Airport. Therefore, Saratoga Afterschool provided the perfect landing spot for an airplane-themed lesson. The Lufthansa volunteers began by speaking with the children about their airline. They explained the ways that planes operated and built excitement about flying.

Then, they helped students take a virtual flight for themselves. Since Lufthansa is an international airline, their employee base is extremely culturally diverse. Recognizing this, the Lufthansa volunteers got global with their lesson at Saratoga. The volunteers chose to represent various countries, from Bulgaria to Pakistan. They created posters with facts about their countries and other educational props. They then encouraged children at Saratoga to ‘fly’ between the countries, expanding their global education along the way.

In the Dominican Republic, students learned about Merengue and traditional dishes. In the Czech Republic, students learned about the invention of sugar cubes and contact lenses. In the United Kingdom, they learned about Queen Elizabeth II and the linguistic nuances of British English. Other countries featured included Pakistan, Bulgaria, Italy, and Mexico. Each station also provided young travelers with a country-specific stickers.

Another activity allowed children to take flight into their own hands with a classic paper craft. Colorful paper airplanes soon filled the lesson space, allowing students to guide their own journeys. They also served as a souvenir to remind students of their day of aviation and global travel.

Throughout the month of October, families and staff have been getting into the Halloween spirit with dances, pumpkin patches, and spooky art projects.

We kicked off the season by distributing Halloween costumes donated by the residents of Sleepy Hallow and Tarrytown. The towns’ donation drive resulted in over 50 costumes for kids at HFH. At Saratoga, the costumes went to good use with a Fall Ball featuring face-painting, costumed dance numbers, and more.

At Prospect, families got into the Halloween spirit with on-site trick-or-treating, a family Pumpkin Patch event, and a ghost-themed activity with DMF Youth. Kids at Williamsbridge also celebrated the season with trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving, and a creature catcher art project.

The Williamsbridge Wolverines and the Prospect Lions got in the fall spirit with an apple picking field trip to Dr. Davies Farm in Congers, NY. The kids had the chance to pick their own apples, enjoy apple cider and donuts, and even go on a hay ride.

Check out some of our highlights from September 2019!

The kids at Prospect afterschool have been expressing themselves through drama-based workshops with CUNY Creative Arts Team (CAT), which develops kids’ community, creativity, and social-emotional learning through theater.