Staff at Williamsbridge took advantage of students’ mid-winter recess to throw a belated Valentine’s Day Party for students in Williamsbridge Recreation and Early Childhood Education Center. During school breaks, HFH K-12 Afterschool & Recreation programs adjust into a full-day program to accommodate parents’ schedules.

The Williamsbridge Wolverines expressed universal delight at the their extended Recreation hours. “I like playing with my friends during my week off of school,” said Chelsea, age 6, who noted that Recreation provides plenty of opportunities to participate in some of her favorite activities, like coloring. Her friend Chloe, age 5, likewise expressed her appreciation for Williamsbridge Recreation, noting, “I like to do games. I come to Recreation because I like to play a lot.”

Eager to express his own favorite activities, Noel, age 10, declared his talent for the digital piano he learned to play using a computer at Recreation.

Williamsbridge education programming is tailored for children of all ages. Our Early Childhood Education Centers cater to our youngest residents, under the age of four, with full-day year-round educational programming. Williamsbridge Recreation provides after-school programming to all school-aged children.

“A Valentine is somebody you love,” said Chelsea. “Valentine’s Day is cool to me because you get to do fun things with your mom and dad. You can give your mom and dad stuff.”

This year, Chelsea’s cited her Valentines as her family, friends, this member of the HFH Communications Team, and her boyfriend Ian.

“You can love many people,” she explained.

Chloe was equally excited for the Valentine’s Day celebration, noting that on Valentine’s Day, “…you give people chocolate and they give you flowers.”

The party kicked off with two art activities. Many of the older students created their own colorful scratch-off Valentine’s Day cards. Other students, the youngest with the help of Williamsbridge staff, took turns pouring multicolored sand into DIY small heart-shaped necklaces.

Then, Stephanie Guzman, Education Coordinator at Williamsbridge, encouraged the students to get on their feet for a series of Valentine’s Day games. The first was a relay race using pink balloons, which the students took turns shepherding between their ankles. The next was a game reminiscent of Simon Says called “XOXO.” Students had to accurately make a hand signal for “X” or “O” depending upon whether Guzman called out “hugs” or “kisses.” The final activity a Valentine’s Day candy race, in which the two teams had to scoop from two bowls of candy and transport it to their teams’ bowls. The team with the largest accumulation of candy was the winner.

The Valentine’s Day festivities were entirely age-inclusive, from four-year-olds in Williamsbridge Early Childhood Education Center to teenagers in Williamsbridge Recreation. At times, this compelled staff to offer special support to the smaller Wolverines competing. The older students didn’t seem to mind — many of the younger students express obvious glee when they’re able to attend program with the big kids, who they look up to as role models, which the older students happily embrace.

The party ended with a group dinner plus Valentine’s Day-themed cupcakes and goodie bags. The event was only the first of the activities Williamsbridge Recreation had planned for the kids’ week off from school. To celebrate their themes of the month, Black History Month and Environmental Sustainability, the Williamsbridge Wolverines had plans later in the week learn about single-use swaps and Carl Anthony, the founder of Breakthrough Communities, a project dedicated to building multiracial leadership for sustainable communities.

“Inspiration, through all forms of art, encourages our students to express their inner selves and gain the confidence to show others who they really are. Their art expresses their lives, their feelings, their relationships with others, and their future lives that they wish to see. Inspiration encourages our students to break away from their fears and let the light guide them, not only through their art, but through their everyday lives. We are a community, a family, and we work together to encourage each other to be better, happier.”

The Williamsbridge Wolverines have debuted the first edition of their very own monthly magazine called Inspiration: The Art of the Williamsbridge Wolverines. The artists and writers featured in the magazine are all students and staff from Williamsbridge’s K-12 Recreation and Early Childhood Education programs. Inspiration’s Editor-in-Chief, Stephanie Guzman, also serves as Williamsbridge’s Education Coordinator.

Student Artists Range in Age from Toddlers to Teens

Inspiration showcases the diversity of interests, talents, hobbies, ages, and even languages represented amongst students in Williamsbridge education programming. From toddlers to teens, the students found the means for expressing themselves through art and literature, with the support and encouragement of program staff.

One page was reserved for students in Williamsbridge’s Early Childhood Education program. Haiven, age 2, contributed a depiction of herself, her classmate, and their teacher, Ms. Veronica. Yelvin, age 2, was the artist behind another submission titled “Yo pinta,” a collection of abstract scribbles in pinks, reds, oranges, and yellows.

Rosa, age 14, was the oldest student to contribute, demonstrated her penchant for a writing with a fairy tale published in both Spanish and English. The first installment of “The Moon Princess” tells the story of a King and Queen who’ve just become new parents. The story ends in suspense with the discovery that the royal child and her family all have some sort of superpower followed immediately by Rosa’s insertion of the line “TO BE CONTINUED.”

If Everything Was One Color… & Other Themes

In many places, the students’ work was guided by a common theme or concept. In one section, Elisha, age 7, and Larian, age 9, both wrote and illustrated a piece in response to the prompt, “If everything was one color.” Elisha opted for red (it’s his favorite color), but illustrated himself with multi-colored hair because, as he explains, he “always wanted colorful hair.” Larian preferred blue, which is her and her mother’s favorite color, and accompanied her description with blue hearts and a rainbow in varying shades of blue.

In another section, Jasmin Vaughan, Recreation Assistant at Williamsbridge, described what she would wish for if granted three wishes by a genie. Vaughan shared a page with Jenea, age 11, who enumerated in detail the reasons behind her wish to travel to Italy:

“If I could go anywhere in the world, I would love to go to Italy to try their food and to enjoy the art at the Uiffizi Gallery. I would also want to discover the Roman Forum. Italy’s nickname is “Bel Pases,” which means Beautiful Country. Rome is the capital city and was founded in 753 BC. Italian cheese balls are made from buffalo milk. Italian is a Romance language and derives from Latin.”

Providing Families with Parent-Child Inspiration

Williamsbridge staff contributing to Inspiration placed a special emphasis on new programming and updates for parent. In one section, Bobby Valentin, Education Specialist at Williamsbridge, wrote about a nail tech class she taught to older students at Williamsbridge Recreation.

“After learning about proper application of gel polish using an LED lamp, I decided to bring the practice into afterschool. Originally it was a way for the older girls and I to bond, but it soon became a mini-lesson on nail techniques. You never know, we may have future nail techs in afterschool!”

In a Parents’ section on the back page of the magazine, families had access to important dates and upcoming events, plus information on registering for Williamsbridge education programs and for HFH Summer Camps 2020 season. Staff also provided families with a suggested Parent-Child At-Home Activity: a make-your-own bubble solution using household items.

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.

For the Prospect Lions, every afternoon boasts the perfect blend of consistency and novelty. Weekly afterschool classes in dance, nutrition, and yoga help build off of prior lessons and form a sense of stability for students. Monthly or bi-monthly lessons in topics like health, financial literacy, and college preparation likewise form a key part of the after-school curriculum. Meanwhile, special events and activities complement ongoing lessons and offer students unique learning opportunities.

Every day at afterschool is built around the same schedule. Afterschool begins with snack time followed by homework help with Prospect staff. After homework help, staff keep students of all ages engaged with daily activities until dinnertime and dismissal. In late November, we chronicled a week in the life with the Prospect Lions:

A Week in the Life with the Prospect Lions

On Monday, students celebrated Native American Heritage Month. Staff at Prospect taught children about different Native American tribes, including their name origins and history. They also completed an arts & crafts project intended to reinforce the lesson.

On Tuesday, students learned about consent and personal space during a bi-monthly Healthy Chats lesson. Healthy Chats provides a safe and welcoming space for children to talk about important topics like hygiene, bullying, an respect. During their lesson, students watched a video about the importance personal space and the phrase No means no. They also practiced recognizing one another’s personal space and exercising consent. Afterwards, they created boards illustrating what personal space, consent, and social etiquette means to them.

On Wednesday, the Prospect Lions took a field trip to the Graduate Business School of Columbia University for the school’s annual Holiday Party. Volunteers from Columbia spent time helping the Afterschool students decorate cookies and play games like corn hole and pin-the-nose-on-the-snowman. The students also created their own holiday cards during an arts & crafts project.

On Thursday, volunteers from Healthify  visited Prospect Afterschool for a Turkey Arts & Crafts project and a special dinner.

On Friday, staff invited parents at Prospect for a Thankful Dinner for residents only. Parents and children alike enjoyed painting fall-themed scenes on canvases, inspired by the same rendition of two falling leaves. The families also sipped apple cider and ate fresh pastries while they painted.

On Saturday, students had the chance to further flex their painting skills with a field trip to Paint with a Twist. The students listened carefully to an instructor who guided them in painting their own turkeys.

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.

Lindi Duesenberg is the founder and Executive Director of DMF Youth, a nonprofit that promotes a socio-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum through dance-based lessons. DMF Youth provides weekly classes in dance, meditation, and wellness at Prospect Afterschool.

WHAT MAKES DMF YOUTH LESSONS UNIQUE?

Rather than just a dance program or a sports program or a tutoring program, where life skills and socio-emotional skills are sort of a byproduct of programming, we build those tenants into our actual programming. We’re dedicating time, not just through dance, but through activities and arts and power talks that delve into topics like goal setting, mindfulness, the power of affirmations, gratitude, and kindness.

WHY DO YOU USE DANCE TO TEACH THESE TOPICS?

Dance is sort of our gateway to introducing these concepts. If we’re working on being brave, we’ll introduce a step that’s really challenging. Then afterwards, we’ll talk about it. What was it like when you couldn’t get that step? We teach the kids that with effort and determination and grit, that they can get better at something.

HOW DO THE KIDS AT PROSPECT REACT TO YOUR LESSONS?

They love it. The moment we get there, they are so excited to see us. We’ve also seen so much growth. Some of the little ones that we had a few years ago are now the bigger kids and they’re now leaders and little role models in our program.