MHC After 3 Initiative Sets Gold Standard for After-School Programs
bassett community center, blue ridge regional library, boys & girls club of martinsville and henry county, education, fieldale community center, focus on youth, martinsville-henry county, mhc coalition for health and wellness, new college institute, phcc school of craft and design,
The last bell of the day has become an even more welcome sound for some students in Martinsville and Henry County.
After a year’s worth of testing as a pilot program in 2007, the Martinsville-Henry County After 3 Initiative, or MHC After 3, has begun. The after-school program provides area children with educational programming five days each week. One afternoon may include a trip to the Virginia Museum of Natural History, while another may have them creating mural masterpieces on building exteriors.
MHC After 3 was launched after some local organizations discovered that children in the sixth- through eighth-grades were most in need of after-school activities. Businesses and nonprofits stepped up with funding and in-kind services, and MHC After 3 has taken off, says Becky Forestier, assistant director of the YMCA of Martinsville and Henry County, whose two branches serve as a home for the initiative.
“We do programming two days a week, which can be anything from pottery-making to a ‘CSI’ camp,” Forestier says. “The other two days we do tutoring, with certified teachers coming in and doing learning exercises with the children. It’s really a great opportunity not only to have some mentoring, but also to get these kids exposed to a lot of things they normally wouldn’t get to see.”
MHC After 3’s funding comes from The Harvest Foundation, with Patrick Henry Community College overseeing the program’s operations. The program is a shining example of the cooperative spirit in Martinsville-Henry County, with a total of 13 partners collaborating with a common mission.
In addition to the YMCA and PHCC, community partners include the Boys & Girls Club of Martinsville and Henry County, Bassett Community Center, Fieldale Community Center, Spencer Penn Centre, Focus on Youth, MHC Coalition for Health and Wellness, New College Institute, PHCC School of Craft and Design, Blue Ridge Regional Library, Piedmont Arts Association and the Virginia Museum of Natural History.
VMNH Director of Marketing and External Affairs Ryan Barber says the program provides the perfect chance to highlight the museum’s offerings to a key demographic.
“Developing, implementing and evaluating education programming is fundamental to the mission of the museum,” Barber says. “MHC After 3 provided a vehicle to reach more students and be involved with a growing trend in providing meaningful out-of-school activities for older kids.”
The program’s immediate success – and resulting waiting list – has created exciting new opportunities for Shanna Francisco-King, MHC After 3 program coordinator, who says that her job now is to expand in every possible direction.
“MHC After 3 is an incredible example of the cooperation and collaboration that happens in rural communities,” Francisco-King says. “This program is providing art, academics, athletics … universal enrichment programming. It’s professionally instructed and mentored: If it’s a woodturning class, the instructor is a master woodworker; if it’s a tour of an art museum, the guide is a docent, artist or director of exhibits. During our poetry writing and dramatic performance programs, they learn that writing isn’t just about sitting down and writing, but also delivery and passion.”
Another plus is that MHC After 3 is free to the participants, so it’s not a strain on already-tight family budgets. And by blending education with entertainment, students enjoy the learning experience, Francisco-King adds.
“It’s fun; that’s the biggest thing. The kids get to hang out with their friends and just be kids,” she says. “The things they learn when they’re with us help them to become more well-rounded people, to develop positively and holistically, and that’s what this is really all about.”
Story by Joe Morris
Photo by Ian Curcio
