Advantage After School Program – The Tarrytown school district has partnered with Family Services of Westchester to deliver after school services to 100 middle school students at Sleepy Hollow Middle School. Kids’ Club has provided some funding for the program, which hires Sleepy Hollow High School juniors and seniors from low income families as Junior Group Leaders. This is a win-win experience for both the older teens, who gain work and leadership experience in the education field, as well as for the middle schoolers receiving homework help and enjoying other enriching activities through the program.
RSHM LIFE Center – At the RSHM LIFE Center, academic help is given in the Center’s Learning Lab (initiated in 2020), After School and Saturday Homework Help programs. Approximately 150 children benefit from the extra assistance in reading, writing and math skills they receive from adult instructors, who give both individual and small group instruction to the students. The RSHM LIFE Center’s mission is to help the children see their own potential and bridge the educational divide they often find from their peers in school. Kids’ Club is proud to have given financial support to these programs, which make a difference in the academic lives of so many of our local youth.
Smart Babies – In 2013, Kids’ Club collaborated with the Tarrytown school district’s Asociacion de Familias Hispanas de los Tarrytowns (“AFHT”) and RSHM LIFE Center to develop and fund “Smart Babies.” This program brings new mothers and their infants together in a weekly class that emphasizes reading and talking to one’s baby, preparing the infants for preschool and beyond, while also providing a support network for the mothers themselves. Smart Babies is designed to fill a gap in services for this crucial developmental stage. To view a short video of a Smart Babies class in action, please click below.
Smart Toddlers – Smart Toddlers was launched in the fall of 2015 so that children from 18 months to age 3 can continue to build on the critical early learning and literacy skills acquired through the Smart Babies program. Teacher Rocio Castaneda leads an eager group of toddlers and parents Thursday mornings in the bright and cheerful library at the John Paulding school, where they will eventually attend kindergarten — the perfect environment to introduce them to the world of learning. The tots begin by finding their name tag and posting it on a board, and continue with a variety of stimulating musical, reading, and art activities in both English and Spanish, designed to instill a love of literature and language, while honing their fine motor skills. The class is well organized, fast paced, and the toddlers are enthusiastic and attentive participants. Kids’ Club is proud to fund this important new program which fills the gap in programming for these young children, and we invite you to watch the below video featuring highlights from a recent day at the program.
http://animoto.com/play/2Exuuw1vTLzKJdqva4TgWw
Warner Library, “AWE Early Learning Station,” “Listening to Learn,” “Warner is Wired for Homework” and “Warner is Wired for Learning” Programs – Kids’ Club’s funding of “Listening to Learn” enabled Warner Library to purchase audio books in an MP3/Playaway or CD format, so that children who do not have other access to iPods or listening devices could learn from audio books. Through support of the “Warner is Wired for Homework” and “Warner is Wired for Learning” initiatives, Kids’ Club underwrote the purchase of laptops and iPads for the library’s Children’s Room and Teen Area, enabling children who may not have such devices at home to use them at the library, thereby allowing underserved children to compete on a more level playing field with more affluent classmates. In 2020, Kids’ Club funded Warner’s replacement of Early Learning software, which is geared towards children ages 2-8 and features localized learning activities in the areas of math, geography, social studies, science, art and more.