After School Program in Works for Dayton

Dayton—An After School Task Force, formed by the Coalition for Youth and Families, has been meeting regularly since April, 2015 to discuss creating an after school enrichment program for Dayton students. The group is getting closer to making the program a reality.

The ASTF decided at their meeting on Jan. 12 to offer a pilot program to fourth, fifth and sixth graders during the last four weeks in March. The program will be held three days a week, and students will be able to choose from among three offerings each week.

For the past month, the ASTF has reached out to the community, asking that people share their time, knowledge and skills with students in the program.

“The community response has been great,” said Peggy Gutierrez, Director of the Coalition for Youth and Families.

As a result of that positive community response, cooking, gardening, dance, art, photography, hoop shoots, and punt, pass, and kick football, are some of the activities that will be offered to students in the program.

One activity that generated excitement among task force members is the probability that students will get some hands-on gardening experience.

According to Martha Lanman, Administrator of Columbia County Public Health, it is likely that students in the After School Program can use garden space formerly cultivated by Bill “Wild Bill” Litchfield, who passed away last year.

Brad McMasters, Economic Development Coordinator for the Port of Columbia, said that Litchfield’s daughter, Lynn McFarland, has agreed, providing the garden is sustainable, and that the garden be named The Wild Bill Memorial Garden, in honor of her father.

Dayton School Superintendent Doug Johnson said that it is possible that garden plants could be started in the high school greenhouses. He said it is possible that middle school students could help clear the garden of weeds, as part of a classroom project, and that students in the wood shop could build planter boxes and benches.

Lanman said that the garden’s location on East Patit Street in Dayton might entice people at the Senior Center to get involved. She also said the garden could involve kids in the Blue Mountain Counseling Summer Recreation Program as well.

Johnson has recently surveyed students and their parents to gauge interest in participating in an after school program, and he is in the process of evaluating those surveys, he said.

“If it is successful, we could keep it going into April or May,” said Gutierrez about the After School Program’s potential for growth.

Lanham agrees. “I’m excited about it on the public health side. This could be stepping stones to next year,” she said.

The Columbia County Commissioners have also indicated they are in favor of the program. Commissioner Dwight Robanske, who is an ASTF member, has emphasized that time and money spent on children prevents the county from spending money on juvenile detention and rehabilitation.

Participants at the ASTF meeting decided to hire Anita Jackson to coordinate the program. Jackson currently works in the Summer Recreation Program sponsored by Blue Mountain Counseling in Dayton.

ASTF organizers estimate it will cost around $75,000 to pay for a year-long program. Gutierrez said $7,500 from the Blue Mountain Foundation/Dayton-Columbia County Fund has already been identified for the program, and an additional $10-15,000 from a local business is likely to be available for the program.