After School Programs Come to a Close

As Metanoia’s 2009-2010 after school programs come to a close, several celebratory events have been taking place before preparing in full for Freedom School. 

Metanoia Young Leaders thanked their Chicora Elementary School teachers by hosting an afternoon tea party last month.  Students dressed up and decorated the tables with elegant tea sets and floral arrangements.  Teachers were able to relax while their students served them tea, finger sandwiches, fruit, fondue, and cake. 

Charmaine Townsend, Director of the Young Leaders Program, presented the teachers with a framed news clipping from last year’s March for Peace, which took place a week after a fatal shooting took place on the steps of Chicora Elementary. 

Teachers were also treated to performances from a boys’ dance troupe called ‘Boys to Men: the Right of Passage,’ who performed original dances to the Jackson Five’s ‘ABC.’  Next the fourth and fifth grade girls performed their own dance routine under the name ‘Genesis.’ 

Metanoia values our partnership with Chicora Elementary because only by working with the teachers they see every day can we work to build young leaders. 

The next day the Young Leaders put on a similar tea party for their mothers in honor of Mothers’ Day.  Mothers of the young leaders were pampered with the same relaxing afternoon as the teachers were, and were treated to the same dance performances.  Said fourth grader Bijion, “The tea parties were our way of saying thanks to the ones who work so Young Leaders Director Charmaine Townsend greets the           hard for us.”

teachers of Chicora.

   fondue spread at the tea party                                                                                                                 Young Leaders served their teachers tea

 Teachers were able to relax with their students outside of the classroom.                      Young leaders were happy to show their moms and teachers a good time.

The Young Leaders and Civic Leaders were also treated to a final Family Night at Stardust roller skating rink this past week.  The trip was a celebration of another successful year of after school programming, enjoyed by counselors, students, and their families.  Some were better skaters than others, but everyone who gave it a try ended up having a great time. 

When reflecting back upon the 2009-2010 school year, Charmaine Townsend said her most memorable moment had to be the tea parties that happened not a month ago.  "It was so nice to see the kids serving their teachers and putting into practice all of the manner and etiquette techniques they learned," she said. 

1.      Already planning for future improvements, Charmaine added, "Next year I am hoping to have all of the Leadership standards used to measure the Young Leaders growth as leaders in place, so that curriculum chosen will line up with exactly what each level will to master before being able to go to the next level. My goal is to find curriculum that is developmentally appropriate for each of the different levels of students being served ."

Young leaders looking for the right fit.                                      First time skaters were able to adjust quickly.

Civic Leaders prepare to show the younger ones how its done.                                                Civic Leaders take a break to play some arcade basketball.

The Civic Leaders ended their year in a great way by hosting a banquet for family and friends.  Cake and punch was served along with an assortment of hors deuvres, and the Civic Leaders worked hard transforming their program space into a banquet hall with decorations and table settings.  Parents and volunteers were recognized for the time they've given to the program this year.  All parents of students in Metanoia's after school programs are required to give a certain amount of volunteer service, but the Civic Leaders parents' went above and beyond this year by logging over 300 hours of service. 

Civic Leaders were also given superlative awards like 'Most likely never to say no to food," which was proudly accepted by ninth grader Kerionne, and "Most likely to say Barack Obama is his uncle," won by fellow ninth grader Trevonte.  Friend of the Civic Leaders and a member of Metanoia's Council of Advocates, Charlie Larsen, said a few words about his experience with the Civic Leaders this year in conducting a stock market investing excersize.  Mr. Larsen, an independent investor, has been teaching the group about the stock market since March, and has helped the Civic Leaders to pick out stocks in an activity which earned $1 for the students' Individual Development Accounts for every percent their stock rose.  Co-Director David Hutchinson described Mr. Larsen as part of the Civic Leader family, and both Mr. Larsen and the students are looking forward to resuming their time together next fall.

David Hutchinson, along with Co-Director Stacy Brown, delivered the awards after what has been the first full year of the Civic Leaders Program. Stacy said her most memorable moment was when the Civic Leaders visited a local nursing home during the Tri-County United Way Youth Service day this spring.  She recalls how proud she was of her students for the compassion they showed the elderly residents, and how they embraced them as if they were their own grandparents.  David Hutchinson remembers his most memorable moment being the inception of the Civic Leader field trip to Atlanta.  David saw the trip as a rite of passage, where a real bonding took place among the Civic Leaders that may otherwise not have occurred in the classroom.  Both David and Stacy agree that next year, as the Civic Leaders Program broadens to include the tenth grade, more attention should be paid to college prep, through SAT and ACT practice and possible visits to local colleges.