SCHOOL NEWS

Doing their studies and being with their peers, too

By JOHN HOWELL
Posted 9/24/20

By JOHN HOWELL If it weren't for a pandemic, Vets Middle School students Simon Ibarra and Maddie Castaldi probably would have been on their way home Friday afternoon after class with books under their arms and homework assignments for the weekend.

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SCHOOL NEWS

Doing their studies and being with their peers, too

Posted

If it weren’t for a pandemic, Vets Middle School students Simon Ibarra and Maddie Castaldi probably would have been on their way home Friday afternoon after class with books under their arms and homework assignments for the weekend.

Instead, they were playing foosball at the Oakland Beach branch of the Warwick Boys and Girls Clubs, where they had been most of the day.

What about school? Had they skipped that?

Like most other Warwick students, Simon and Maddie are distance learning. But rather than using their Chromebooks from home, they are doing in from the Boys and Girls Clubs with other kids. Both say they would rather be back at Vets and this business of mask wearing and distancing was just a memory.

The Warwick Boys and Girls Clubs, like child day care centers in the city, are offering students and parents an alternative to spending the school day at home. At the Oakland Beach and Norwood club branches, kindergarteners through seventh-graders get adult oversight and assistance, meet kids their age and do so in an environment designed to ensure they are safe. The daily program starts at 7:30 a.m. and runs to 6 p.m. It includes a breakfast and lunch.

The students are grouped in pods by their grade and are no larger than 15, including two adults. Activities between pods are not allowed and the use of spaces is scheduled so that they don’t overlap.

Kat Kenney, director of the Oakland Beach program, said students bring their own Chromebooks or devices with them although the club can provide them if they’ve been forgotten. She said the school day that ends about 2 p.m. is reserved for education. Then, in the afternoons, the club’s “normal programming” kicks in and the kids enjoy activities.

“We are not teachers,” says Lara D’Antuono, director of the Warwick Boys and Girls Clubs, “we are youth development professionals.”

“We recognize that during this time it is very difficult for parents to work and that [childcare] can have a huge impact on finances,” she said. The club was able to secure a $78,000 COVID Community Development Block Grant through the city that has enabled 10 scholarships. The cost of the program is $200 a week. Currently, 67 students are enrolled between the two club branches, and D’Antuono is hopeful of expanding that number to the allowable capacity of 104.

She faces two issues. The club is working with Cox Communications to expand bandwidth so as to accommodate more students doing distance learning. Also, she is looking to hire more staff. Applicants should be 18 years old or older. The pay is $12 an hour and in addition to liking to work with kids, D’Antuono said she is looking for applicants who can provide consistency so as to meet COVID protocols and give students stability.

D’Antuono said the interaction the clubs gives students is critical to their development and “relieves a lot of stress.”

Ziad Kassab of Cranston and one of the pod leaders, like the Pied Piper, led kids from one of the club’s gyms to a game room. The kids quickly gravitated to their favorite games, pairing up with one or two of their classmates.

Kassab has an associate degree from CCRI and has hopes finding a full-time job law enforcement. He took this job with the thought of learning more about the community and has been surprised.

“This is the best job I’ve had,” he said, taking a break from showing Charles Gaglione and George Melendez how they could make their game of Jenga more challenging.

school, learning

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