Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE -Ê"At risk" hours for school children are considered to be from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., when parents are still at work and children go home to an empty house.
Thanks to a "Kids Club" program at Lakeland Youth Center, Syracuse, children in grades kindergarten through five may now have a place to go until their parents can pick them up.
"We started in November with seven kids," said LYC director Brian Rensberger. "We increased to 15 to 20 by Christmas break."
During the break, program directors discussed adding another day and building the program. Wawasee Director of Support Services Jim Evans, Rensberger said, "was rather impressed with how the program was built." Evans offered to provided transportation to the center from Syracuse Elementary.
The program became a three-day program, meeting on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. From mid-January until recently, an average of 39 kids per day participated.
During the two-hour period, the elementary students do their homework first. They then may participate in a physical activity to work off some steam. A guest speaker may be invited to talk or, on Wednesdays, the children make crafts.
"Generally, when kids get off the bus and get here, we offer them a nutritious snack and juice," Rensberger said. They discourage candy and soda.
When the program began, children in grades three through five were targeted. As it expanded, LYC found that the children who take advantage of the program most were children in kindergarten through grade three. Rensberger said that approximately 90 percent of the children involved in the program are in grades K-3.
While the program is for elementary children, high school students also are involved in the program as counselors.
Ann Mahnken, LYC board member said, "We really do try to encourage the high school kids to get involved."
Rensberger said the elementary kids look up to the high school students, who help the kids determine when play time is and when it's time to get down to business.
LYC started the program with a $4,000 grant from the Palace of Sports. Rensberger said they won't make any money off the program, as there is no charge for children to participate, and they will even lose money on the program. However, because LYC has other successful programs that do have a charge, the program can continue.
"Just seeing the interaction is the nicest thing we do here," Rensberger said.
He also said LYC is already looking toward the future.
"The ultimate goal is to have a similar program to what we have here in Syracuse and have them in Milford and North Webster," Rensberger said, "so they don't have to travel as far."
A summer program, comparable to their school-year program, is also on the minds of the LYC board members. They hope to create such a program, where kids can gather and be involved in activities such as hiking, kickball or other summer activities.
Rensberger said, "If there is an underlying idea, it's that we can do more here than a kid can do by himself at home playing Nintendo."
Counselors for the LYC program this semester include Murielle Mahnken, Angie Weybright, Paul Clerkin and James Mikolajczak. Syracuse Elementary School student teacher Shauna Young was hired to help with arts and crafts and supervision.
