EVERETT — Students already hang out at Explorer Middle School after classes end.
At that age, they just want to be around their friends, Assistant Principal Kristi Queen said. She’s been pitching an on-site after-school program to the Boys &Girls Club.
“We want to be able to provide them a safe place to play and to continue being social after school but have it be structured and supervised,” she said.
The South Everett / Mukilteo Boys &Girls Club ran a survey this past spring asking Explorer students whether they would participate in such an offering.
At least 110 said they would sign up, club Director Jake Marsh said. That’s promising. Explorer expects as many as 1,011 students this fall.
The new program, called “The Club,” is set to start in October. It will include basketball and other outdoor activities, homework help, working on leadership skills, and snacks. Marsh hopes to see 100 students registered by the end of December. It won’t cost their families anything.
“We know that in this area, money is tight,” he said.
The Club promotes doing well in class and graduating on time.
“It’s very easy for young people to be swayed or get into things they should not get into,” Marsh said. “We are a place that offers opportunities for youth to participate in things they otherwise possibly wouldn’t discover and to give them the option to get on a good starting track.”
Boys &Girls Club staff work closely with schools, including Explorer. They make frequent lunchtime visits to organize and promote events. Queen and Marsh got to know each other through the Casino Road Stakeholders, a monthly gathering of service providers in south Everett.
Queen had seen a successful after-school program in Shoreline, where she used to work. Her daughter participated in one run by the city parks department at Kellogg Middle School.
At Explorer, the mentors will partner with school leaders to measure whether the program has an impact on academic achievement overall. They won’t have access to individual grades.
The Boys &Girls Club is hiring two part-time staffers for The Club at Explorer. Volunteer mentors are needed, as well as donations of snacks and supplies. For more information, call 425-355-6899.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @rikkiking.
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