Recognition was due to Karina Boyden during last week’s Carbon School Board meeting for being awarded the statewide title of After School Sign Coordinator of the Year.
Five years ago, Carbon School District (CSD) received a grant to create an after school program to address intergenerational poverty and its direct effect on the community by assisting the education of the youth within the county. That same year, Boyden was hired to not just only work within the program, but also to help create it.
Currently running the program with Boyden is Klyn Hepworth, who was also named the Classified Employee of the Year within the Carbon School District.
“It just goes to show what an awesome job they’ve done in creating this quality program for our kids,” said Intergenerational Poverty Grant Director Alisa Morley.
The intent of the after school program is to provide high-quality programs that offer a balance of academic and developmental support. Students who participate in the program are more likely to attend school more regularly, improve academically and develop critical 21st century skills.
CSD’s after school program stood out compared to the rest of the state’s due to the many tasks the staff took on during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program’s staff was innovative and created social/emotional videos for all the elementary students and prepared food in the lunchrooms that was then delivered directly to students.
Morley also included that the official who awarded Boyden with the title at an earlier date expressed to her that it was astonishing the quality of the CSD’s program even though it had only been running for five years. That is something they do not normally see in the early years of a program.
Not only is the award’s intent to honor the hard work that is taking place in the after school fields, but also to highlight the quality they are adding to the district’s educational program and the opportunities they are offering to the students.
“[Karina] is really somebody that the kids look forward to seeing everyday and part of the reason they come to school,” said Morley.