A special after school program is being welcomed to the five elementary schools in Carbon School District. The program has a number of clubs that the students are able to join.
“This after school program is a direct result of Carbon School District’s desire to continue to offer students and families in Carbon County a way to find success in their pursuit to progress in life,” stated Intergenerational Poverty Grant Director Alisa Morley.
Carbon School District saw an opportunity and took advantage of the fact that the state was providing means to improve educational opportunities for young students in the local area that may or may not have otherwise had these opportunities. Through these efforts put forth, the district was awarded a grant that would assist in this endeavor.
The grant will address intergenerational poverty and its direct effect on the community. It will also assist in the education of the youth in the county.
“Here in Carbon County poverty effects all of us to some extent; the economic hardship we face as a community has not gone unnoticed by our state legislature,” Morley said.
The grant is a tool that will be used to give youth a boost to add to the beneficial and fruitful education that they are already receiving. Currently, the grant extends to the elementary schools in Carbon School District. However, as the program is run and the best practices for students and families are discovered, the hope is that the efforts can be extended with other partners throughout the community in order to help students of all ages.
These programs will teach the students life skills, social skills, cooking, shopping and more through the clubs provided. The clubs are as follows: library club, cooking club, math club, ceramics/pottery club, board game club, ST math club, music recorders club and science club. Parents are able to sign their students up for whatever group they may be interested in.
When prompted to tell about the program, Morley expressed that she is considerably excited about all that will be offered. She has been working with a team of five women that will be the site coordinators at each school. According to Morley, their competence, care and compassion has inspired her further.
The program will also have assistance from community partners, including the USU Eastern athletics department. The department has had a number of athlete volunteers that support and extend a hand to the children.
“I feel that all of us are in a united effort to do the best we can for the children in Carbon County,” Morley concluded.