Goldsboro Family YMCA suspends afterschool program
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on September 5, 2018 5:50 AM
The afterschool program at the Goldsboro Family YMCA is on hold, at least for the current school year, officials said.
Kriquette Davis, YMCA vice president of operations, said Tuesday that staff is "re-imagining" what the program needs to look like moving forward.
"We're doing an assessment to kind of see what people want from an afterschool program," she said. "We're taking some time off to see what improvements need to be made to revitalize it."
Davis, who has been on staff at the YMCA for 30 years, said the program has been offered as long as she's been there.
The YMCA is in its 34th year, opening in 1984, but dates back to September 1980, when programming was first offered at various sites around the county.
The Parkway Drive location was built at a cost of about $7 million. In 1995, the triple gym, weight room, aerobic room and afterschool rooms were added. In 1998, the wellness center and front desk area were expanded.
The soccer fields were built in 1999, and the following year, the warm-water pool was constructed.
In addition to the afterschool program, the nonprofit offers programs for all ages -- including preschool, summer day camp, swim lessons, lifeguarding classes, water and land fitness clases, youth and adult sports, a childhood obesity program and mentoring program.
"We know that we need to have a seat at the table" in the community's after-school programming, Davis said.
The option has served children from kindergarten through sixth grade, although admittedly the numbers have been smaller than some of the other camp offerings, like those during the summer months.
The afterschool program featured a number of activities for that age group, she said -- ranging from swimming to arts and crafts, STEM, or science, technology, engineering and math-related efforts, and a homework time.
"There's not a lot of time, as they usually get there around 3:30 (p.m.) and parents start picking them up at 5," Davis said.
"We feed them a snack, and we keep them active for that entire time."
The hope is to reinstate the afterschool program by the fall of the 2019-2020 school year, Davis said, since parents typically start making plans for their child's care in advance of school resuming.
The YMCA will continue to offer camps throughout the year during times when school is dismissed for extended holidays and over the summer months.
"What I'm hoping it's going to look like is that we'll be able to unveil this really cool program because the Y's the leader in school-age child care in the country, so we need to figure out what's the best way to approach it and (ensure) that we can impact and make a difference in these young folks' lives," she said.
"People usually set that up the end of July, depending on when school starts."
In anticipation of school resuming recently, YMCA staff notified parents of children in the previous year's program of the alteration.
"We let the parents involved know like six weeks out," she said. "We made sure to make phone calls and sent emails out to make sure they knew."
The most important thing moving forward is including the public in the decision-making, Davis said.
"We're always looking for feedback from our community because our community is what supports the Y," she said.
"It's up to the leaders to convene and know best practices for the programs and make the ultimate program decisions, but we want to do it with the blessing of the community.
"It's important for us to listen to the community rather than tell people what we think they need."