In December of 2012, the Mahomet Area Youth Club (MAYC) served nearly 20 kids in the Mahomet community. After a merger with the Mahomet-Seymour School District in the spring of 2013, MAYC sought to broaden their scope of services to students in the Mahomet area by offering after school childcare and enrichment (BLAST) opportunities.
MAYC now serves over 200 students in the BLAST program, and nearly 50 more during the afterschool homework clubs at Mahomet-Seymour Junior High and Mahomet-Seymour High School.
While MAYC continues to search for ways to get more students involved, they also need the community’s financial support to ensure the programs they offer can continue.
All donations to MAYC are tax-deductible.
“With the merger, people still need to give because the money is definitely needed,” Program Coordinator for Enrichment Opportunities Kelly Cramer said. “We are serving more students who qualify for free and reduced lunch than we were before in our after school programs.”
Instead of going to the MAYC clubhouse after school, MAYC students now stay at their respective school to socialize and participate in activities with their peers. The MAYC clubhouse will serve students over Christmas break and throughout the summer months.
Of the 150 students who participated in the first session of BLAST, 45 qualified for a scholarship through MAYC. Fifty-two of the 214 students qualified in the second session.
MAYC Executive Director Marcius Moore said students, who would not participate in MAYC programs in previous years, have joined this year due to the merger.
“Over the last year, we’ve tried to do outreach,” he said. “For one reason or another, they chose not to participate. But now that we’ve aligned with the schools, they are participating. And that’s the overall goal: to help kids in the community. We’re giving them a wide-range of opportunities and experiences they might not have had in the past.”
Moore said the affordable programming also benefits middle-class families who may not be able to afford monthly payments to a studio program. Each six-week MAYC course costs between $40 to $60.
During session one, Lincoln Trail and Sangamon housed a total of eight BLAST programs. With community and teacher involvement, Lincoln Trail hosted eight BLAST courses during the second session and Sangamon held five.
“I think we’re meeting the needs,” Cramer said.
Cramer has seen students improve their writing and design skills through Lincoln Trail’s online newspaper, Bulldog Beat. Third through fifth grade students spent the first two sessions of BLAST learning about question development, professional communication, photography, website design and development and newspaper writing. While several students have published their first articles online, they will have the opportunity to work on developing the website in sessions three and four.
Andrew Hutchison of HMD Academy has also volunteered his time to teach Tae Kwon Do for two sessions of BLAST. Cramer said she watched students beam as Hutchison trained them to break boards during the second session of Tae Kwon Do, which focuses on body control and movement.
The second session of BLAST also introduced students to unique skills, which they may not have another opportunity to participate in. Students enrolled in Crafty Kids at Sangamon learned about the spirit of giving as they made bags for the Gifford tornado relief effort. They also made scarves for children and donated items to the nursing homes.
Students in World Travelers Express explored the cultures and lifestyles around the world through a child’s eye while creating their own passport. They learned about their language, food, and location.
“They were learning, but they were excited about it,” Cramer said. “There isn’t a lot of opportunity for first and second grade classes to explore other cultures or countries like that because they have other curriculum they have to teach. I think that’s the great part of BLAST, it’s an extension of the regular school day. It’s a new experience that educational, yet fun along the way.”
Moore said the addition of Spanish in the BLAST programming at Lincoln Trail will benefit students for years down the road.
“We are in a changing society,” he said. “For someone to be bilingual, it is going to take them a long way when they go out to find a job. We want to get them introduced to (foreign languages) at an early age.”
While many session three courses have not been finalized, MAYC will be excited to have Wacky Science, Glass Art, Tae Kwon Do, Bulldog Beat and Dancing Dawgs in their options again. In a survey after session one, MAYC learned parents are interested in math and science options in BLAST programming.
Cramer hopes math, technology and literacy programs will be available during session three, which will begin at the end of Jan. or early Feb. Right now, she is looking at eight or nine programs at Lincoln Trail and six at Sangamon.
Cramer continues to work with MSJHS and MSHS administration to find age-appropriate programming which won’t conflict with opportunities already offered in the schools. Both the junior high and high school offer before and after school athletic programs and clubs.
“We’re trying to find something that isn’t offered there,” Cramer said. “Something that might be interesting to another group of students.”
MSJHS continues to offer after school support to students who want to stay after school for homework help or just to socialize. MSHS has seen an increase in afterschool homework club participation. Both programs are funded by MAYC.
MSHS technology teachers Simon Anderson and Eric Andracke are utilizing a University of Illinois 4-H Extension grant to teach students how to build robots. With interest and student participation, they hope to enter a robotics competition in the spring. MAYC provides a late bus service for students who need a ride home.
While MAYC still has donation forms to mail, Moore said most of the responses MAYC has received so far have been from people who have not donated in the past. MAYC hopes to reach $50,000 in contributions this year.
“If you believe in what we were doing back when we just had 20-some kids, and you supported us, I would think now that we are serving more kids, you’ll continue to support us,” he said.
