The Gallery After School Program

During 2014, I had the wonderful chance to start an after school program.  We have been going since January of this year.  We started off with 11 students.  However this program is pretty strict and I ask a lot of the students, finish homework, to read at least 10 mins, etc, and it didn't work for some students.  I started with two schools, in two different school districts.  (If I had to start again, this would have been something to avoid).  The schools had different schedules and different guidelines on how to act.  For instance the school in Oklahoma City Public School District always gave homework, their teachers talked to me regularly and the students were better behaved.  Obviously they all like to have fun, but sometimes it isn't the right time.  The other school did not give homework all the time, they didn't like to read and it was really tough for me to get them to read.  Since then however, the students can read 20 mins (mostly) silently.  Two students have a hard time reading to themselves, so I have them partner read and read aloud.  This helps them work together and they can develop a better ear to hear words that do not sound quite right.  So far I have seen a slight difference in their ability to read, it is getting smoother and they read.  Some overall successes that have happened in the last few weeks is that we received a box of books from my home church near Seattle, Wa.  They all got to open it together, and you would have thought it was full of sweets and fun things not just books, by the way they got sooooooo excited!! =D  The students worked together to create a play and perform it for their families.  It was adorable and they all were really excited about the outcome.  We talked about holy week, shared in a love feast, made a canvas cross together, that was displayed in church on Easter.  The students have also helped me start a vegetable garden outside of the church, and plants are actually growing.  We talked about Mexican Independence Day (Cinco de Mayo) by creating little pinatas.  My supervisor came in a talked about what the meaning of a pinata is and how we can use the meaning in our lives.  On of the students when asked why they come to The Gallery said because it makes us brave.  Since January we have had 5 students become student of the month at school, many of them have had 100% homework turned in, 100% attendance, honor roll, and the best part is that most of them who had to take the third grade reading test passed! That was such a joy to see.  Looking to the future many people are excited that this is turning into a literacy program.  Our summer program is based off of literacy.  As we continue to plan for the future prayers are encouraged, for the students to continue to succeed and for volunteers to feel called to work with the students.

Below are some pictures from the past two sessions of The Gallery.

                                          Painting Class! (first session)

                                           Dance Class (first session)

                                              Art Project with Volunteer Shirley (second session)

                                                Finished art project with Shirley (Second Session)

                                                After smashing the pinatas, the destroyed pinatas!

Lessons Learned from Starting a Program

These past few months I have been starting an after school program for third grade students in this area.  Now that our first session is over, I can now look back and realize the small things that I have learned. 

1. Plan, Plan, Plan.  Much of this program is having to plan.  It was hard to plan before we ever started the program because I didn't know what to expect.  Now that we have a clear view and idea of what we need to be doing and what kinds of things the kids like to do.  It is also easy to plan for a single idea that covers the whole program.  For example, this past session we had an artist that came in and worked with the students for seven weeks.  We had a painter and a dancer and they worked with the students everyday for and hour, Monday through Thursday.  It ended up that most of the students got bored of doing the same thing day after day.  This brings us to the next point.

2. Make sure everyone knows what needs to be done.  During our program some lines of communication got crossed and somethings that needed to be said were not said until it was too late.  For instance if your idea of having an activity led by someone else start at a certain, don't say that the leader should arrive at that time, they should be ready to teach at that time.  This was a huge problem with our last session.  The start times were not respected by our artists and sometimes we would start late, the kids would not know what to do, and when the teacher got into the class, many things went unnoticed and techniques were not taught like we wanted or had envisioned them to be taught and went unnoticed for a while. 

3. The little details are sometimes the most important.  When things are being planned or addressed try not to overlook the little details.  For instance, what kinds of books the kids had access to, or what happens when the students do not have homework, is there a camera that can be accessible, which students can have their picture taken, which ones cannot, if an event is happening and someone is bringing a refreshment make sure it is well known that it will be dropped off in time to get it set up.  Those kinds of things are important to remember and lessons I have learned from the first session of The Gallery.

4. And lastly, if volunteers are needed make sure they know what they need to do.  Sometimes lines of communication break down, when all parties don't know what is expected of them.  Sometimes when saying we are an arts program, volunteers may think they are teaching instead of volunteering.  I have learned that when you think you have enough volunteers, always get more or have more on board to have more available when needed. 


These are just some things that I have learned over the past few weeks as our program gets started.  I am very hopeful for the future, much to look forward to and I am excited at how the planning is coming along.  Hopefully more posts will be coming soon! Enjoy!!