Classes Part Of After-School Options

ROGERS -- After-school programs are expanding options to add variety at the Rogers Activity Center.

Programming starts after school with snacks, homework and personal reading time. Children can pick a book from a library display or bring their own, said fifth-grader Antonio Tucker. He's been going to the center after school since third grade.

"I'd recommend coming," he said.

"The after-school program is not the same as it was 10 years ago," said Marlene Heyns, child care program director.

About five years ago, the program began focusing on more academics, Heyns said. She considers it an extension of the school day. On Thursday afternoon, children grabbed black folders with their spelling words for a test the next day. Most of her after-school students walk over from Northside Elementary School, Heyns said.

There would be more students if the center had a bus, she said. Bus driver licensing, funding and routes are all beyond the scope of the current program, but it has been considered, she said.

"Most families, both parents have to work. These kids can't go home and sit alone all afternoon," she said.

The center has more supervision than a bunch of children on a bus, said Diane Breen, parent.

"This, to me, is a safe place," she said.

Her daughter, fifth-grader Darlene Breen, has been going to the program for years. The family is looking for options for next year when Darlene moves to sixth grade and ages out of the program. She said the atmosphere is more relaxed than school, but she still has work to do.

Following the after-school program, classes in youth dance, drama, art and speed and agility are offered at the center.

It's an arrangement similar to The Jones Center in Springdale where Camp War Eagle, Ozark Education and the Schmieding Teens After School programs operate.

Braniac computer coding classes are hot for Ozark Education, said Christine Silano, executive director. Ozark Education was founded to explore possibilities for a charter school. While the group is considering that, the tech classes have taken on a life of their own after summer camps this year, Silano said.

The code they create may build primitive computer games, but teens love the class. Silano said she sees career possibilities with the after-school learning.

"You want to go with your child's interests but take them a step beyond," Silano said.