GCSU Beyond: Afterschool Achievement

The School of Continuing and Professional Studies at Georgia College & State University continues its deep focus into education through the unit of Afterschool Achievement.

According to the website, “The mission of the Office of Afterschool Achievement is to provide academic support, enrichment and learning opportunities in an afterschool setting to elementary, middle and high school youth.”

The unit of Afterschool Achievement was originally brought together three years ago, though its programs have benefited the community since the early 2000s. The unit works in partnership with Georgia College, the local Board of Education and various community partners in Baldwin County. There are two programs under the unit known as the YES Program and High Achievers.

“These programs are both grant programs that have been a part of Georgia College since about 2008,” said Sequena Stanton, director of After Achievement. “Our programs offer a lot of flexibility for the schools and nurture both academics and enrichment.”

The YES Program is funded by the Georgia Department of Education and is an extension of the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers. This program impacts Lakeview Academy and Oakhill Middle School by providing enriching opportunities outside of classroom hours. During the academic year, students participate in homework sessions, physical activities, and more. During the summer, the YES program offers more enrichment opportunities, typically through the form of STEM. According to the website, the goals of the YES Program are to improve academic performance, build student capacity and increase parent engagement.

“The YES Program serves two different populations. At Lakeview Academy, we focus on third through fifth grade students while at Oakhill Middle, we focus on sixth through eighth grade students,” said Stanton. “Our program is very hands-on and focused on enrichment and personal growth for our students in both the real world and academic settings.”

To get a sense of the YES Program, look back at the spring semester of 2022. At Lakeview Academy, students learned culinary skills through kitchen safety and food groups, presented to their parents about cosmetology, participated in a teacher-led art activities, learned about sportsmanship through gaming and participated in a number of STEM activities. Elementary students also took field trips to the culinary garden at Baldwin High School and to the Georgia College Science Center. At Oak Hill Middle, students heard from inspirational speakers, learned about green houses, participated in tutoring, and worked on a variety of different social and academic skills through hands-on activities.

“We meet our goals in the YES Program through a variety of ways. We improve academic performance through working with the Board of Education on measurement tools and by working with teachers to focus on what the students may want to learn or may be struggling with. We build student capacity by improving overall behavior in our students, focusing on their knowledge of relating entrepreneurship and life skills to the task they are doing, and we also try to make sure that they’re not missing 10 days or more from the program,” said Stanton. “So, then in terms of family engagement, I work very closely with the schools to co-sponsor and collaborate different family engagements to have family involved with what they are learning and help build that familiar support. These goals are the core of the YES Program.”

The High Achievers Program is the high school focused after school program and is funded by the Georgia Department of Human Services and is a partnership between Georgia College, the Baldwin County Board of Education and the Milledgeville community. During the academic year, youth participate weekly in the activities relating to the following topics: health and physical activity, youth voice and action, well-being, STEM, apprenticeship programs (during the summer) and college tours (during the summer).

“The High Achievers Program has been a part of GCSU since 2008,” said Stanton, “It focuses on project and apprenticeship-based learning. We cover a range of topics and even help our students get a job through us over the summer throughout the apprenticeship program.”

According to the High Achievers Program newsletter, there are currently STEM Tuesdays, Mental/Physical Health Wednesdays and STEM-Science Thursdays. These umbrella days correlate back to all the topics referenced before and are taught and worked on through enriching and hands-on experiences. Primarily, the program wants to help youth learn and apply civic skills along with allowing youth to explore their capacity to be change agents in the local community and in general society.

“For spring 2022, our High Achievers are going to be working with the Summer Apprenticeship Program. Through this program they will sharpen relationship, communication and leadership skills,” said Stanton.

Within both of these programs, Georgia College students act as supervisors, teachers, assistants and more by being Service Learning Volunteers. As volunteers, students will work with one of the two programs to help plan, initiate and lead in both in-classroom and out of the classroom activities.

“They do a great job and bring the energy to everything we do. They’re not afraid to step in and help bring that timid nature of our program students out,” said Stanton. “I am so thankful for all they do for us.”

The Afterschool Achievement unit will be hosting some camps for both their YES Program students and High Achievers. In addition, they will be hosting the Summer Apprenticeship Program for High Achievers. Every year, the Office of Afterschool Achievement promotes how to sign up for these programs go to https://www.gcsu.edu/afterschoolachievement.