UpRiver Panthers is an after-school program serving the rural communities of Fernwood, Santa, and Emida that used grant funds from the Idaho Out-of-School Network to provide academic support and enrichment experiences for youth.
“The funds had a huge impact!” said Jane Emery, Director of the UpRiver Panthers. “Homework completion became the norm rather than the exception. The tutor really helped students get caught up and take the stress of learning down a notch.”
With grant funds, UpRiver Panthers hired a tutor to focus on school goals. The tutor and teachers worked together to serve their students. “Teachers would simply bring the homework directly to us rather than send it with the kids,” said Emery, “and our tutor was able to target skills identified by the day school teachers.”
Located in Fernwood, UpRiver Panthers serves children from Fernwood, Santa, Emida, as well as surrounding unincorporated areas. This year, 86% of the kids in the program qualify for free or reduced lunch. Many of the families served are single-parent families or blended families. Unemployment is high, but most families are underemployed, according to Emery.
“The children in our program come with varying degrees of abilities and behaviors,” said Emery. “This is the most challenging aspect. However, they are curious and competent and rise to the occasion.”
The afterschool program focuses on science, art, and physical fitness to provide a well-rounded and balanced approach as well as allow for a wide variety of interests. They have partnered with the University of Idaho, Benewah County Master Gardeners, the local grocery, the PTO, Win 1 Basketball, T-ball, Little League, and St. Marie Youth Soccer, and many community members.
With partnerships already formed, the UpRiver Panthers used grant funds to contract with organizations and community members to provide enrichment learning opportunities that the program would not have otherwise been able to afford.
This expansion of enrichment opportunities included local artists, an engineer, a craftsman, and people who teach practical skills such as woodworking and tire changing. They also purchased gardening supplies for their gardening partnership with Master Gardeners. Funds were also used for training staff. “We not only learned strategies to help the kids but were taught to recognize our own triggers and responses,” Emery said.
The UpRiver Panthers also paid for two field trips with grant funds. One trip was to a local lake to practice First Aid and wilderness skills. The other trip was to Tree-to-Tree Adventure Course for team building that challenged students and inspired them to branch out of their social groups to become one another’s cheerleaders.
“The social and emotional growth I saw was amazing,” recalled Emery. “It changed their whole outlook. The thing that made me most proud was seeing the kids become a unit, a whole, during the field trips,” said Emery. “We had a tough year with a bunch of clashing personalities, but on the field trip, these kids really bonded, and gained empathy. The ropes course is a real challenge. It is not easy to predict who is going to handle it well and who will not. Many of the kids were surprised and gained either a new respect or a new empathy for their peers.”
Not only did the field trips deliver special experiences for youth, but they also provided valuable insight for staff. “Of course, the field trips were a hit with the kids, but I think that it helps for us, the staff, to be able to see the kids in a different context, one where we are enjoying ourselves and letting our hair down a bit,” explained Emery.
While field trips and academic improvement along with enrichment activities were the highlights of the program receiving grant funds, the UpRiver Panthers were also able to hire more staff, and that in turn allowed Emery to focus more on family events, professional development, and relationship building. “We had an end-of-the-year parents-versus-kids baseball game,” said Emery, “and the turnout was huge! Watching the kids and parents competing, having fun, being together; that was a great moment.”
With all the successes that the UpRiver Panthers experienced putting grant funds to good use, the program could still use more staff, specifically another tutor, and more in-person training opportunities. And Emery has more ideas on how to “broaden the kids’ horizons with field trips that spark their imagination, that cause them to dream of lives that are vastly different than the one they lead. Field trips that show them options.”
Emery encourages other programs to pursue grant funds. “Don’t hesitate to ask for this grant,” she said. “Make the plan. Write the grant. Dream big.”
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