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A new after-school enrichment program offers Hills-Beaver Creek Elementary parents safe and consistent after-school care for their children.
The fact that kindergarten through fifth-grade students enjoy the program’s activities is a bonus.
Eight-year-old Addison Sammons is one of 11 students enrolled in the Patriot Enrichment Afterschool Care.
“She’s had a lot of fun,” said her mother, Holly Sammons.
The program provides the Sammons family of rural Steen a consistent location for after-school care for Addison while her older siblings participate in after-school activities.
The program provides a stable after-school option to H-BC elementary families through the district’s community education program.
“It’s nice to have a fail-safe plan,” Sammons said.
Almost daily, Sammons and her husband, Derek, would coordinate who would pick Addison up from school — whether it was a grandparent, the bus or a parent.
The after-school program opened with the new school year on Sept. 7.
Coordinator Tedra Voss closed her Hills in-home day care when she accepted the school district position.
“I was ready for a change,” she said. “Ready to get my house back and … in the long run for my mental health.”
Patriot Enrichment Afterschool Care is available school days from 3:15 to 5:30 p.m.
Voss’s previous child care experience is a plus. “I want them to have a place after school where they are comfortable and loved,” she said.
Students enjoy a snack before embarking on a 30-minute physical activity, which often means they head outdoors to the playground.
“I figure they are in school all day and they need that release,” Voss said.
Back indoors, they settle into a 30-minute enrichment activity at which time students can finish homework. If necessary, Voss helps with homework.
The students have free time in the final moments of the day before they’re picked up.
The new program differs from an after-school service H-BC offered a decade ago in that students now have enrichment activities.
A $1,000 grant from Sioux Valley Energy will be used to buy materials for the program.
H-BC is currently looking for an assistant director, which would increase enrollment capacity from 15 to 30 students.
Cost is $10 per day for the first child or a yearly family rate of $1,550. A daily drop-in rate is available at $15 per child.