JEFFERSON CO., N.Y. — Watertown City School District (WCSD) and Indian River Central School District (IRCSD) in partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension Association of Jefferson County are awarded two, $350,000, for a total of $700,000 annually to offer 4-H afterschool programming in six new elementary school buildings starting in October 2021. Extended school day programs are funded through the New York State Department of Education and the goals are to provide support to students through extended day activities that will increase student achievement, provide extracurricular enrichment activities in preventing school violence. This is a five year grant July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2026.
In the WCSD the program is called the 4-H Watertown Wellness Academy serving K-4 students at Ohio, North and Knickerbocker. A unique aspect of this proposal is that Cornell Cooperative Extension Association and the Watertown Family YMCA will partner to offer the programming. Patti LaBarr, WCSD Superintendent shares, “We are excited to learn that we will be able to expand afterschool opportunities for youth in our district. The programs will have a strong academic, enrichment and healthy lifestyle focus.”
Alongside this, IRCSD’s program 4-H Building Resiliency in Youth, serves K-3 students at Theresa, Philadelphia and Evans Mills. This program will have a very strong emphasis on academic enrichment. Troy Decker, IRCSD Superintendent shares, “IRCSD is excited to further expand 4-H afterschool programming in three additional school buildings and looks forward to expanding this partnership in the future.” This is a valuable opportunity to extend learning for our students.”
Cornell Cooperative Extension Association of Jefferson County looks forward to this new opportunity to serve an additional 450 youth with extended school day activities ranging from extra academic tutoring assistance, to enrichment such as astronomy, ornithology, theater arts, literacy to building life skills. Most importantly Extension will provide safe, engaging environments for students’ afterschool.
If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Mitch McCormick at (315) 788-8450 or ccejefferson.org.
–Cornell Cooperative Extension Jefferson County
For more articles out of New York, click here.
