Staunton Parks and Recreation is celebrating 30 years of its before and afterschool program called HEART, which stands for Healthy Environmental Afterschool Recreation Time.
The program takes place at the three Staunton elementary schools: Bessie Weller, A.R. Ware, and McSwain. The HEART program begins in the mornings at 7:30 a.m. (earlier at some schools) and ends at 8:15 a.m. The after-school program begins at 3 p.m. and ends at 6 p.m.
While at the HEART program, children engage in outside free-creative play, participate in a dedicated homework time and are provided a healthy snack. The children also enjoy guest speakers, storytellers and arts and crafts at least once a month.
On Friday, Oct. 18, Staunton Parks and Rec is participating in a national event called Lights on Afterschool, which is a project of the Afterschool Alliance. It’s a day to celebrate afterschool programs and to raise awareness of the benefits that are associated with participating in a quality afterschool program. On this day, the children will become “makers” and create a fun craft activity and enjoy a special, and very rare sweet treat. We’ve invited local dignitaries to stop by and see what life is like for an after-school student.
Two projects are already in progress in order to kick off the Lights on Afterschool event. Each of the three elementary school sites created a Thank You card for the Staunton City Central Office to thank them for all their hard work, and to express their appreciation of the partnership we have with them. The second project is a “Caught Being Kind” campaign where HEART staff will keep track of all the acts of kindness children display during the program. Staff will verbally praise them for their kindnesses. These kindnesses can be as simple as tying a friend’s shoe, or letting someone go ahead of them on a piece of playground equipment. The acts of kindness will be tallied and the children will receive a reward at the end of the semester.
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