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LEARNING, GROWING AND THRIVING
Y-ASPIRE NEWSLETTER
SEPTEMBER 2016
WELCOME (BACK) TO Y-ASPIRE
We hope your school year is off to a great start—whether you’re a parent,
caregiver, leader of one of our partner schools, or a student. We’re delighted
to have you as part of our Meeting Waters YMCA community.
We put the word “BACK” in the title of this article because for more than 80% of our Y-ASPIRE participants and families this is at least your second year with us. For many, it is your fourth, fifth or sixth. And, many of you are just coming off of a summer at our Y Day Camp—again, for another
summer.
A child who attends Y-ASPIRE five days a week, including full days on
vacations, holidays, etc., and who comes to our Y Day Camp for most of the nine weeks will have spent nearly as many hours in our programs as they have in school! Just like the educators in our host schools, we take this responsibility very seriously.
Of course, even if your child is just with us for the
minimum six hours a week, during the school year, we are equally committed to
our cause of strengthening the foundations of community through youth development, healthy living, social responsibility and family strengthening.
We’re looking forward to our 19th year of Y-ASPIRE and
we’re grateful to have you as part of our Y community.
This is the first of ten monthly newsletters we’ll produce throughout the
school year. Each will shine the spotlight on an aspect of our Y-ASPIRE program—foundational principles, curricula, family strengthening, staff, etc. We welcome your feedback and input on topics we can focus on in future editions of our Y-ASPIRE newsletter.
Photo: Most of our staff leaders for Y-ASPIRE 2016-17. Despite three new Site Directors, this staff has a combined 98 years experience at Y-ASPIRE.
A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FOR Y-ASPIRE PARTICIPANTS, PARENTS, SUPPORTERS, AND STAFF
Y-ASPIRE NEWS
REGISTRATION FOR Y DAY CAMP This past summer, several long-time Y-ASPIRE and Y Day Camp
parents found that when they
went to register their child(ren) for camp, we were already full with waiting lists. To help prevent our “regulars” from getting closed out again, we have already opened enrollment for Y Day Camp 2017. You can reserve your
child’s sessions with just a one-time $25 administrative fee and a $25 deposit per session ($10 if you have a Child Care Financial Assistance certificate for 100%). More information and online
registration is available at our website—
www.meetingwatersymca.org.
ABSENCES A friendly reminder to please call your site’s cell phone any time
your child will not be attending Y-ASPIRE. If you have not received your Site Director’s business card, please ask her for one. We also encourage you to plug that number into your cell phone and add it to your rolodex at work.
Thanks!
RELEASE AND/OR RETURN With many schools offering other afterschool enrichment activities, we want to remind you to ask your Site Director for a “Release,” “Return” or “Release and Return”
form if your child will be arriving late to Y-ASPIRE, leaving early, or leaving after Y-ASPIRE has started but returning after the other activity. We want to be properly prepared to manage your child’s comings and goings safely.
MEETING WATERS YMCA
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BUILDING OUR Y-ASPIRE
COMMUNITY
This month, many Y-ASPIRE activities will focus on building a sense of
community amongst the children, staff and families. Our staff will facilitate
lots of “get-to-know-you” activities that help children discover both what
they have in common with one another and what makes each person
unique. Parents will take part in similar activities at the first Family
Connection Event of the 2016-17 school year.
The participants and staff will also co-create a set of expectations they have
for one another and the group. While we have some fundamental rules to
ensure physical and emotional safety, over the 18 years of Y-ASPIRE we’ve
found that having the children share what they feel will make the program
fun for all (as well as some things that could get in the way of that) ensures
a higher level of accountability for individual and group behavior. Our staff
then refers to the agreement to point out when they’ve done an outstanding
job acting on what they said was important, as well as when there are
challenges within the group that deserve reflection and discussion.
Photos: Participants at Y-ASPIRE at Dummerston School recently used the
Big Picture Deck as a “get-to-know you” activity; Adrianna from Y-ASPIRE at
Putney Central School shows us her “All About Me Tree”; a photo from our
archives—participants from Y-ASPIRE at Green Street School in 1999
holding up their group behavioral contract.
OTHER MWYMCA NEWS
BEST. SUMMER. EVER.
Y’s across the country used this
tagline to promote their summer
camps. We don’t think it was an
overstatement in the case of the
more than 200 area youth who
attended between one and nine
sessions of our Y Day Camp this
summer. This was our 52nd
consecutive summer providing
fun, hands-on learning experienc-
es that build skills, friendships
and memories. Enrollment is
already open for the Summer of
2017. For more information and
online enrollment, please visit our
website: meetingwatersymca.org
SHARING OUR HEPA POLICIES
AND PRACTICES WITH OTHER
CHILD CARE AND AFTER-
SCHOOL PROGRAMS
In 2015, Y-USA, our national
resource center, selected us as
one of 18 Ys in the country to be
recognized as HEPA Champions
for our Healthy Eating and
Physical Activity policies and
practices at Y-ASPIRE. Last year,
we led webinars and wrote blogs
to help the other 2,700 Ys in
America make improvements in
HEPA. Now, thanks to a grant
from the Holt Fund, we’ll be
leading workshops for other child
care and afterschool programs in
the region over the next year.
With this, several hundred more
children will develop healthy life-
style skills by receiving consistent
support to eat healthy and be
physically active.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
A reminder that we offer
scholarships for Y-ASPIRE and Y
Day Camp. Visit our website,
email us, or give us a call for
more information about financial
assistance options.
If you are not already part of our Facebook community, please join us!