Daniel Demessie ’24
Brendan Schlitt ’24
Following the discontinuation of the Education, Sports, and Fun (ESF) aftercare program, EA offered an opportunity for Upper School students to join a paying aftercare program supervising Lower School students.
Head of Upper School, Michael Letts explains, “ESF would come in and run the aftercare program here. For a variety of reasons, ESF planned for their business going forward, and then for us, we felt that it was something that we wanted to bring in-house, meaning that we run our own aftercare program.” He hopes that this new addition builds a stronger relationship between the Upper and Lower Schools.
When asked about the new aftercare program’s relation to the Upper School sports requirements, Letts remarks, “If you take a job with the aftercare program, it fulfills a fitness. For any student in the Upper School, you don’t need to do fitness, you don’t need to do wellness or community service, you can just work.” Alec Riley ‘22 shares that he chose to join the program because he “wasn’t playing a fall sport. I was only doing fitness, and they offered [the job] to the seniors, and I thought it was an easy way to make money.”
The General Manager/Site Director Wendy Lingle, who is the manager of the aftercare program, describes the logistics of the program, saying, “The most important thing is getting their homework done. Then after that, it really depends on what the kids are interested in. They tend to be divided up by what they want to do. There would be a group that goes with a counselor to play four square, a group that would go play football, and there is usually a group of children who are under a tent in the playroom doing coloring, legos, etc.” Lingle adds that the Upper School volunteers’ responsibilities include “keeping attendance and accounting for anyone who is absent or went in the car line. Also, they are responsible for behavior management by making sure that they are talking through any behavior concerns [the upper school students] may have. They mediate conversations and help the students problem-solve.”
Overall, the addition of this new aftercare program has been highly regarded by many of the volunteers and staff. “I think it’s awesome. I went to Lower School at EA, and it was weirdly refreshing going back and seeing where I came from. It has been therapeutic at a very busy time of my life,” shares Riley. Lingle believes that the student workers like Riley “are getting great feedback from the parents that the children are having a wonderful time, and children are asking to stay in aftercare which means the staff members are doing a great job interacting with those children.” Letts agrees and comments that the program “is a win-win. The Upper School students get to make some money, $15 an hour, and get some work experience, which is really important for their personal development, and it is great for college. On the flip side, for those that have to run the program, they get the Upper School students, who are fantastic role models and mentors for those younger students.”
