How after school programs are essential to academic growth

Boys and girls club offers tutoring, Mentorship and Volunteer programs to students that attend. (via photogrid)

After-school programs such as Boys and Girls club have played an effective and significant role in helping children achieve academic success in many ways.

Studies through the years have shown that participating in after-school programs can be essential to the developmental growth of the student. The Boys and Girls club have carefully designed after school curriculum that is well rounded. Therefore, they offer these students more than just fun activities.

In one of the studies conducted by National Collaboration for youth, it showed that students who attend after-school programs achieve more academically than students who do not participate in after-school programs. In many ways, these programs provide different options for kids to get the help they need, whether it be with homework or with specific subjects they struggle with at school. In the same study, they quoted from Arbreton, A. Bradshaw’s book: “Make every day count” by stating “ Youth who attended the club more frequently showed decreased school skipping, increased academic confidence, and increased school effort”

Through research and studies, Boys and Girls club offer a tutoring program for many kids. This allows them to seek help after school in subjects such as, Math, Science and writing and other subject areas that they may be struggling with.

Another way that the Boys and Girls club contributes to students’ academic success has been through a program called Project learn. Project learn has been confirmed by institutions such as Harvard in helping students achieve academic success. Studies indicate children missed fewer days of school while involved in project learn, also the students achieved better grades over a period of a month.

A large percentage of students who attended the Boys and Girls Club went on to attend college or some higher institution of learning. For majority of the students, they were the first to attend a higher institution in their family. Through mentor ship programs, these students have taken positive strides towards success by furthering their education beyond high school.

“Working for Boys and Girls club we buckled down on students and made sure they were getting their homework done each week.” Said Joshua Jackson, a current employee at the Boys and Girls club in the metro Atlanta area. “We paid close attention to their overall grades and test scores, that helped us determine what subjects the kids needed to be tutored in.” explained Mr. Jackson.

Last but not least, Campus kitchen is also another great program that has helped many youths achieve success. Campus Kitchen is a volunteer mentorship program that pairs students with college mentors. They also provide meals and educate students on proper nutrition. The goal of the program is to encourage the younger kids to go to college and work hard to achieve the success they want in life. With all the various program offers it's evidently still effective in helping children achieve success and has many great benefits in helping the youth advance in their education and having a promising career.

The Boys and Girls club has proven to be a program beyond just a place to bring kids of all walks of life. They are consistently making a great impact in developing these children psychologically, emotionally, cognitively and socially. They achieve these by developing various programs that address different aspects of a child’s development. Hundreds of volunteer staff are committed to pouring into the success of each kids, thereby making a huge difference in the way they turn out.

Citing:

(Arbreton, A., Bradshaw, M., Sheldon, J. and Pepper, S. (2009) “Making Every Day Count: Boys & Girls Clubs’ Role in Promoting Positive Outcomes for Teens.” Philadelphia, PA: Public/ Private Ventures).