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Central Point schools grant pays off Photo by Jim Craven Brandon Hollingsworth, 8, and Cody Craig, 6, play chess on the floor of the Central Point Elementary School cafeteria Wednesday. Their after-school activities are run by the Boys & Girls Club and funded by Central Point's 21st Century Learning Centers grant. After-school programs, later buses among dividends By VICKI GUARINO CENTRAL POINT -- The school district is rolling out new programs and late afternoon bus service as a $570,000 federally funded community learning center program begins its second year. A new mentoring program will give middle school students a chance to work with elementary students in after-school programs. A new 5 p.m. bus run is expected to allow more students to participate in afternoon enrichment and academic programs, said coordinator Christine Reising. Also, all school libraries this year are opening early -- most by 7:30 a.m. -- enlarging an effort begun last year to give students hours to catch up on school assignments or undertake extra work. After-school programs are expanding to Crater High School with classes in math and writing. The coaching sessions are designed specifically to help students pass state benchmarks and earn Certificates of Initial Mastery. The CIM classes, the buses and extra arts and academics programs, plus classes for adults, are funded largely by the federal 21st Century Learning Centers grant. The district received its first portion of the grant last year. Central Point was one of 98 districts nationwide to receive the federal funding for a three-year initiative to expand school services and bring community services into school buildings. Many of the programs launched last year, including parent nights, community Internet access and computer training, even a summer camp, are continuing. Other, smaller grants are contributing to the programs. The elementary after-school programs, for students who would otherwise be alone in the afternoons, are run by the Boys & Girls Club. Sessions are held in Central Point and Gold Hill. Sessions last year had room for 30 youngsters and this year are expanding to 45 because of the demand. "Last year we ran out of capacity for most of the months we were running," Reising said. In coming weeks, a mentoring program will prepare middle school students to work in the Boys & Girls Club program. The federal grant paid for staff training last month to start the program. The grant also has led to a re-organization of the traditional "parent night" program to include community services information. "The parents are interested first of all in what is going on in the classroom, but they also want to know what other activities are available in the after-school hours," Reising said. Learning Center coordinator Julie Brimble held the first such session Tuesday at Patrick Elementary School in Gold Hill. Along with teachers' presentations, Brimble had 18 community groups including the scouts, county health services and Southern Oregon Drug Awareness set up booths at the school. "The parents loved it," Brimble said. "People were just in there forever. We had to chase them out." She's planning to repeat the effort on a smaller scale at Sams Valley Elementary. For parents of older students, the district and Community Works social services agency are planning a two-part program on the issues that arise in high school, as youngster become more independent. Some programs already have begun; others will be starting in the coming few weeks. Details about school hours and program topics is available at each Central Point School District school. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA