After School Programs At Hawley

By Eliza Hallabeck

Students in Hawley Elementary School’s gym after school on Tuesday, March 4, switched between aerobic exercises and nutrition games.

“I think it’s a good opportunity for them to be exposed to different exercises,” said Jill Paterson, resident dietitian for Chartwells, who was teaching the class, “and to realize what they like. The nutrition game today has race cars on a board and they have to answer a nutrition question to move their race car.”

Ms Paterson said this is her third year teaching the after school course, and she said the teaching combination, techniques and games were taken from years of working with physical education teachers and teaching nutrition.

“Okay, so we are going to put our race cars at the start,” she said to the ten students in her after school program, called Fun With Fitness and Nutrition.

For the game the students were divided into teams of two, and each had the opportunity to answer a nutrition question.

“Which vitamins are in orange foods like sweet potatoes, cantaloupes, mangos, and carrots?” Ms Paterson asked one group during the game. The answer, as the students pointed out, is vitamin A.

The fitness and nutrition class is one out of many in the After School Activity Program, according to Robin Fitzgerald, who is in charge of organizing the program for the school’s PTA with Carla Svensen.

The After School Activity Program runs for six weeks, starting at the end of January and through the beginning of March. The classes are held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays after school for the students who sign up for each class. Ms Fitzgerald said there were more than 120 students who participated in this year’s After School Activity Program. In addition to Ms Paterson’s Fun With Fitness and Nutrition program after school on Tuesdays, other classes offered by the PTA program included a Lego building class, a knitting class, a music program, and a cooking program.

Ms Fitzgerald said the After School Activity Program is primarily reliant on volunteering parents, and some of the courses have teachers who are paid for the time.

 In the school’s gym on Tuesday, the students soon started asking Ms Paterson for questions geared toward students in sixth through eighth grade.

“You guys are good,” Ms Paterson said in response to the group answering questions correctly.

Before starting the nutrition game, Ms Paterson had music playing, and spoke into a speaker while showing the students aerobic exercises. She had two assistants for the day; Aliza Stern, a University of Connecticut dietetic student, and Christina Badiola, a seventh grade Newtown Middle School student who has been assisting with the Fun With Fitness and Nutrition class.

The After School Activity Program costs each student $35 for the six weeks of a class. Ms Fitzgerald and Ms Svensen said registration for the courses start roughly in the beginning of January, and they have been putting the program together for the PTA for three years.

“It’s been a challenge,” said Ms Fitzgerald, “but it’s been really fun to do.”