EdConnect10.2016

Connecting Brevard Public Schools to its Community • Volume V, Issue 2, September/October 2016 New Look for Brevard After School Continues to Attract Families
It hasn’t even been a full two years ago that Brevard After School (formerly known as School Aged Childcare) decided to rebrand itself in order to compete more successfully in the marketplace. The program o ers onsite, engaging, professionally trained sta in a secure and comfortable environment for students at every elementary school in the county.
Roby the robot character was developed to engage students and bring a face to the program. The team has incorporated the new name, its logo, the robot, and a new look to all of its marketing material. Brevard After School o ers 55 after school sites sta ed by professional coordinators and administrators who continue the work and core curriculum started during the day at school. Programs include time for homework, wellness, physical activity, social skills, and activity centers. The activity centers are project based learning centers that were created to inspire students.
Fun kid topics include: animals, world culture, nancial literacy, healthy living, and culinary. Students earn fun“merit”badges for topics covered.
“Over the last couple of years, science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)
has become very big. For me, I love science,” said Todd Forschino, district program coordinator for Brevard After School. “NASA and the Florida After
School Network inspired me to look
at how we can infuse STEM into afterschool programs. The Astronaut Memorial Foundation worked with us to provide professional development for our sta . They visited school sites with specialists and astronauts to get our sta excited.”
Brevard After School works hard to attract and retain the best sta by o ering engaging professional
development and fun, kid-friendly
activities. Site coordinators are
encouraged to engage daily with parents in order to o er two-way communication to make each student’s experience special. Program director, Debi Embry said, “The best thing that we can do is have our sta recognize and engage with that parent.”
The student experience is foremost in
the minds of the sta of Brevard After School. The program already o ers the most convenient locations, the
safety and comfort of
familiar surroundings,
and the continuity of
programming
from the
student’s day.
The sta believe they o er even more than that. “We are trying to build con dence
in these kids,” Forschino said. “We
want them to know there is someone
out there for them. They are special.”
Forschino explains that the most
important thing is when he really
listens to students and gets to know them.
Last month, he was walking by a child who was doodling in
a book full of other drawings. Forschino said he stopped and talked to the child about drawing, about how good the child's
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drawings were, and about how art could be a part of the child’s future a career even. “Each person brings
passion, a quality, a gift. One of our best gifts is time. Use that time to
encourage and build up,”he said.
Brevard After School’s new venture continues to build up its enrollment and its sta . “We had to reinvent who we are,”
said Embry. “Families are coming to us with new energy. We’ve positioned ourselves to be the place of choice.”