School’s Out Builds Brighter Futures in the North
Just over a year into amalgamation with the North, we brought three School's Out programs to the region!
As we prepare to ring in the New Year, we think back to all of the impact we’ve had in the North during 2024.
The North amalgamated with the larger United Way British Columbia at the end of 2023, making 2024 the first year that the benefits of amalgamation have been able to be realized in the region. With the support of a larger organization, we were able to provide more grants, grants of greater value, and even bring not one, not two, but three United Way BC’s School’s Out programs to the North!
Our School’s Out programs provide healthy, safe, and educational after-school programming for children. This program ensures kids receive the mentorship and support they need while they also develop critical life skills. Running from 3 pm to 6 pm, School’s Out gives children a safe place to go after school and gives the parents relief during hours that can be difficult to find care for their child as they finish their workday. This includes everything from healthy snacks to educational support.
One of our new program providers shared the comfort it provides parents to know they are developing important life skills even outside of class time. “Parents have shared that their kids really love learning new cooking skills at School’s Out and often come home very excited to show and share the food they’ve made with their families. Some kids have already shared their families are requesting that they cook more!”
School’s Out programs in the North
We are excited to now have this program available in Prince George through the Connaught Youth Centre, Houston through Houston Link to Learning, and Vanderhoof through Saik’uz First Nation. This Fall, the three sites already supported over 80 local children!
In the short time that these programs have been running we’ve heard incredible feedback, including, “A few weeks into the Fall, we began noticing our School’s Out participants were arriving earlier and earlier–at one point even two hours before our program was set to start! When we asked the kids why they were coming so early they shared things like ‘I feel safe here’ and ‘I really like how I feel when I’m here’. This was truly heartwarming to know that School’s Out has been able to create a space where the kids not only feel safe and comfortable, but they want to hang out in.”
Experiencing the impact of School’s Out
Our local team was able to visit the program at Connaught Youth Centre in Prince George recently and see firsthand how important this program is for so many children. During this visit, we saw children expressing themselves creatively through drawings and building Lego, learning about managing physical health through running exercises and games in the gymnasium and outside, and working collaboratively with each other and the program staff.
As much as this program benefits children, an added benefit is that it also helps the staff and volunteers. “The youth volunteers at [the] School’s Out [site in Houston] have shared that they often have the participants waving, running up to them and hugging them, or engaging with them at school, whereas prior they did not have as much overlap before. One volunteer expressed she has learned a lot of positive skills that have helped her to respond to other kids in her own life.”
School’s Out benefits those in our communities
It’s so important for communities to have access to programs like School’s Out for children, parents, and the wider community. “The School’s Out kids had spent time creating watercolour cards to gift to seniors and elders in our community. The seniors were ecstatic to receive handmade cards with cheerful thoughts and sentiments that were crafted by the participants of our group. We had talked about how sometimes people who don’t have families can feel isolated around holidays, so the group worked together to think of thoughtful messages to spread out to the larger community.”
United Way BC has a variety of programs like School’s Out that benefit many people across the province. We are working hard to bring even more vital programs to the North and can’t wait to share the exciting news when we do!
Thank you for being United for people in need in the North during 2024, stay tuned for new program updates soon to come in 2025!