00:00:00Summer Programming in St. Cloud District
00:08:28Youth Enrichment and Community Programs
00:14:01Community Education Programming Process
00:19:24Exploring Community Education Opportunities
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Ever wondered how to keep your kids engaged and learning during the hot summer months? Discover the secret formula to a fun and educational summer in our latest episode of the 742 CoffeeCast. From art to robotics, these experts reveal the extensive range of Youth Enrichment programs designed to blend fun and education seamlessly.
Meet Blair and Sam as they highlight Project Challenge and youth enrichment classes. Find out how the district continues to offer diverse activities like fencing, language, and music, catering to the varied interests of the community. Our guests also shine a spotlight on the ARISE program, ensuring that all students, including those with disabilities, have access to these enriching opportunities.
Curious about how these programs come to life? Get an insider’s view into the process of organizing and staffing these classes, from hiring district aquatic instructors to engaging high school coaches and local experts. Learn how easy it is to register for these programs through the community ed website. Plus, if you’ve got a creative idea for a class, find out how you can propose and teach it within the community education framework. Tune in and let us guide you through the wealth of opportunities that await your family's summer in the St. Cloud Area School District.
Have a great podcast idea? Submit your idea to communications@isd742.org
Subscribe and thanks for listening!
English
United States
SHOW NOTES 🔗
TRANSCRIPT 🔗
WEBVTT
00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:11.233
The 742 CoffeeCast is your ultimate destination for insightful conversations, thought-provoking ideas and innovative strategies in St Cloud Area School District.
00:00:11.233 --> 00:00:16.022
Your host is Director of Community Engagement and Communications, tammy DeLand.
00:00:16.022 --> 00:00:18.048
Grab a cup of coffee and join us.
00:00:18.048 --> 00:00:31.547
Well, it is finally summer and we've pushed past the rain a little bit and are enjoying little sunshine, which is always good.
00:00:31.547 --> 00:00:44.764
We're here today on CoffeeCast with Blair Lyerly Samuelson and Sam Overson from the district's community education department, and we want to talk about everything that's wonderful in summer programming.
00:00:44.764 --> 00:00:46.466
So welcome, so glad you're here.
00:00:46.466 --> 00:00:47.749
Thanks for having us.
00:00:47.749 --> 00:00:58.405
Yeah, absolutely, let's start, maybe Blair and then Sam, if you want to just briefly give an introduction how long you've been with the district and we'll go from there.
00:00:58.585 --> 00:01:11.108
Sure, so I'm Blair and I've been with the district for about 15 years, grew up in St Cloud, went away for college and decided to come back and have spent, like I said, about 15 years in 742.
00:01:11.108 --> 00:01:18.631
Five of those years in youth enrichment, which is currently my position, and then before that about 10 years in school age care and youth development.
00:01:19.019 --> 00:01:20.864
So all of those years in community ed.
00:01:20.903 --> 00:01:23.349
Correct Fantastic yeah A lot of years.
00:01:23.590 --> 00:01:24.912
Fantastic Good for you.
00:01:24.912 --> 00:01:25.393
How about you?
00:01:32.120 --> 00:01:32.340
Sam, I'm Sam.
00:01:32.340 --> 00:01:33.644
I am going to be starting my third year with community ed.
00:01:33.644 --> 00:01:42.212
I also grew up in the St Cloud area, stayed here for college, got to work with community ed departments throughout college, found that that was a great fit and have been really enjoying my time here with the St Cloud community ed department Awesome.
00:01:42.212 --> 00:01:45.960
Thanks again both of you Obviously one of the great fit and have been really enjoying my time here with the St Paul Community Ed Department Awesome.
00:01:45.960 --> 00:01:47.545
Thanks again both of you.
00:01:47.864 --> 00:01:57.700
Obviously, one of the great things about summer is that the normal routine for school is lifted and weather gets better and schedules become more flexible.
00:01:57.700 --> 00:02:11.087
But Community Ed has actually offered a wide range of summer programming for children of all ages for a really long time, and it takes off right as soon as school lets out.
00:02:11.087 --> 00:02:11.508
Right?
00:02:11.508 --> 00:02:16.707
Maybe, blair, let's start with you Can you tell us about Youth Enrichment?
00:02:16.707 --> 00:02:19.502
That's the program you said you've been working with for about five years.
00:02:19.502 --> 00:02:25.567
What does that look like during the summer, and why and how is that important to families and the community?
00:02:25.819 --> 00:02:32.604
So youth enrichment is a really important piece of community education and of a community really and of the district.
00:02:32.604 --> 00:02:46.086
You know we talk about how youth enrichment allows for out-of-school programming, whether it be to support academic programming during the school year or during the summer when it's more recreational, sometimes still academic during the summer.
00:02:46.086 --> 00:03:06.462
But it allows families to have these other activities for their kids to participate in, which can range from, you know, art activities we have high school programming, so some of our athletics activities comes through us during the summer Robotics, youth recreation or sports and then a big portion of our programming during the summer is swimming lessons or aquatics.
00:03:06.682 --> 00:03:18.224
So, just you know, to really provide fun activities for our community, enriching activities, cultural, just sort of well-rounded activities for our kids to participate in in the community throughout the summer.
00:03:18.504 --> 00:03:45.709
Do you find that families appreciate this because their school during the school year, which is very scheduled, sometimes it's a lot of pressure, but then summer comes and maybe kids can kind of just get into a pattern of sleeping late doing the iPad whatever, and so this kind of programming offers like kind of a fill for that.
00:03:45.868 --> 00:03:52.409
Sure, in some situations offers sort of a bridge between you know the end of the school year and the start of the next year.
00:03:52.569 --> 00:04:02.027
For instance, we'll have a Chinese immersion camp this summer for interested or incoming or existing Chinese immersion program participants.
00:04:02.027 --> 00:04:11.078
And so, you know, sometimes it's that academic kind of carryover, sometimes it's simply to play soccer alongside their friends or other youth.
00:04:11.078 --> 00:04:17.101
A lot of these activities happen in our buildings and so to some degree they're familiar for our participants in our community.
00:04:17.101 --> 00:04:22.161
Some of them happen in local businesses, just providing that really well rounded programming.
00:04:22.161 --> 00:04:24.365
For right now we're speaking about summer.
00:04:24.365 --> 00:04:34.872
We offer programming year round, and during the school year it's, you know, sort of that release after the school day of you know an activity for you know whether it be drawing or whatever it might be.
00:04:34.872 --> 00:04:42.785
It allows for families to have a place for their children to go but then also to be amongst their peers, and, you know, an enriching activity.
00:04:43.105 --> 00:04:53.764
So it sounds like it's a balance almost of those fun recreational things, yeah, and also maybe a little bit to counter out what's known as the summer slide in academics.
00:04:53.764 --> 00:04:54.685
That's wonderful.
00:04:54.685 --> 00:04:55.367
That's great.
00:04:55.367 --> 00:04:59.663
Sam, I am wondering if you might talk a little bit.
00:04:59.663 --> 00:05:14.329
I don't think a lot of our listeners maybe are familiar with the ARISE program and because that supports youth enrichment in part that Blair is talking about, could you describe for us what that program is and what's happening with it this summer?
00:05:14.529 --> 00:05:17.184
Yes, definitely so.
00:05:17.204 --> 00:05:19.391
We offer something called the ARISE program.
00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:46.269
It stands for a recreational inclusion support endeavor, for a recreational inclusion support endeavor, and what we do is we provide one-on-one support for students with disabilities that allows them to take part in community activities, both with our district and other community partners, and successfully participate alongside their neurotypical peers.
00:05:46.689 --> 00:05:55.685
As we know, throughout the school year a lot of our students in our community get that one-on-one support throughout the school day and it ends when the school day ends.
00:05:55.685 --> 00:06:04.144
So we help bridge that gap and offer that support in activities outside of the school day.
00:06:04.144 --> 00:06:12.786
We support sports camps, art programs, theater programs, and that's not just within our district.
00:06:12.786 --> 00:06:49.718
We are a community program so we also connect with neighboring districts or camps or offerings through community partners like the city, the Paramount, and we can offer that one-on-one support for students that need just a little bit extra helping hand, whether it be an extra guide to help them stay focused, or if they potentially have a physical disability and need that one-on-one modification support to allow them to be successful in these opportunities that we have along with everybody else.
00:06:49.718 --> 00:06:59.235
So it's really about the inclusion and the accessibility of all of our community programs and we can help bridge that gap of additional support that a student may need.
00:06:59.375 --> 00:07:02.190
That's so fantastic and thanks for bringing up this.
00:07:02.190 --> 00:07:06.177
Isn't just about an enrolled 742 student either.
00:07:06.177 --> 00:07:12.480
Community Ed is truly servicing that central Minnesota community, so thanks for bringing that up.
00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:20.298
Can you talk a little bit now about Project Challenge, which is different from Arise, and what Project Challenge does during the summer?
00:07:20.418 --> 00:07:21.891
Yeah, definitely so.
00:07:21.891 --> 00:07:27.463
Project Challenge is our adults with disability part of Community Ed.
00:07:27.463 --> 00:07:32.709
So we have our adult, our youth and then our project challenge area.
00:07:32.709 --> 00:08:02.911
And what project challenge does is it really gears towards the community of people with disabilities in the area and gives them a space where they can connect with people with similar experiences, and it allows them also to have instructors that are able to provide variations, modifications, additional support they may need outside of just a regular adult enrichment class.
00:08:02.911 --> 00:08:06.016
Adult enrichment is open for everyone.
00:08:06.016 --> 00:08:22.298
Everyone can take the classes, but ours are geared more towards that specific community so they can share these events with people like them, create that sense of community with people of shared experiences.
00:08:22.579 --> 00:08:23.180
Connections.
00:08:23.180 --> 00:08:25.439
Yeah, yep we do art classes.
00:08:26.011 --> 00:08:28.480
We'll do meal, get togethers.
00:08:28.670 --> 00:08:33.092
Project Challenge had a class last night, right, because I think our photographer went.
00:08:33.092 --> 00:08:34.839
It was called Wellness Beats.
00:08:34.839 --> 00:08:36.484
Yes, what was that?
00:08:36.865 --> 00:08:55.816
This one actually started from Adult Enrichment and they had cardio drumming and it was a great offering, went really well, and we reached out to the instructor and asked if she would be willing to create a class similar to that, modified specifically for our group.
00:08:55.816 --> 00:09:02.794
So what she did is she combined the cardio drumming and then general wellness ideas.
00:09:02.794 --> 00:09:09.756
Sometimes they do a little bit of meditation, positive self-talk, breathing and stretching.
00:09:09.817 --> 00:09:11.985
It sounds so fabulous, they talk about nutrition.
00:09:12.427 --> 00:09:34.835
So she really came together and created this opportunity to encompass wellness as a whole but then also have that fitness aspect to make it a little more fun, kind of provide that well-rounded experience for our participants, Because a lot of times going to a health class may not seem that fun.
00:09:34.835 --> 00:09:51.879
So she did a really great job encompassing all of it into one opportunity so they can be active, have fun in this group, upbeat setting, but then also sprinkling some of that mental and self-help in there as well.
00:09:52.041 --> 00:09:53.775
Wow, what a great opportunity.
00:09:53.775 --> 00:09:55.176
I can't wait to see those photos.
00:09:55.176 --> 00:09:58.379
Like I said, I know we sent our photographer out last night.
00:09:58.379 --> 00:10:03.042
Blair, can you give an example of what some of the youth enrichment classes are?
00:10:03.042 --> 00:10:04.475
I know you mentioned swimming.
00:10:04.475 --> 00:10:06.618
There's a whole lot going on, right.
00:10:07.110 --> 00:10:08.075
What are some of those?
00:10:08.496 --> 00:10:08.918
offerings.
00:10:09.169 --> 00:10:17.619
Aquatics is a big one simply because of the need in the community and in our area to have strong swimmers or swim experience.
00:10:17.619 --> 00:10:20.898
Right now we have a youth fencing class that's going on.
00:10:21.099 --> 00:10:21.880
Oh fun.
00:10:21.921 --> 00:10:25.140
Yeah, and there's been a fair amount of interest in that.
00:10:25.140 --> 00:10:40.543
Simply, I think each time the Olympics come around that interest increases and so that's a class that we actually offer once or twice a catalog or a season, if you will, because it does have pretty good general interest.
00:10:40.543 --> 00:10:42.033
So fencing is fun.
00:10:42.033 --> 00:10:44.904
That's one that we do in partnership with adults.
00:10:44.904 --> 00:10:47.975
The adult enrichment coordinator and I work together on that one.
00:10:47.975 --> 00:10:54.620
This one's a youth specific, but we also offer those to the other districts around us, the surrounding areas, for fencing.
00:10:54.620 --> 00:10:55.522
It sounds so fun.
00:10:55.522 --> 00:11:06.337
Yeah, yeah, they have a really great time and it's fun to watch and, you know, poke your head in and see them, you know, from the beginning of the week to the end of the week and really understanding the sport, which I think is sort of a mystery to some.
00:11:06.337 --> 00:11:07.902
We have some great art classes.
00:11:07.902 --> 00:11:13.214
We've been fortunate to have some new local businesses.
00:11:13.214 --> 00:11:15.400
We've got a splatter paint class that kids have really enjoyed.
00:11:15.400 --> 00:11:20.903
We've got some language classes virtual and in-person some music classes.
00:11:20.903 --> 00:11:23.970
We just have really a lot of different offerings.
00:11:24.270 --> 00:11:28.402
Do you know off the top of your head how many classes are offered during the summer?
00:11:28.690 --> 00:11:31.740
So it's not off the top of my head because I did.
00:11:32.892 --> 00:11:37.581
I did pull that information just because sometimes it feels like it can be, you know, vast.
00:11:37.581 --> 00:11:52.214
Right now we're looking at 169 sort of general youth enrichment classes and then 168 aquatics specifically running, and typically we were able to partner with another pool in the community but this summer that wasn't possible.
00:11:52.214 --> 00:11:55.601
So those numbers of aquatics offerings are actually down a little bit.
00:11:55.601 --> 00:12:03.557
You know, hopefully in the future that'll grow again, but as of right now we're seeing about 1200 unique participants for the summer.
00:12:03.576 --> 00:12:05.360
So it's just amazing.
00:12:05.379 --> 00:12:07.144
It's a lot, yeah, yeah.
00:12:07.570 --> 00:12:10.476
What a what a valuable asset to our whole community.
00:12:10.476 --> 00:12:23.096
I'm curious about and either one of you can answer this or both you mentioned, sam, about the creativity of your teacher for that wellness beats, so I'm curious about who are these teachers?
00:12:23.096 --> 00:12:25.682
Who teaches our classes?
00:12:25.682 --> 00:12:26.844
Where do they come from?
00:12:27.309 --> 00:12:32.312
For Project Challenge specifically, we kind of have two sides.
00:12:32.312 --> 00:12:46.145
We have a group of community people, many of them potentially retired, who are looking to give back to the community, still work but provide something to give back.
00:12:46.145 --> 00:12:51.219
And then we also have community partners that work with us.
00:12:51.219 --> 00:12:53.082
We work very closely with the ARC.
00:12:53.082 --> 00:13:01.606
This Wellness Beats instructor also does a chair one fitness class and she has her own business and has worked with us.
00:13:01.606 --> 00:13:16.384
We work very closely with the Paramount and the movie theater and Southway Bowl to help put these activities together abilities, create and develop programs and curriculum to teach our classes.
00:13:16.384 --> 00:13:46.317
Whether it be dream boards or self-advocacy, we've got a lot of programming speaking to their voices being heard in the community and making change, advocating for changes that they want to see and support they want to see.
00:13:46.317 --> 00:13:57.869
It really comes from all over, but we do have a ton of support from community organizations reaching out to us saying that they want to be supporting programs that we have going on.
00:13:58.395 --> 00:14:01.702
And so that's really specialized Absolutely.
00:14:01.702 --> 00:14:05.136
And Blair, I mean obviously, I'm assuming with aquatics.
00:14:05.136 --> 00:14:07.424
You've got licensed people there.
00:14:07.424 --> 00:14:13.144
What about some of these interests Like what about an art class, for example, or the fencing Sure?
00:14:13.144 --> 00:14:14.995
How do you get teachers?
00:14:15.296 --> 00:14:22.788
Yeah, so it's kind of a mixture, you know, a mixed bag of how we, how these classes come to be.
00:14:22.788 --> 00:14:25.855
For aquatics specifically, they are district employees.
00:14:25.855 --> 00:14:26.950
Our instructors and lifeguards are district employees.
00:14:26.950 --> 00:14:29.220
Our instructors and lifeguards are district employees.
00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:30.682
So that's, pretty straightforward.
00:14:30.943 --> 00:14:32.768
For our other classes.
00:14:32.768 --> 00:14:33.956
It varies.
00:14:33.956 --> 00:14:35.902
We've got high school athletics.
00:14:35.902 --> 00:14:38.857
Whether it be the athletics or if they're running a youth program.
00:14:39.238 --> 00:14:46.261
A lot of times it's our active coaches that will either initiate with me that they're interested in running a class.
00:14:46.261 --> 00:14:50.914
Many times they're district employees already and so they're running those activities.
00:14:50.914 --> 00:15:01.283
As far as instructors go for, maybe our art classes either, I am out, you know, researching whether it be other community ed programs, local businesses.
00:15:01.283 --> 00:15:02.668
Sometimes we're approached.
00:15:02.668 --> 00:15:11.741
We always have class proposal link on our website for anybody that is interested in offering maybe a really specialized activity.
00:15:11.741 --> 00:15:14.187
Or you know they're an expert in an area.
00:15:14.187 --> 00:15:23.123
They can submit that and they can choose, you know, project challenge, adult enrichment or youth enrichment for who they would like to be yeah.
00:15:23.263 --> 00:15:32.375
Yeah, and so sometimes it's somebody that crosses and does youth and adult and project challenge, which is always kind of a benefit to us across the board.
00:15:32.735 --> 00:15:35.080
So I think you answered one of my questions.
00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:45.043
So if I have a particular talent, let's say I'm amazing knitter which I'm not, by the way, you could call my daughters.
00:15:45.043 --> 00:15:47.388
But I'm just using that as an example.
00:15:47.388 --> 00:15:56.100
So if I had this talent and it's something I would be interested in working with community ed what's the process there?
00:15:56.100 --> 00:16:01.600
How would I go about letting you all know that I have this interest, that I'm willing to teach?
00:16:01.701 --> 00:16:03.347
For us that link online.
00:16:03.347 --> 00:16:10.042
Otherwise, if you want to connect directly by phone, contacting our department is always an option and then we can.
00:16:10.042 --> 00:16:12.327
We just talk through sort of the process.
00:16:12.327 --> 00:16:16.631
You know what it entails, what compensation might look like that sort of thing.
00:16:16.631 --> 00:16:22.756
Sometimes people want to do things you know and not be paid like all of our high school coaches and that sort of thing for their youth programming.
00:16:22.756 --> 00:16:24.639
It's all volunteer based For me.
00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:29.707
They would contact either through the department directly or through instructor proposal.
00:16:29.707 --> 00:16:33.783
Sam, I don't know if you want to speak to, if yours is different, for Project Challenge.
00:16:33.823 --> 00:16:39.818
The process would generally be the same, depending on what you're looking to offer.
00:16:39.818 --> 00:17:04.349
When we do art classes, group outings, field trips, most of the time we would take you on as a project challenge instructor, which would be a district employee, and then from there you can submit class proposals for things like our fitness classes or our self-advocacy classes those we do contract out.
00:17:04.795 --> 00:17:11.962
With the community partners that you mentioned with the community partners, and then that would be that same process that Blair just mentioned.
00:17:11.962 --> 00:17:18.888
Otherwise, we do go through the district employee avenue, and then that also opens it up.
00:17:18.888 --> 00:17:29.458
If they would like to participate in any of the other classes we offer, then they also have that opportunity to integrate themselves more into the program in that way.
00:17:29.778 --> 00:17:29.980
Yeah.
00:17:29.980 --> 00:17:38.803
So we just hit 4th of July, which always like makes my stomach roll over just a little bit because I'm like, ah, how is summer halfway through?
00:17:38.803 --> 00:17:44.281
We've still got offerings, right, people can still sign up this summer, correct?
00:17:44.321 --> 00:17:45.544
Yes absolutely.
00:17:45.644 --> 00:17:50.138
So, how do we go about doing that if we have an interest in classes?
00:17:50.378 --> 00:18:02.635
We do have all of our offerings posted online at our community ed website, which is a wonderful website, very user friendly, very administrator friendly, and we also have our catalogs.
00:18:02.635 --> 00:18:07.855
Those get sent out three times a year with all of our offerings listed, so you can register.
00:18:07.895 --> 00:18:08.939
So it's not too late.
00:18:09.480 --> 00:18:11.626
Nope, we do offer programming all year.
00:18:11.626 --> 00:18:17.911
Our summer programming will go through about the beginning of September or so right before school starts.
00:18:18.071 --> 00:18:18.875
Yeah, that's fabulous.
00:18:18.875 --> 00:18:23.406
And then we'll roll right into fall and, blair, is that true for Youth Enrichment as well?
00:18:23.406 --> 00:18:23.895
It is.
00:18:23.976 --> 00:18:30.627
Yeah, A few of our summer, end of the year, end of the season, classes will roll into the fall and then we run right into fall.
00:18:30.627 --> 00:18:39.000
We typically try and give families a little settled time into that back to school period but there really is no downtime and classes are open and running.
00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:45.021
People you know can join and see what's still offered for the remainder of the summer and see what interests them.
00:18:45.021 --> 00:18:46.445
Our next catalog.
00:18:50.174 --> 00:18:52.058
I was just going to say the fall catalog is going to be here before we know it.
00:18:52.058 --> 00:19:02.857
We're already preparing, you know, getting classes in and planned, so that will go up for registration about mid-August and then the paper copy catalog that goes out to everybody in the community will go out.
00:19:02.857 --> 00:19:09.035
Typically it's the end of August, so lands and mailboxes you know that first week of September typically.
00:19:09.315 --> 00:19:24.406
I want to thank you both again for coming on the show today, because I think that I'm just not sure to what extent people are aware of these rich opportunities and that it goes all through the summer and how to go about it.
00:19:24.406 --> 00:19:45.028
And I do want to shout that out because you both mentioned going online and you're talking about the school district website, which is the ISD742.org, and then by going to the school district website you hit that community, ed, and it's its own website and you can register for classes, do all of that or, as you said, the instructor proposals.
00:19:45.028 --> 00:20:15.954
I just want to make sure that because, again, I'm just not sure the extent to which people realize how many opportunities are out there and I remember from when I had school-aged children, knowing that stuff was going on in the summer and getting my kids out In my children's cases it was their nose in books, kids out In my children's cases it was their nose in books, which is great, but all summer long, you know, having those other opportunities and in outdoor the camps are just so fabulous.
00:20:15.954 --> 00:20:28.971
So thank you again so much and you are so welcome and I don't know if you are aware, but we have this like tradition on CoffeeCast you get a mug.
00:20:31.434 --> 00:20:33.461
Thanks, You're so welcome.
00:20:33.461 --> 00:20:34.865
I'm sorry I don't have the coffee.
00:20:34.865 --> 00:20:40.163
You do get to take home the mug, Thank you so much.
00:20:40.182 --> 00:20:41.866
Yes, thank you for having us.
00:20:42.255 --> 00:20:43.176
Really appreciate it.
00:20:43.176 --> 00:20:45.279
Do you have a great podcast idea?
00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:50.628
Submit your idea to communications at ISD742.org.
00:20:50.628 --> 00:21:00.141
And thank you for listening to 742 CoffeeCast, the best place to stay informed and be inspired by St Cloud Area School District.
00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:11.233
The 742 CoffeeCast is your ultimate destination for insightful conversations, thought-provoking ideas and innovative strategies in St Cloud Area School District.
00:00:11.233 --> 00:00:16.022
Your host is Director of Community Engagement and Communications, tammy DeLand.
00:00:16.022 --> 00:00:18.048
Grab a cup of coffee and join us.
00:00:18.048 --> 00:00:31.547
Well, it is finally summer and we've pushed past the rain a little bit and are enjoying little sunshine, which is always good.
00:00:31.547 --> 00:00:44.764
We're here today on CoffeeCast with Blair Lyerly Samuelson and Sam Overson from the district's community education department, and we want to talk about everything that's wonderful in summer programming.
00:00:44.764 --> 00:00:46.466
So welcome, so glad you're here.
00:00:46.466 --> 00:00:47.749
Thanks for having us.
00:00:47.749 --> 00:00:58.405
Yeah, absolutely, let's start, maybe Blair and then Sam, if you want to just briefly give an introduction how long you've been with the district and we'll go from there.
00:00:58.585 --> 00:01:11.108
Sure, so I'm Blair and I've been with the district for about 15 years, grew up in St Cloud, went away for college and decided to come back and have spent, like I said, about 15 years in 742.
00:01:11.108 --> 00:01:18.631
Five of those years in youth enrichment, which is currently my position, and then before that about 10 years in school age care and youth development.
00:01:19.019 --> 00:01:20.864
So all of those years in community ed.
00:01:20.903 --> 00:01:23.349
Correct Fantastic yeah A lot of years.
00:01:23.590 --> 00:01:24.912
Fantastic Good for you.
00:01:24.912 --> 00:01:25.393
How about you?
00:01:32.120 --> 00:01:32.340
Sam, I'm Sam.
00:01:32.340 --> 00:01:33.644
I am going to be starting my third year with community ed.
00:01:33.644 --> 00:01:42.212
I also grew up in the St Cloud area, stayed here for college, got to work with community ed departments throughout college, found that that was a great fit and have been really enjoying my time here with the St Cloud community ed department Awesome.
00:01:42.212 --> 00:01:45.960
Thanks again both of you Obviously one of the great fit and have been really enjoying my time here with the St Paul Community Ed Department Awesome.
00:01:45.960 --> 00:01:47.545
Thanks again both of you.
00:01:47.864 --> 00:01:57.700
Obviously, one of the great things about summer is that the normal routine for school is lifted and weather gets better and schedules become more flexible.
00:01:57.700 --> 00:02:11.087
But Community Ed has actually offered a wide range of summer programming for children of all ages for a really long time, and it takes off right as soon as school lets out.
00:02:11.087 --> 00:02:11.508
Right?
00:02:11.508 --> 00:02:16.707
Maybe, blair, let's start with you Can you tell us about Youth Enrichment?
00:02:16.707 --> 00:02:19.502
That's the program you said you've been working with for about five years.
00:02:19.502 --> 00:02:25.567
What does that look like during the summer, and why and how is that important to families and the community?
00:02:25.819 --> 00:02:32.604
So youth enrichment is a really important piece of community education and of a community really and of the district.
00:02:32.604 --> 00:02:46.086
You know we talk about how youth enrichment allows for out-of-school programming, whether it be to support academic programming during the school year or during the summer when it's more recreational, sometimes still academic during the summer.
00:02:46.086 --> 00:03:06.462
But it allows families to have these other activities for their kids to participate in, which can range from, you know, art activities we have high school programming, so some of our athletics activities comes through us during the summer Robotics, youth recreation or sports and then a big portion of our programming during the summer is swimming lessons or aquatics.
00:03:06.682 --> 00:03:18.224
So, just you know, to really provide fun activities for our community, enriching activities, cultural, just sort of well-rounded activities for our kids to participate in in the community throughout the summer.
00:03:18.504 --> 00:03:45.709
Do you find that families appreciate this because their school during the school year, which is very scheduled, sometimes it's a lot of pressure, but then summer comes and maybe kids can kind of just get into a pattern of sleeping late doing the iPad whatever, and so this kind of programming offers like kind of a fill for that.
00:03:45.868 --> 00:03:52.409
Sure, in some situations offers sort of a bridge between you know the end of the school year and the start of the next year.
00:03:52.569 --> 00:04:02.027
For instance, we'll have a Chinese immersion camp this summer for interested or incoming or existing Chinese immersion program participants.
00:04:02.027 --> 00:04:11.078
And so, you know, sometimes it's that academic kind of carryover, sometimes it's simply to play soccer alongside their friends or other youth.
00:04:11.078 --> 00:04:17.101
A lot of these activities happen in our buildings and so to some degree they're familiar for our participants in our community.
00:04:17.101 --> 00:04:22.161
Some of them happen in local businesses, just providing that really well rounded programming.
00:04:22.161 --> 00:04:24.365
For right now we're speaking about summer.
00:04:24.365 --> 00:04:34.872
We offer programming year round, and during the school year it's, you know, sort of that release after the school day of you know an activity for you know whether it be drawing or whatever it might be.
00:04:34.872 --> 00:04:42.785
It allows for families to have a place for their children to go but then also to be amongst their peers, and, you know, an enriching activity.
00:04:43.105 --> 00:04:53.764
So it sounds like it's a balance almost of those fun recreational things, yeah, and also maybe a little bit to counter out what's known as the summer slide in academics.
00:04:53.764 --> 00:04:54.685
That's wonderful.
00:04:54.685 --> 00:04:55.367
That's great.
00:04:55.367 --> 00:04:59.663
Sam, I am wondering if you might talk a little bit.
00:04:59.663 --> 00:05:14.329
I don't think a lot of our listeners maybe are familiar with the ARISE program and because that supports youth enrichment in part that Blair is talking about, could you describe for us what that program is and what's happening with it this summer?
00:05:14.529 --> 00:05:17.184
Yes, definitely so.
00:05:17.204 --> 00:05:19.391
We offer something called the ARISE program.
00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:46.269
It stands for a recreational inclusion support endeavor, for a recreational inclusion support endeavor, and what we do is we provide one-on-one support for students with disabilities that allows them to take part in community activities, both with our district and other community partners, and successfully participate alongside their neurotypical peers.
00:05:46.689 --> 00:05:55.685
As we know, throughout the school year a lot of our students in our community get that one-on-one support throughout the school day and it ends when the school day ends.
00:05:55.685 --> 00:06:04.144
So we help bridge that gap and offer that support in activities outside of the school day.
00:06:04.144 --> 00:06:12.786
We support sports camps, art programs, theater programs, and that's not just within our district.
00:06:12.786 --> 00:06:49.718
We are a community program so we also connect with neighboring districts or camps or offerings through community partners like the city, the Paramount, and we can offer that one-on-one support for students that need just a little bit extra helping hand, whether it be an extra guide to help them stay focused, or if they potentially have a physical disability and need that one-on-one modification support to allow them to be successful in these opportunities that we have along with everybody else.
00:06:49.718 --> 00:06:59.235
So it's really about the inclusion and the accessibility of all of our community programs and we can help bridge that gap of additional support that a student may need.
00:06:59.375 --> 00:07:02.190
That's so fantastic and thanks for bringing up this.
00:07:02.190 --> 00:07:06.177
Isn't just about an enrolled 742 student either.
00:07:06.177 --> 00:07:12.480
Community Ed is truly servicing that central Minnesota community, so thanks for bringing that up.
00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:20.298
Can you talk a little bit now about Project Challenge, which is different from Arise, and what Project Challenge does during the summer?
00:07:20.418 --> 00:07:21.891
Yeah, definitely so.
00:07:21.891 --> 00:07:27.463
Project Challenge is our adults with disability part of Community Ed.
00:07:27.463 --> 00:07:32.709
So we have our adult, our youth and then our project challenge area.
00:07:32.709 --> 00:08:02.911
And what project challenge does is it really gears towards the community of people with disabilities in the area and gives them a space where they can connect with people with similar experiences, and it allows them also to have instructors that are able to provide variations, modifications, additional support they may need outside of just a regular adult enrichment class.
00:08:02.911 --> 00:08:06.016
Adult enrichment is open for everyone.
00:08:06.016 --> 00:08:22.298
Everyone can take the classes, but ours are geared more towards that specific community so they can share these events with people like them, create that sense of community with people of shared experiences.
00:08:22.579 --> 00:08:23.180
Connections.
00:08:23.180 --> 00:08:25.439
Yeah, yep we do art classes.
00:08:26.011 --> 00:08:28.480
We'll do meal, get togethers.
00:08:28.670 --> 00:08:33.092
Project Challenge had a class last night, right, because I think our photographer went.
00:08:33.092 --> 00:08:34.839
It was called Wellness Beats.
00:08:34.839 --> 00:08:36.484
Yes, what was that?
00:08:36.865 --> 00:08:55.816
This one actually started from Adult Enrichment and they had cardio drumming and it was a great offering, went really well, and we reached out to the instructor and asked if she would be willing to create a class similar to that, modified specifically for our group.
00:08:55.816 --> 00:09:02.794
So what she did is she combined the cardio drumming and then general wellness ideas.
00:09:02.794 --> 00:09:09.756
Sometimes they do a little bit of meditation, positive self-talk, breathing and stretching.
00:09:09.817 --> 00:09:11.985
It sounds so fabulous, they talk about nutrition.
00:09:12.427 --> 00:09:34.835
So she really came together and created this opportunity to encompass wellness as a whole but then also have that fitness aspect to make it a little more fun, kind of provide that well-rounded experience for our participants, Because a lot of times going to a health class may not seem that fun.
00:09:34.835 --> 00:09:51.879
So she did a really great job encompassing all of it into one opportunity so they can be active, have fun in this group, upbeat setting, but then also sprinkling some of that mental and self-help in there as well.
00:09:52.041 --> 00:09:53.775
Wow, what a great opportunity.
00:09:53.775 --> 00:09:55.176
I can't wait to see those photos.
00:09:55.176 --> 00:09:58.379
Like I said, I know we sent our photographer out last night.
00:09:58.379 --> 00:10:03.042
Blair, can you give an example of what some of the youth enrichment classes are?
00:10:03.042 --> 00:10:04.475
I know you mentioned swimming.
00:10:04.475 --> 00:10:06.618
There's a whole lot going on, right.
00:10:07.110 --> 00:10:08.075
What are some of those?
00:10:08.496 --> 00:10:08.918
offerings.
00:10:09.169 --> 00:10:17.619
Aquatics is a big one simply because of the need in the community and in our area to have strong swimmers or swim experience.
00:10:17.619 --> 00:10:20.898
Right now we have a youth fencing class that's going on.
00:10:21.099 --> 00:10:21.880
Oh fun.
00:10:21.921 --> 00:10:25.140
Yeah, and there's been a fair amount of interest in that.
00:10:25.140 --> 00:10:40.543
Simply, I think each time the Olympics come around that interest increases and so that's a class that we actually offer once or twice a catalog or a season, if you will, because it does have pretty good general interest.
00:10:40.543 --> 00:10:42.033
So fencing is fun.
00:10:42.033 --> 00:10:44.904
That's one that we do in partnership with adults.
00:10:44.904 --> 00:10:47.975
The adult enrichment coordinator and I work together on that one.
00:10:47.975 --> 00:10:54.620
This one's a youth specific, but we also offer those to the other districts around us, the surrounding areas, for fencing.
00:10:54.620 --> 00:10:55.522
It sounds so fun.
00:10:55.522 --> 00:11:06.337
Yeah, yeah, they have a really great time and it's fun to watch and, you know, poke your head in and see them, you know, from the beginning of the week to the end of the week and really understanding the sport, which I think is sort of a mystery to some.
00:11:06.337 --> 00:11:07.902
We have some great art classes.
00:11:07.902 --> 00:11:13.214
We've been fortunate to have some new local businesses.
00:11:13.214 --> 00:11:15.400
We've got a splatter paint class that kids have really enjoyed.
00:11:15.400 --> 00:11:20.903
We've got some language classes virtual and in-person some music classes.
00:11:20.903 --> 00:11:23.970
We just have really a lot of different offerings.
00:11:24.270 --> 00:11:28.402
Do you know off the top of your head how many classes are offered during the summer?
00:11:28.690 --> 00:11:31.740
So it's not off the top of my head because I did.
00:11:32.892 --> 00:11:37.581
I did pull that information just because sometimes it feels like it can be, you know, vast.
00:11:37.581 --> 00:11:52.214
Right now we're looking at 169 sort of general youth enrichment classes and then 168 aquatics specifically running, and typically we were able to partner with another pool in the community but this summer that wasn't possible.
00:11:52.214 --> 00:11:55.601
So those numbers of aquatics offerings are actually down a little bit.
00:11:55.601 --> 00:12:03.557
You know, hopefully in the future that'll grow again, but as of right now we're seeing about 1200 unique participants for the summer.
00:12:03.576 --> 00:12:05.360
So it's just amazing.
00:12:05.379 --> 00:12:07.144
It's a lot, yeah, yeah.
00:12:07.570 --> 00:12:10.476
What a what a valuable asset to our whole community.
00:12:10.476 --> 00:12:23.096
I'm curious about and either one of you can answer this or both you mentioned, sam, about the creativity of your teacher for that wellness beats, so I'm curious about who are these teachers?
00:12:23.096 --> 00:12:25.682
Who teaches our classes?
00:12:25.682 --> 00:12:26.844
Where do they come from?
00:12:27.309 --> 00:12:32.312
For Project Challenge specifically, we kind of have two sides.
00:12:32.312 --> 00:12:46.145
We have a group of community people, many of them potentially retired, who are looking to give back to the community, still work but provide something to give back.
00:12:46.145 --> 00:12:51.219
And then we also have community partners that work with us.
00:12:51.219 --> 00:12:53.082
We work very closely with the ARC.
00:12:53.082 --> 00:13:01.606
This Wellness Beats instructor also does a chair one fitness class and she has her own business and has worked with us.
00:13:01.606 --> 00:13:16.384
We work very closely with the Paramount and the movie theater and Southway Bowl to help put these activities together abilities, create and develop programs and curriculum to teach our classes.
00:13:16.384 --> 00:13:46.317
Whether it be dream boards or self-advocacy, we've got a lot of programming speaking to their voices being heard in the community and making change, advocating for changes that they want to see and support they want to see.
00:13:46.317 --> 00:13:57.869
It really comes from all over, but we do have a ton of support from community organizations reaching out to us saying that they want to be supporting programs that we have going on.
00:13:58.395 --> 00:14:01.702
And so that's really specialized Absolutely.
00:14:01.702 --> 00:14:05.136
And Blair, I mean obviously, I'm assuming with aquatics.
00:14:05.136 --> 00:14:07.424
You've got licensed people there.
00:14:07.424 --> 00:14:13.144
What about some of these interests Like what about an art class, for example, or the fencing Sure?
00:14:13.144 --> 00:14:14.995
How do you get teachers?
00:14:15.296 --> 00:14:22.788
Yeah, so it's kind of a mixture, you know, a mixed bag of how we, how these classes come to be.
00:14:22.788 --> 00:14:25.855
For aquatics specifically, they are district employees.
00:14:25.855 --> 00:14:26.950
Our instructors and lifeguards are district employees.
00:14:26.950 --> 00:14:29.220
Our instructors and lifeguards are district employees.
00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:30.682
So that's, pretty straightforward.
00:14:30.943 --> 00:14:32.768
For our other classes.
00:14:32.768 --> 00:14:33.956
It varies.
00:14:33.956 --> 00:14:35.902
We've got high school athletics.
00:14:35.902 --> 00:14:38.857
Whether it be the athletics or if they're running a youth program.
00:14:39.238 --> 00:14:46.261
A lot of times it's our active coaches that will either initiate with me that they're interested in running a class.
00:14:46.261 --> 00:14:50.914
Many times they're district employees already and so they're running those activities.
00:14:50.914 --> 00:15:01.283
As far as instructors go for, maybe our art classes either, I am out, you know, researching whether it be other community ed programs, local businesses.
00:15:01.283 --> 00:15:02.668
Sometimes we're approached.
00:15:02.668 --> 00:15:11.741
We always have class proposal link on our website for anybody that is interested in offering maybe a really specialized activity.
00:15:11.741 --> 00:15:14.187
Or you know they're an expert in an area.
00:15:14.187 --> 00:15:23.123
They can submit that and they can choose, you know, project challenge, adult enrichment or youth enrichment for who they would like to be yeah.
00:15:23.263 --> 00:15:32.375
Yeah, and so sometimes it's somebody that crosses and does youth and adult and project challenge, which is always kind of a benefit to us across the board.
00:15:32.735 --> 00:15:35.080
So I think you answered one of my questions.
00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:45.043
So if I have a particular talent, let's say I'm amazing knitter which I'm not, by the way, you could call my daughters.
00:15:45.043 --> 00:15:47.388
But I'm just using that as an example.
00:15:47.388 --> 00:15:56.100
So if I had this talent and it's something I would be interested in working with community ed what's the process there?
00:15:56.100 --> 00:16:01.600
How would I go about letting you all know that I have this interest, that I'm willing to teach?
00:16:01.701 --> 00:16:03.347
For us that link online.
00:16:03.347 --> 00:16:10.042
Otherwise, if you want to connect directly by phone, contacting our department is always an option and then we can.
00:16:10.042 --> 00:16:12.327
We just talk through sort of the process.
00:16:12.327 --> 00:16:16.631
You know what it entails, what compensation might look like that sort of thing.
00:16:16.631 --> 00:16:22.756
Sometimes people want to do things you know and not be paid like all of our high school coaches and that sort of thing for their youth programming.
00:16:22.756 --> 00:16:24.639
It's all volunteer based For me.
00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:29.707
They would contact either through the department directly or through instructor proposal.
00:16:29.707 --> 00:16:33.783
Sam, I don't know if you want to speak to, if yours is different, for Project Challenge.
00:16:33.823 --> 00:16:39.818
The process would generally be the same, depending on what you're looking to offer.
00:16:39.818 --> 00:17:04.349
When we do art classes, group outings, field trips, most of the time we would take you on as a project challenge instructor, which would be a district employee, and then from there you can submit class proposals for things like our fitness classes or our self-advocacy classes those we do contract out.
00:17:04.795 --> 00:17:11.962
With the community partners that you mentioned with the community partners, and then that would be that same process that Blair just mentioned.
00:17:11.962 --> 00:17:18.888
Otherwise, we do go through the district employee avenue, and then that also opens it up.
00:17:18.888 --> 00:17:29.458
If they would like to participate in any of the other classes we offer, then they also have that opportunity to integrate themselves more into the program in that way.
00:17:29.778 --> 00:17:29.980
Yeah.
00:17:29.980 --> 00:17:38.803
So we just hit 4th of July, which always like makes my stomach roll over just a little bit because I'm like, ah, how is summer halfway through?
00:17:38.803 --> 00:17:44.281
We've still got offerings, right, people can still sign up this summer, correct?
00:17:44.321 --> 00:17:45.544
Yes absolutely.
00:17:45.644 --> 00:17:50.138
So, how do we go about doing that if we have an interest in classes?
00:17:50.378 --> 00:18:02.635
We do have all of our offerings posted online at our community ed website, which is a wonderful website, very user friendly, very administrator friendly, and we also have our catalogs.
00:18:02.635 --> 00:18:07.855
Those get sent out three times a year with all of our offerings listed, so you can register.
00:18:07.895 --> 00:18:08.939
So it's not too late.
00:18:09.480 --> 00:18:11.626
Nope, we do offer programming all year.
00:18:11.626 --> 00:18:17.911
Our summer programming will go through about the beginning of September or so right before school starts.
00:18:18.071 --> 00:18:18.875
Yeah, that's fabulous.
00:18:18.875 --> 00:18:23.406
And then we'll roll right into fall and, blair, is that true for Youth Enrichment as well?
00:18:23.406 --> 00:18:23.895
It is.
00:18:23.976 --> 00:18:30.627
Yeah, A few of our summer, end of the year, end of the season, classes will roll into the fall and then we run right into fall.
00:18:30.627 --> 00:18:39.000
We typically try and give families a little settled time into that back to school period but there really is no downtime and classes are open and running.
00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:45.021
People you know can join and see what's still offered for the remainder of the summer and see what interests them.
00:18:45.021 --> 00:18:46.445
Our next catalog.
00:18:50.174 --> 00:18:52.058
I was just going to say the fall catalog is going to be here before we know it.
00:18:52.058 --> 00:19:02.857
We're already preparing, you know, getting classes in and planned, so that will go up for registration about mid-August and then the paper copy catalog that goes out to everybody in the community will go out.
00:19:02.857 --> 00:19:09.035
Typically it's the end of August, so lands and mailboxes you know that first week of September typically.
00:19:09.315 --> 00:19:24.406
I want to thank you both again for coming on the show today, because I think that I'm just not sure to what extent people are aware of these rich opportunities and that it goes all through the summer and how to go about it.
00:19:24.406 --> 00:19:45.028
And I do want to shout that out because you both mentioned going online and you're talking about the school district website, which is the ISD742.org, and then by going to the school district website you hit that community, ed, and it's its own website and you can register for classes, do all of that or, as you said, the instructor proposals.
00:19:45.028 --> 00:20:15.954
I just want to make sure that because, again, I'm just not sure the extent to which people realize how many opportunities are out there and I remember from when I had school-aged children, knowing that stuff was going on in the summer and getting my kids out In my children's cases it was their nose in books, kids out In my children's cases it was their nose in books, which is great, but all summer long, you know, having those other opportunities and in outdoor the camps are just so fabulous.
00:20:15.954 --> 00:20:28.971
So thank you again so much and you are so welcome and I don't know if you are aware, but we have this like tradition on CoffeeCast you get a mug.
00:20:31.434 --> 00:20:33.461
Thanks, You're so welcome.
00:20:33.461 --> 00:20:34.865
I'm sorry I don't have the coffee.
00:20:34.865 --> 00:20:40.163
You do get to take home the mug, Thank you so much.
00:20:40.182 --> 00:20:41.866
Yes, thank you for having us.
00:20:42.255 --> 00:20:43.176
Really appreciate it.
00:20:43.176 --> 00:20:45.279
Do you have a great podcast idea?
00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:50.628
Submit your idea to communications at ISD742.org.
00:20:50.628 --> 00:21:00.141
And thank you for listening to 742 CoffeeCast, the best place to stay informed and be inspired by St Cloud Area School District.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from St. Cloud Area School District 742, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.
EDIT
Thank you for helping to keep the podcast database up to date.
