GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) – About 97% of Wisconsin parents say their child’s after-school program offers STEM activities, according to a study from the Wisconsin Out of School Time Alliance.
“The increase in STEM activities after school is not surprising because kids today are so interested in technology, and it’s part of our lives more than ever,” said Johanna Wicklund, CEO of the Boys and Girls Club, Bay and Lakes Region. “So we do a great job in our after-school programs of incorporating technology into everyday after-school activities.”
The Greater Green Bay Boys and Girls Club offers activities connecting STEM to sports and music at its two clubs and five school-based programs.
Green Bay Area Public Schools also provide other programs for families looking for both STEM and general education after school.
“One of those options for after-school programming are provided by the YMCA. They offer after-school programming to students age 5-12 at over 15 schools across the Green Bay area,” said Action 2 News reporter Mary Piacente.
The YMCA has 22 programs total across the Green Bay area, where it partners with the Einstein Project, the Children’s Museum and, soon, the Experimental Aircraft Association.
“It could be marshmallow towers, spaghetti towers, bridge building, making homemade ice cream in a bag and figuring out how does that all work with the ice and so on. How do you make ice cream on your own?” said Connie Bykoski, school age childcare executive, Greater Green Bay YMCA. “So, we want to do something different every week that is a STEM activity in addition to everything else we do programming-wise.”
Green Bay Public Schools has six federally funded after-school programs. Amy Fish, associate director of community partnerships and grants for Green Bay Area Public Schools, said funding applications are expected to be more STEM focused, due in part to positive feedback from the hands-on programs.
“We really notice that on those days, the students are really engaged in programming and attend highly,” Fish said.
Four in 5 Wisconsin children and youth whose parents want after-school programs for them are still unenrolled, according to the study.
“There’s always work to be done. But I am proud to say that the majority of our schools offer something,” Fish said. “It may not be 100% accessible to everyone that needs it, though.”
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