Expanding the After-school Program

By Lily Gordon, Program Coordinator

The first day of the McCarthy nature afterschool session in Framingham was an exciting one for the whole Nature Linc program team. This is a brand new partnership, an expansion of our after-school program. Two of Nature Linc’s part-time outdoor educators, Marcella and Celina, arrived early at McCarthy, prepared with scavenger hunts, animal games, and unique nature artifacts for the kids. The rest of us waited eagerly for a report. After the session, Marcella and Celina joyfully spoke of the excited children, welcoming coordinator, and ample green space around the school.

The McCarthy after-school program in Framingham is one of our new after-school partners, representing an expansion of our already thriving after-school program. Per our Strategic Plan, we are expanding this program to deepen our community partnerships and serve even more youth in their own communities. Last school year, Nature Linc partnered with seven afterschool programs in Cambridge, Somerville, and Malden, serving an average of 130 youth weekly. Currently, we are partnering with nine sites, including three that are new to us, and we are serving an average of 180 youth weekly. We’ve hired multiple part-time staff and thoroughly trained them to help us deliver high-quality this new quantity of after-school programs, and we plan to grow to even more partnerships in the coming seasons. 

The typical after-school session meets weekly, with multiple one hour blocks, each with a different age group of children within the PreK-6th grade range. Staff take groups of kids to local greenspaces walkable from their schools, including community parks, rivers, and gardens. In all types of weather, children spend time outside, engaging in a variety of hands-on, STEAM-based activities. Each week has a seasonal curriculum theme such as squirrels, hibernation, or frogs. An example of a lesson plan with a squirrel theme includes a stretching warmup inspired by squirrel poses, a scavenger hunt to gather acorns and other seeds in the park, a squirrel-themed team-building running game, and a squirrel collage with foraged nature items. 

By meeting youth where they are, our after-school program increases youth access and time spent in green spaces in their own communities. By introducing children to many ways to engage with nature in their own neighborhood parks and gardens, we hope to inspire them to seek out these green spaces more and more as a source of mental and physical health and wellbeing.