Austin-Tracy has special program

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Amber Dilley

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January 21, 2009

By AMBER DILLEY The Glasgow Daily Times Wed Jan 21, 2009, 12:27 PM CST

GLASGOW — Participants in Austin-Tracy Elementary’s Eagle’s Nest after school program have learned how to shoot a bow and arrow, how to dance using Zumba, to play the drums and have even put on a play, all since September.

Of course, they also have time to study.

“We just want it to be an all around process where kids can grow and learn,” said Carole Manion, program director of Eagle’s Nest.

“We hope to raise the grades of the children; they get extra homework help through this. We also want them to have more physical activity, so almost every day, we have some sort of exercise. We’ve done swimming lessons, a Thanksgiving play, we have drum lessons. We’re just trying to help them be more active and succeed academically.”

The program starts after school, when the students exercise for about 30 minutes.

Then they study or go to a class, like drumming lessons.

Randy Rush, who teaches the drum lessons, said some students have taken up drumming on their own time because of the program.

“We try to do it as a group learning project,” Rush said. “Some of the kids take off really quick and those kids help the others. They learn from each other’s mistakes and seem to do really well working as a team.”

The school teamed up with Barren River State Park to receive the federal grant, which is through the 21st Century Learning Center.

Lisa Deavers, recreation supervisor at the park, said the partnership is a win-win for both.

“To my knowledge, we’re the only state park that has a partnership with a school,” Deavers said.

“We’re very fortunate with this that Austin-Tracy is so close to us. They came come to us for a program and we can go to them pretty easily. I think this will open the door for more parks to start these types of partnerships. It’s introduced new activities for the students and they learn more about the park.”

Scott Harper, principal of Austin-Tracy, said the school is grateful to have the grant, which lasts for three years.

“The state awards maybe 15 to 20 a year,” Harper said. “We’re one of eight new schools this year to get it. Most of the schools that get it are continuations of the program.”

Manion added: “It’s not an easy grant to get. We feel delighted that we were able to. We had tried before, but we had never had the state park involved and we think that helped a lot. We really appreciate them being our partner.”

Harper said the staff even gets involved and everyone gets to try something new through the program.

“Our grants have usually been tied around physical fitness and the kids just love it,” Harper said. “This is also a way to get them to try something they may not have thought of otherwise, like archery or Zumba. Some don’t think they’ll like it, but it ends up being something they’re really good at.”

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