Business Profile: Enrichment Center of Yorktown
Photo credit Enrichment Center of Yorktown:
The Enrichment Center of Yorktown may have changed locations this year, but it is still continuing its tradition of serving children through its before and after school programs.
Executive Director Marianne Minard of Ridgefield, CT and Site Director Ginny Hill of Somers discussed the Enrichment Center last week.
The Center was established nearly 35 years ago by the Yorktown School District, Minard said. “It was a very small program at the time,” she said. “The need for child care was not as great as it is currently.” The program operated out of Yorktown district schools for many years. During the 2004-05 school year the board of education asked the Center to branch on its own in what is its current status as a not-for-profit, Minard noted. “We were becoming much larger than they anticipated as far as the number of enrollees and staff,” she said. “We didn’t need the supervision from the school district anymore. We needed to be independent.”
When the program started there were about 10 children. But today the enrollment is about 140. Prior to the recent drop in enrollment in the school district in recent years, the Center provided programs to up to 450 students, Minard said.
For the first time, the programs are not being offered in any of the district’s schools. The Center has two new locations; students in kindergarten through the third grade come to the Yorktown Elks #2324 Lodge and students in grades four through eight come to the Yorktown Community and Cultural Center.
Morning programs are only provided at the Elks Lodge. “Mostly quiet activities” such as reading, doing homework and playing with Lagos and blocks and they are offered in the morning program and the pupils have the opportunity to cook their breakfast working with the staff, Minard said Board games are popular for the younger students after school, Hill said. “The love the interaction,” she said.
.The after school program for the younger participants includes a healthy snack, do homework with assistance offered by the staff, and playing sports or quiet games outdoors. “We try to make it as homey and comfortable in both programs as we can,” Minard said.
For students in grades four through eight there is also a track and playground at the YCCC, as well as a gazebo. For the first time this year, “walking field trips” to allow the students to purchase food at various locations in downtown Yorktown is offered, Minard said. Solaris Sports Clubs has donated time to the older students to allow them to use its gym facilities for one hour per week, she said. “That makes the older kids feel special, Hill said.
“This connection to the community is so important,” Minard said. ‘We’ve even heard from man of the parents that they really like that their children are involved in community activities.” The Center’s youths volunteer for the Relay for Life fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. The students help decorate the bags that go around the candles that are sold and dedicated to a person. The luminaria candles are illuminated at dusk during the starts of the Relay for Life, Hill noted. The Center has also provided assistance to Girl Scouts enrolled in the program who are seeking Silver and Gold Awards.
Participants in the Yorktown High School Enrichment Helpers Club come to volunteer at both of The Center’s locations, providing homework assistances, as well as playing sports and other games with the youths to earn high school community service hours. “The kids just love it,” Minard said. Some of the high school students were previously enrolled in Center programs and some of the past Center users have come back to work as staff, Hill said.
“We’re proud that we’re still around and I think a good part of it is our staff,” Minard said. “We have some staff that have been with us for over 20 years.”
“We provide an excellent program for the children,” Minard said. “It’s safe. It’s welcoming. The children have an opportunity to experience a sense of belonging. This is their place.”
The Enrichment Center of Yorktown has two locations: the Yorktown Community and Cultural Center, 1974 Commerce St. and the Yorktown Elks #2324 Lodge, 590 Waverly Rd. For more information call 914-302-7977 or visit yorktown.org and look under Community Links.
