Helping the community
Nyssa after-school agenda proves to be popular and a success
By Brielle Kennington
Argus Observer
Friday, March 21, 2008 11:53 AM PDT
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| ThunderEgg After School Center Director Jewell Maine, Nicolas Ramos (center) and Joshua Bongiorno pick up garbage in the park along with the rest of the center’s children. |
Nyssa — A relatively new after-school program in Nyssa furnishes a safe learning environment and has gained the support of the school district, community and a number of other organizations.
The ThunderEgg After School Center, or TASC, was developed by program director Jewell Maine in August. The program was a dream come true for Maine.
“It was my dream and my idea,” Maine said.
Maine said she first secured the idea to start a non-profit after school center while she was teaching.
After she retired, Maine said the center concept was a perfect way for her to give back to the community and serve God.
The center accepts any student who is enrolled at Nyssa Elementary School for $2 a day and provides a safe place for students to be from 3 p.m. though 6 p.m. Monday through Thursdays and 12 p.m. through 6 p.m. on Fridays. Maine said most of the students come to TASC because their parents work and they need a safe place to go where they can work on homework and be supervised.
Although TASC has only been open since August, the program has already reached full enrollment and carries a waiting list of children wishing to attend the center.
The support of the school district and other organizations has also proved to be key, Maine said.
“The school’s been supportive of us,” she said.
For example, the building the center is situated in belongs to the Nyssa Church of the Nazarene, but the church has sponsored the center and allowed it to use the building and also pays for the center’s heat. Though TASC is under the supervision of the church, it does have its own director and governing board.
“The space wasn’t being used so they let us have it,” Maine said.
Along with being sponsored by the Nyssa Church of the Nazarene, the International Church of the Nazarene delivered a grant to TASC. The Nyssa Teacher’s Association also demonstrated support through a donation, which TASC used to purchase books.
TASC was fortunate enough to also receive a $5,000 grant from the Touch-a-Life Scholarship Committee.
The Malheur Commission on Children and Families also has a generous grant of $10,000, which TASC used to hire two part-time employees to work with the children. One of the part-time employees, Bryce VanZelf, attended Nyssa High School and now attends Treasure Valley Community College.
“The more people that are here the more one-on-one time the children get,” Maine said.
Maine also said that TASC tries to keep a 3-1 student-to-adult ratio during homework time so the students can read books out loud and ask questions. The part-time employees also help the students during snack time, and they play learning games on the computers that were donated through the Nyssa Police Department.
When the students are not working on homework or playing, they go for a walk, and each student puts on disposable gloves and picks up trash. Maine said the trash pickup program is a good way for the students to give back to the community.
Maine said she is happy TASC is getting so much financial support from the community, and some members of the community are also giving their time. Since opening in August there have been over 1,500 recorded volunteer hours. Maine has been a part of the community for 32 years. She said her husband’s family homesteaded a farm in 1941, which brought them back to the area. Though she said she is enjoying her time volunteering at TASC and is planning on staying she knows there will come a day when she will want to fully retire.
“I’ll probably do it until I find a replacement,” she said.
