Ever wondered how to keep your kids engaged and learning during the hot summer months? Discover the secret formula to a fun and educational summer in our latest episode of the 742 CoffeeCast. From art to robotics, these experts reveal the extensive range of Youth Enrichment programs designed to blend fun and education seamlessly.
Meet Blair and Sam as they highlight Project Challenge and youth enrichment classes. Find out how the district continues to offer diverse activities like fencing, language, and music, catering to the varied interests of the community. Our guests also shine a spotlight on the ARISE program, ensuring that all students, including those with disabilities, have access to these enriching opportunities.
Curious about how these programs come to life? Get an insider’s view into the process of organizing and staffing these classes, from hiring district aquatic instructors to engaging high school coaches and local experts. Learn how easy it is to register for these programs through the community ed website. Plus, if you’ve got a creative idea for a class, find out how you can propose and teach it within the community education framework. Tune in and let us guide you through the wealth of opportunities that await your family's summer in the St. Cloud Area School District.
Have a great podcast idea? Submit your idea to communications@isd742.org
Subscribe and thanks for listening!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The 742 CoffeeCast is your ultimate destination for
insightful conversations,thought-provoking ideas and
innovative strategies in StCloud Area School District.
Your host is Director ofCommunity Engagement and
Communications, tammy DeLand.
Grab a cup of coffee and joinus.
Well, it is finally summer andwe've pushed past the rain a
(00:27):
little bit and are enjoyinglittle sunshine, which is always
good.
We're here today on CoffeeCastwith Blair Lyerly Samuelson and
Sam Overson from the district'scommunity education department,
and we want to talk abouteverything that's wonderful in
summer programming.
So welcome, so glad you're here.
Thanks for having us.
(00:47):
Yeah, absolutely, let's start,maybe Blair and then Sam, if you
want to just briefly give anintroduction how long you've
been with the district and we'llgo from there.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Sure, so I'm Blair and I've been with the district
for about 15 years, grew up inSt Cloud, went away for college
and decided to come back andhave spent, like I said, about
15 years in 742.
Five of those years in youthenrichment, which is currently
my position, and then beforethat about 10 years in school
age care and youth development.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
So all of those years in community ed.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Correct Fantastic yeah A lot of years.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Fantastic Good for you.
How about you?
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Sam, I'm Sam.
I am going to be starting mythird year with community ed.
I also grew up in the St Cloudarea, stayed here for college,
got to work with community eddepartments throughout college,
found that that was a great fitand have been really enjoying my
time here with the St Cloudcommunity ed department Awesome.
Thanks again both of youObviously one of the great fit
and have been really enjoying mytime here with the St Paul
Community Ed Department Awesome.
Thanks again both of you.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Obviously, one of the great things about summer is
that the normal routine forschool is lifted and weather
gets better and schedules becomemore flexible.
But Community Ed has actuallyoffered a wide range of summer
programming for children of allages for a really long time, and
(02:07):
it takes off right as soon asschool lets out.
Right?
Maybe, blair, let's start withyou Can you tell us about Youth
Enrichment?
That's the program you saidyou've been working with for
about five years.
What does that look like duringthe summer, and why and how is
that important to families andthe community?
Speaker 3 (02:25):
So youth enrichment is a really important piece of
community education and of acommunity really and of the
district.
You know we talk about howyouth enrichment allows for
out-of-school programming,whether it be to support
academic programming during theschool year or during the summer
when it's more recreational,sometimes still academic during
the summer.
(02:46):
But it allows families to havethese other activities for their
kids to participate in, whichcan range from, you know, art
activities we have high schoolprogramming, so some of our
athletics activities comesthrough us during the summer
Robotics, youth recreation orsports and then a big portion of
our programming during thesummer is swimming lessons or
aquatics.
(03:06):
So, just you know, to reallyprovide fun activities for our
community, enriching activities,cultural, just sort of
well-rounded activities for ourkids to participate in in the
community throughout the summer.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Do you find that families appreciate this because
their school during the schoolyear, which is very scheduled,
sometimes it's a lot of pressure, but then summer comes and
maybe kids can kind of just getinto a pattern of sleeping late
doing the iPad whatever, and sothis kind of programming offers
(03:42):
like kind of a fill for that.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Sure, in some situations offers sort of a
bridge between you know the endof the school year and the start
of the next year.
For instance, we'll have aChinese immersion camp this
summer for interested orincoming or existing Chinese
immersion program participants.
And so, you know, sometimesit's that academic kind of
carryover, sometimes it's simplyto play soccer alongside their
(04:09):
friends or other youth.
A lot of these activitieshappen in our buildings and so
to some degree they're familiarfor our participants in our
community.
Some of them happen in localbusinesses, just providing that
really well rounded programming.
For right now we're speakingabout summer.
We offer programming year round, and during the school year
it's, you know, sort of thatrelease after the school day of
(04:31):
you know an activity for youknow whether it be drawing or
whatever it might be.
It allows for families to havea place for their children to go
but then also to be amongsttheir peers, and, you know, an
enriching activity.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
So it sounds like it's a balance almost of those
fun recreational things, yeah,and also maybe a little bit to
counter out what's known as thesummer slide in academics.
That's wonderful.
That's great.
Sam, I am wondering if youmight talk a little bit.
I don't think a lot of ourlisteners maybe are familiar
(05:03):
with the ARISE program andbecause that supports youth
enrichment in part that Blair istalking about, could you
describe for us what thatprogram is and what's happening
with it this summer?
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yes, definitely so.
We offer something called theARISE program.
It stands for a recreationalinclusion support endeavor, for
a recreational inclusion supportendeavor, and what we do is we
provide one-on-one support forstudents with disabilities that
allows them to take part incommunity activities, both with
(05:38):
our district and other communitypartners, and successfully
participate alongside theirneurotypical peers.
As we know, throughout theschool year a lot of our
students in our community getthat one-on-one support
throughout the school day and itends when the school day ends.
So we help bridge that gap andoffer that support in activities
(06:02):
outside of the school day.
We support sports camps, artprograms, theater programs, and
that's not just within ourdistrict.
We are a community program sowe also connect with neighboring
districts or camps or offeringsthrough community partners like
(06:23):
the city, the Paramount, and wecan offer that one-on-one
support for students that needjust a little bit extra helping
hand, whether it be an extraguide to help them stay focused,
or if they potentially have aphysical disability and need
that one-on-one modificationsupport to allow them to be
(06:45):
successful in theseopportunities that we have along
with everybody else.
So it's really about theinclusion and the accessibility
of all of our community programsand we can help bridge that gap
of additional support that astudent may need.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
That's so fantastic and thanks for bringing up this.
Isn't just about an enrolled742 student either.
Community Ed is truly servicingthat central Minnesota
community, so thanks forbringing that up.
Can you talk a little bit nowabout Project Challenge, which
is different from Arise, andwhat Project Challenge does
(07:19):
during the summer?
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Yeah, definitely so.
Project Challenge is our adultswith disability part of
Community Ed.
So we have our adult, our youthand then our project challenge
area.
And what project challenge doesis it really gears towards the
community of people withdisabilities in the area and
(07:42):
gives them a space where theycan connect with people with
similar experiences, and itallows them also to have
instructors that are able toprovide variations,
modifications, additionalsupport they may need outside of
just a regular adult enrichmentclass.
(08:02):
Adult enrichment is open foreveryone.
Everyone can take the classes,but ours are geared more towards
that specific community so theycan share these events with
people like them, create thatsense of community with people
of shared experiences.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Connections.
Yeah, yep we do art classes.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
We'll do meal, get togethers.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Project Challenge had a class last night, right,
because I think our photographerwent.
It was called Wellness Beats.
Yes, what was that?
Speaker 2 (08:36):
This one actually started from Adult Enrichment
and they had cardio drumming andit was a great offering, went
really well, and we reached outto the instructor and asked if
she would be willing to create aclass similar to that, modified
specifically for our group.
So what she did is she combinedthe cardio drumming and then
(09:00):
general wellness ideas.
Sometimes they do a little bitof meditation, positive
self-talk, breathing andstretching.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
It sounds so fabulous , they talk about nutrition.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
So she really came together and created this
opportunity to encompasswellness as a whole but then
also have that fitness aspect tomake it a little more fun, kind
of provide that well-roundedexperience for our participants,
Because a lot of times going toa health class may not seem
(09:34):
that fun.
So she did a really great jobencompassing all of it into one
opportunity so they can beactive, have fun in this group,
upbeat setting, but then alsosprinkling some of that mental
and self-help in there as well.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Wow, what a great opportunity.
I can't wait to see thosephotos.
Like I said, I know we sent ourphotographer out last night.
Blair, can you give an exampleof what some of the youth
enrichment classes are?
I know you mentioned swimming.
There's a whole lot going on,right.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
What are some of those?
Speaker 1 (10:08):
offerings.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Aquatics is a big one simply because of the need in
the community and in our area tohave strong swimmers or swim
experience.
Right now we have a youthfencing class that's going on.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Oh fun.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Yeah, and there's been a fair amount of interest
in that.
Simply, I think each time theOlympics come around that
interest increases and so that'sa class that we actually offer
once or twice a catalog or aseason, if you will, because it
does have pretty good generalinterest.
So fencing is fun.
(10:42):
That's one that we do inpartnership with adults.
The adult enrichmentcoordinator and I work together
on that one.
This one's a youth specific,but we also offer those to the
other districts around us, thesurrounding areas, for fencing.
It sounds so fun.
Yeah, yeah, they have a reallygreat time and it's fun to watch
and, you know, poke your headin and see them, you know, from
the beginning of the week to theend of the week and really
(11:03):
understanding the sport, which Ithink is sort of a mystery to
some.
We have some great art classes.
We've been fortunate to havesome new local businesses.
We've got a splatter paintclass that kids have really
enjoyed.
We've got some language classesvirtual and in-person some
music classes.
We just have really a lot ofdifferent offerings.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Do you know off the top of your head how many
classes are offered during thesummer?
Speaker 3 (11:28):
So it's not off the top of my head because I did.
I did pull that information justbecause sometimes it feels like
it can be, you know, vast.
Right now we're looking at 169sort of general youth enrichment
classes and then 168 aquaticsspecifically running, and
typically we were able topartner with another pool in the
(11:50):
community but this summer thatwasn't possible.
So those numbers of aquaticsofferings are actually down a
little bit.
You know, hopefully in thefuture that'll grow again, but
as of right now we're seeingabout 1200 unique participants
for the summer.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
So it's just amazing.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
It's a lot, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
What a what a valuable asset to our whole
community.
I'm curious about and eitherone of you can answer this or
both you mentioned, sam, aboutthe creativity of your teacher
for that wellness beats, so I'mcurious about who are these
teachers?
Who teaches our classes?
Where do they come from?
Speaker 2 (12:27):
For Project Challenge specifically, we kind of have
two sides.
We have a group of communitypeople, many of them potentially
retired, who are looking togive back to the community,
still work but provide somethingto give back.
And then we also have communitypartners that work with us.
(12:51):
We work very closely with theARC.
This Wellness Beats instructoralso does a chair one fitness
class and she has her ownbusiness and has worked with us.
We work very closely with theParamount and the movie theater
and Southway Bowl to help putthese activities together
(13:12):
abilities, create and developprograms and curriculum to teach
our classes.
Whether it be dream boards orself-advocacy, we've got a lot
(13:35):
of programming speaking to theirvoices being heard in the
community and making change,advocating for changes that they
want to see and support theywant to see.
It really comes from all over,but we do have a ton of support
from community organizationsreaching out to us saying that
they want to be supportingprograms that we have going on.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
And so that's really specialized Absolutely.
And Blair, I mean obviously,I'm assuming with aquatics.
You've got licensed peoplethere.
What about some of theseinterests Like what about an art
class, for example, or thefencing Sure?
How do you get teachers?
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Yeah, so it's kind of a mixture, you know, a mixed
bag of how we, how these classescome to be.
For aquatics specifically, theyare district employees.
Our instructors and lifeguardsare district employees.
Our instructors and lifeguardsare district employees.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
So that's, pretty straightforward.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
For our other classes .
It varies.
We've got high school athletics.
Whether it be the athletics orif they're running a youth
program.
A lot of times it's our activecoaches that will either
initiate with me that they'reinterested in running a class.
Many times they're districtemployees already and so they're
running those activities.
As far as instructors go for,maybe our art classes either, I
(14:55):
am out, you know, researchingwhether it be other community ed
programs, local businesses.
Sometimes we're approached.
We always have class proposallink on our website for anybody
that is interested in offeringmaybe a really specialized
activity.
Or you know they're an expertin an area.
They can submit that and theycan choose, you know, project
(15:17):
challenge, adult enrichment oryouth enrichment for who they
would like to be yeah.
Yeah, and so sometimes it'ssomebody that crosses and does
youth and adult and projectchallenge, which is always kind
of a benefit to us across theboard.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
So I think you answered one of my questions.
So if I have a particulartalent, let's say I'm amazing
knitter which I'm not, by theway, you could call my daughters
.
But I'm just using that as anexample.
So if I had this talent andit's something I would be
interested in working withcommunity ed what's the process
(15:55):
there?
How would I go about lettingyou all know that I have this
interest, that I'm willing toteach?
Speaker 3 (16:01):
For us that link online.
Otherwise, if you want toconnect directly by phone,
contacting our department isalways an option and then we can
.
We just talk through sort ofthe process.
You know what it entails, whatcompensation might look like
that sort of thing.
Sometimes people want to dothings you know and not be paid
like all of our high schoolcoaches and that sort of thing
(16:21):
for their youth programming.
It's all volunteer based For me.
They would contact eitherthrough the department directly
or through instructor proposal.
Sam, I don't know if you wantto speak to, if yours is
different, for Project Challenge.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
The process would generally be the same, depending
on what you're looking to offer.
When we do art classes, groupoutings, field trips, most of
the time we would take you on asa project challenge instructor,
which would be a districtemployee, and then from there
(16:54):
you can submit class proposalsfor things like our fitness
classes or our self-advocacyclasses those we do contract out
.
With the community partners thatyou mentioned with the
community partners, and thenthat would be that same process
that Blair just mentioned.
Otherwise, we do go through thedistrict employee avenue, and
(17:17):
then that also opens it up.
If they would like toparticipate in any of the other
classes we offer, then they alsohave that opportunity to
integrate themselves more intothe program in that way.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Yeah.
So we just hit 4th of July,which always like makes my
stomach roll over just a littlebit because I'm like, ah, how is
summer halfway through?
We've still got offerings,right, people can still sign up
this summer, correct?
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Yes absolutely.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
So, how do we go about doing that if we have an
interest in classes?
Speaker 2 (17:50):
We do have all of our offerings posted online at our
community ed website, which is awonderful website, very user
friendly, very administratorfriendly, and we also have our
catalogs.
Those get sent out three timesa year with all of our offerings
listed, so you can register.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
So it's not too late.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Nope, we do offer programming all year.
Our summer programming will gothrough about the beginning of
September or so right beforeschool starts.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Yeah, that's fabulous .
And then we'll roll right intofall and, blair, is that true
for Youth Enrichment as well?
It is.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Yeah, A few of our summer, end of the year, end of
the season, classes will rollinto the fall and then we run
right into fall.
We typically try and givefamilies a little settled time
into that back to school periodbut there really is no downtime
and classes are open and running.
People you know can join andsee what's still offered for the
remainder of the summer and seewhat interests them.
(18:45):
Our next catalog.
I was just going to say the fallcatalog is going to be here
before we know it.
We're already preparing, youknow, getting classes in and
planned, so that will go up forregistration about mid-August
and then the paper copy catalogthat goes out to everybody in
the community will go out.
Typically it's the end ofAugust, so lands and mailboxes
(19:07):
you know that first week ofSeptember typically.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
I want to thank you both again for coming on the
show today, because I think thatI'm just not sure to what
extent people are aware of theserich opportunities and that it
goes all through the summer andhow to go about it.
And I do want to shout that outbecause you both mentioned
going online and you're talkingabout the school district
(19:29):
website, which is the ISD742.org, and then by going to the
school district website you hitthat community, ed, and it's its
own website and you canregister for classes, do all of
that or, as you said, theinstructor proposals.
I just want to make sure thatbecause, again, I'm just not
sure the extent to which peoplerealize how many opportunities
(19:53):
are out there and I rememberfrom when I had school-aged
children, knowing that stuff wasgoing on in the summer and
getting my kids out In mychildren's cases it was their
nose in books, kids out In mychildren's cases it was their
nose in books, which is great,but all summer long, you know,
having those other opportunitiesand in outdoor the camps are
(20:14):
just so fabulous.
So thank you again so much andyou are so welcome and I don't
know if you are aware, but wehave this like tradition on
CoffeeCast you get a mug.
Thanks, You're so welcome.
I'm sorry I don't have thecoffee.
(20:34):
You do get to take home the mug, Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Yes, thank you for having us.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Really appreciate it.
Do you have a great podcastidea?
Submit your idea tocommunications at ISD742.org.
And thank you for listening to742 CoffeeCast, the best place
to stay informed and be inspiredby St Cloud Area School
District.
The 742 CoffeeCast is your ultimate destination for
insightful conversations,thought-provoking ideas and
innovative strategies in StCloud Area School District.
Your host is Director ofCommunity Engagement and
Communications, tammy DeLand.
Grab a cup of coffee and joinus.
Well, it is finally summer andwe've pushed past the rain a
(00:27):
little bit and are enjoyinglittle sunshine, which is always
good.
We're here today on CoffeeCastwith Blair Lyerly Samuelson and
Sam Overson from the district'scommunity education department,
and we want to talk abouteverything that's wonderful in
summer programming.
So welcome, so glad you're here.
Thanks for having us.
(00:47):
Yeah, absolutely, let's start,maybe Blair and then Sam, if you
want to just briefly give anintroduction how long you've
been with the district and we'llgo from there.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Sure, so I'm Blair and I've been with the district
for about 15 years, grew up inSt Cloud, went away for college
and decided to come back andhave spent, like I said, about
15 years in 742.
Five of those years in youthenrichment, which is currently
my position, and then beforethat about 10 years in school
age care and youth development.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
So all of those years in community ed.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Correct Fantastic yeah A lot of years.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Fantastic Good for you.
How about you?
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Sam, I'm Sam.
I am going to be starting mythird year with community ed.
I also grew up in the St Cloudarea, stayed here for college,
got to work with community eddepartments throughout college,
found that that was a great fitand have been really enjoying my
time here with the St Cloudcommunity ed department Awesome.
Thanks again both of youObviously one of the great fit
and have been really enjoying mytime here with the St Paul
Community Ed Department Awesome.
Thanks again both of you.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Obviously, one of the great things about summer is
that the normal routine forschool is lifted and weather
gets better and schedules becomemore flexible.
But Community Ed has actuallyoffered a wide range of summer
programming for children of allages for a really long time, and
(02:07):
it takes off right as soon asschool lets out.
Right?
Maybe, blair, let's start withyou Can you tell us about Youth
Enrichment?
That's the program you saidyou've been working with for
about five years.
What does that look like duringthe summer, and why and how is
that important to families andthe community?
Speaker 3 (02:25):
So youth enrichment is a really important piece of
community education and of acommunity really and of the
district.
You know we talk about howyouth enrichment allows for
out-of-school programming,whether it be to support
academic programming during theschool year or during the summer
when it's more recreational,sometimes still academic during
the summer.
(02:46):
But it allows families to havethese other activities for their
kids to participate in, whichcan range from, you know, art
activities we have high schoolprogramming, so some of our
athletics activities comesthrough us during the summer
Robotics, youth recreation orsports and then a big portion of
our programming during thesummer is swimming lessons or
aquatics.
(03:06):
So, just you know, to reallyprovide fun activities for our
community, enriching activities,cultural, just sort of
well-rounded activities for ourkids to participate in in the
community throughout the summer.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Do you find that families appreciate this because
their school during the schoolyear, which is very scheduled,
sometimes it's a lot of pressure, but then summer comes and
maybe kids can kind of just getinto a pattern of sleeping late
doing the iPad whatever, and sothis kind of programming offers
(03:42):
like kind of a fill for that.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Sure, in some situations offers sort of a
bridge between you know the endof the school year and the start
of the next year.
For instance, we'll have aChinese immersion camp this
summer for interested orincoming or existing Chinese
immersion program participants.
And so, you know, sometimesit's that academic kind of
carryover, sometimes it's simplyto play soccer alongside their
(04:09):
friends or other youth.
A lot of these activitieshappen in our buildings and so
to some degree they're familiarfor our participants in our
community.
Some of them happen in localbusinesses, just providing that
really well rounded programming.
For right now we're speakingabout summer.
We offer programming year round, and during the school year
it's, you know, sort of thatrelease after the school day of
(04:31):
you know an activity for youknow whether it be drawing or
whatever it might be.
It allows for families to havea place for their children to go
but then also to be amongsttheir peers, and, you know, an
enriching activity.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
So it sounds like it's a balance almost of those
fun recreational things, yeah,and also maybe a little bit to
counter out what's known as thesummer slide in academics.
That's wonderful.
That's great.
Sam, I am wondering if youmight talk a little bit.
I don't think a lot of ourlisteners maybe are familiar
(05:03):
with the ARISE program andbecause that supports youth
enrichment in part that Blair istalking about, could you
describe for us what thatprogram is and what's happening
with it this summer?
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yes, definitely so.
We offer something called theARISE program.
It stands for a recreationalinclusion support endeavor, for
a recreational inclusion supportendeavor, and what we do is we
provide one-on-one support forstudents with disabilities that
allows them to take part incommunity activities, both with
(05:38):
our district and other communitypartners, and successfully
participate alongside theirneurotypical peers.
As we know, throughout theschool year a lot of our
students in our community getthat one-on-one support
throughout the school day and itends when the school day ends.
So we help bridge that gap andoffer that support in activities
(06:02):
outside of the school day.
We support sports camps, artprograms, theater programs, and
that's not just within ourdistrict.
We are a community program sowe also connect with neighboring
districts or camps or offeringsthrough community partners like
(06:23):
the city, the Paramount, and wecan offer that one-on-one
support for students that needjust a little bit extra helping
hand, whether it be an extraguide to help them stay focused,
or if they potentially have aphysical disability and need
that one-on-one modificationsupport to allow them to be
(06:45):
successful in theseopportunities that we have along
with everybody else.
So it's really about theinclusion and the accessibility
of all of our community programsand we can help bridge that gap
of additional support that astudent may need.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
That's so fantastic and thanks for bringing up this.
Isn't just about an enrolled742 student either.
Community Ed is truly servicingthat central Minnesota
community, so thanks forbringing that up.
Can you talk a little bit nowabout Project Challenge, which
is different from Arise, andwhat Project Challenge does
(07:19):
during the summer?
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Yeah, definitely so.
Project Challenge is our adultswith disability part of
Community Ed.
So we have our adult, our youthand then our project challenge
area.
And what project challenge doesis it really gears towards the
community of people withdisabilities in the area and
(07:42):
gives them a space where theycan connect with people with
similar experiences, and itallows them also to have
instructors that are able toprovide variations,
modifications, additionalsupport they may need outside of
just a regular adult enrichmentclass.
(08:02):
Adult enrichment is open foreveryone.
Everyone can take the classes,but ours are geared more towards
that specific community so theycan share these events with
people like them, create thatsense of community with people
of shared experiences.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Connections.
Yeah, yep we do art classes.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
We'll do meal, get togethers.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Project Challenge had a class last night, right,
because I think our photographerwent.
It was called Wellness Beats.
Yes, what was that?
Speaker 2 (08:36):
This one actually started from Adult Enrichment
and they had cardio drumming andit was a great offering, went
really well, and we reached outto the instructor and asked if
she would be willing to create aclass similar to that, modified
specifically for our group.
So what she did is she combinedthe cardio drumming and then
(09:00):
general wellness ideas.
Sometimes they do a little bitof meditation, positive
self-talk, breathing andstretching.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
It sounds so fabulous , they talk about nutrition.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
So she really came together and created this
opportunity to encompasswellness as a whole but then
also have that fitness aspect tomake it a little more fun, kind
of provide that well-roundedexperience for our participants,
Because a lot of times going toa health class may not seem
(09:34):
that fun.
So she did a really great jobencompassing all of it into one
opportunity so they can beactive, have fun in this group,
upbeat setting, but then alsosprinkling some of that mental
and self-help in there as well.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Wow, what a great opportunity.
I can't wait to see thosephotos.
Like I said, I know we sent ourphotographer out last night.
Blair, can you give an exampleof what some of the youth
enrichment classes are?
I know you mentioned swimming.
There's a whole lot going on,right.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
What are some of those?
Speaker 1 (10:08):
offerings.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Aquatics is a big one simply because of the need in
the community and in our area tohave strong swimmers or swim
experience.
Right now we have a youthfencing class that's going on.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Oh fun.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Yeah, and there's been a fair amount of interest
in that.
Simply, I think each time theOlympics come around that
interest increases and so that'sa class that we actually offer
once or twice a catalog or aseason, if you will, because it
does have pretty good generalinterest.
So fencing is fun.
(10:42):
That's one that we do inpartnership with adults.
The adult enrichmentcoordinator and I work together
on that one.
This one's a youth specific,but we also offer those to the
other districts around us, thesurrounding areas, for fencing.
It sounds so fun.
Yeah, yeah, they have a reallygreat time and it's fun to watch
and, you know, poke your headin and see them, you know, from
the beginning of the week to theend of the week and really
(11:03):
understanding the sport, which Ithink is sort of a mystery to
some.
We have some great art classes.
We've been fortunate to havesome new local businesses.
We've got a splatter paintclass that kids have really
enjoyed.
We've got some language classesvirtual and in-person some
music classes.
We just have really a lot ofdifferent offerings.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Do you know off the top of your head how many
classes are offered during thesummer?
Speaker 3 (11:28):
So it's not off the top of my head because I did.
I did pull that information justbecause sometimes it feels like
it can be, you know, vast.
Right now we're looking at 169sort of general youth enrichment
classes and then 168 aquaticsspecifically running, and
typically we were able topartner with another pool in the
(11:50):
community but this summer thatwasn't possible.
So those numbers of aquaticsofferings are actually down a
little bit.
You know, hopefully in thefuture that'll grow again, but
as of right now we're seeingabout 1200 unique participants
for the summer.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
So it's just amazing.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
It's a lot, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
What a what a valuable asset to our whole
community.
I'm curious about and eitherone of you can answer this or
both you mentioned, sam, aboutthe creativity of your teacher
for that wellness beats, so I'mcurious about who are these
teachers?
Who teaches our classes?
Where do they come from?
Speaker 2 (12:27):
For Project Challenge specifically, we kind of have
two sides.
We have a group of communitypeople, many of them potentially
retired, who are looking togive back to the community,
still work but provide somethingto give back.
And then we also have communitypartners that work with us.
(12:51):
We work very closely with theARC.
This Wellness Beats instructoralso does a chair one fitness
class and she has her ownbusiness and has worked with us.
We work very closely with theParamount and the movie theater
and Southway Bowl to help putthese activities together
(13:12):
abilities, create and developprograms and curriculum to teach
our classes.
Whether it be dream boards orself-advocacy, we've got a lot
(13:35):
of programming speaking to theirvoices being heard in the
community and making change,advocating for changes that they
want to see and support theywant to see.
It really comes from all over,but we do have a ton of support
from community organizationsreaching out to us saying that
they want to be supportingprograms that we have going on.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
And so that's really specialized Absolutely.
And Blair, I mean obviously,I'm assuming with aquatics.
You've got licensed peoplethere.
What about some of theseinterests Like what about an art
class, for example, or thefencing Sure?
How do you get teachers?
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Yeah, so it's kind of a mixture, you know, a mixed
bag of how we, how these classescome to be.
For aquatics specifically, theyare district employees.
Our instructors and lifeguardsare district employees.
Our instructors and lifeguardsare district employees.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
So that's, pretty straightforward.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
For our other classes .
It varies.
We've got high school athletics.
Whether it be the athletics orif they're running a youth
program.
A lot of times it's our activecoaches that will either
initiate with me that they'reinterested in running a class.
Many times they're districtemployees already and so they're
running those activities.
As far as instructors go for,maybe our art classes either, I
(14:55):
am out, you know, researchingwhether it be other community ed
programs, local businesses.
Sometimes we're approached.
We always have class proposallink on our website for anybody
that is interested in offeringmaybe a really specialized
activity.
Or you know they're an expertin an area.
They can submit that and theycan choose, you know, project
(15:17):
challenge, adult enrichment oryouth enrichment for who they
would like to be yeah.
Yeah, and so sometimes it'ssomebody that crosses and does
youth and adult and projectchallenge, which is always kind
of a benefit to us across theboard.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
So I think you answered one of my questions.
So if I have a particulartalent, let's say I'm amazing
knitter which I'm not, by theway, you could call my daughters
.
But I'm just using that as anexample.
So if I had this talent andit's something I would be
interested in working withcommunity ed what's the process
(15:55):
there?
How would I go about lettingyou all know that I have this
interest, that I'm willing toteach?
Speaker 3 (16:01):
For us that link online.
Otherwise, if you want toconnect directly by phone,
contacting our department isalways an option and then we can
.
We just talk through sort ofthe process.
You know what it entails, whatcompensation might look like
that sort of thing.
Sometimes people want to dothings you know and not be paid
like all of our high schoolcoaches and that sort of thing
(16:21):
for their youth programming.
It's all volunteer based For me.
They would contact eitherthrough the department directly
or through instructor proposal.
Sam, I don't know if you wantto speak to, if yours is
different, for Project Challenge.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
The process would generally be the same, depending
on what you're looking to offer.
When we do art classes, groupoutings, field trips, most of
the time we would take you on asa project challenge instructor,
which would be a districtemployee, and then from there
(16:54):
you can submit class proposalsfor things like our fitness
classes or our self-advocacyclasses those we do contract out
.
With the community partners thatyou mentioned with the
community partners, and thenthat would be that same process
that Blair just mentioned.
Otherwise, we do go through thedistrict employee avenue, and
(17:17):
then that also opens it up.
If they would like toparticipate in any of the other
classes we offer, then they alsohave that opportunity to
integrate themselves more intothe program in that way.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Yeah.
So we just hit 4th of July,which always like makes my
stomach roll over just a littlebit because I'm like, ah, how is
summer halfway through?
We've still got offerings,right, people can still sign up
this summer, correct?
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Yes absolutely.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
So, how do we go about doing that if we have an
interest in classes?
Speaker 2 (17:50):
We do have all of our offerings posted online at our
community ed website, which is awonderful website, very user
friendly, very administratorfriendly, and we also have our
catalogs.
Those get sent out three timesa year with all of our offerings
listed, so you can register.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
So it's not too late.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Nope, we do offer programming all year.
Our summer programming will gothrough about the beginning of
September or so right beforeschool starts.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Yeah, that's fabulous .
And then we'll roll right intofall and, blair, is that true
for Youth Enrichment as well?
It is.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Yeah, A few of our summer, end of the year, end of
the season, classes will rollinto the fall and then we run
right into fall.
We typically try and givefamilies a little settled time
into that back to school periodbut there really is no downtime
and classes are open and running.
People you know can join andsee what's still offered for the
remainder of the summer and seewhat interests them.
(18:45):
Our next catalog.
I was just going to say the fallcatalog is going to be here
before we know it.
We're already preparing, youknow, getting classes in and
planned, so that will go up forregistration about mid-August
and then the paper copy catalogthat goes out to everybody in
the community will go out.
Typically it's the end ofAugust, so lands and mailboxes
(19:07):
you know that first week ofSeptember typically.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
I want to thank you both again for coming on the
show today, because I think thatI'm just not sure to what
extent people are aware of theserich opportunities and that it
goes all through the summer andhow to go about it.
And I do want to shout that outbecause you both mentioned
going online and you're talkingabout the school district
(19:29):
website, which is the ISD742.org, and then by going to the
school district website you hitthat community, ed, and it's its
own website and you canregister for classes, do all of
that or, as you said, theinstructor proposals.
I just want to make sure thatbecause, again, I'm just not
sure the extent to which peoplerealize how many opportunities
(19:53):
are out there and I rememberfrom when I had school-aged
children, knowing that stuff wasgoing on in the summer and
getting my kids out In mychildren's cases it was their
nose in books, kids out In mychildren's cases it was their
nose in books, which is great,but all summer long, you know,
having those other opportunitiesand in outdoor the camps are
(20:14):
just so fabulous.
So thank you again so much andyou are so welcome and I don't
know if you are aware, but wehave this like tradition on
CoffeeCast you get a mug.
Thanks, You're so welcome.
I'm sorry I don't have thecoffee.
(20:34):
You do get to take home the mug, Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Yes, thank you for having us.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Really appreciate it.
Do you have a great podcastidea?
Submit your idea tocommunications at ISD742.org.
And thank you for listening to742 CoffeeCast, the best place
to stay informed and be inspiredby St Cloud Area School
District.
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