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MYC After School Program: March 2023

Jen Ward

 

We cannot believe that we are already in month seven of our After School Program, with over 500 registered members! This month on March 17th the Milford Youth Center will be open from 10:30 am – 3:00 pm for open gym (for registered after school members only) due to the half day at Milford Public schools for registered after school members only. For a look at the entire March calendar, click here.

The Milford Youth Center is excited to continue distributing weekend food bags! The MYC has partnered with Lovin’ Spoonful’s and their food rescue mission. Please let us know if you would like to get free groceries in March by completing this link here. Please only click if you can pick up the bags on Fridays, before 6 pm when we close! We will coordinate pick up times with all families that sign up. March pick-up days are as follows: March 3rd, 10th, 24th and the 31st. For more about Lovin’ Spoonful’s, click here.

The Milford Youth Center would also like to introduce our collaboration with the Hockomock Area YMCA and their Food Access Program! They will work collectively with our community to help alleviate food insecurity. Together, we will provide a Mobile Food Pantry monthly for members and their families. On March 21st from 4:30-6:00 pm, in the parking lot across the street from the Youth Center, food will be handed out from the YMCA food truck. A grocery bag of non-perishables will be distributed to any household and there is no sign-up necessary. For more information on the Y’s food access initiatives, click here.

This month the MYC is offering:

  • Open Gym, Game Room and Free Dinner & Snack: Open gym and the game room are non-structured program spaces, where youth are allowed free play and choose activities. Members are also able to get a free dinner and/or snack in the cafe/lounge area.
  • Arts & Crafts: Arts & Crafts is led by Program Coordinator, Joanna Abrantes. This program encourages youth to draw, paint, and craft projects to develop their artistic talents. Arts & Crafts gives kiddos a creative outlet that allows their imaginations to flourish and will be run on Tuesday March 7th, 14th, 21st, and the 28th.
  • Gardening: Youth will be able to help in a gardening themed craft on March 21st thanks to amazing volunteers Phyllis, Dorothy, and Sue Ellen from the Greenleaf Gardening Club!
  • STEAM: Our S.T.E.A.M program will run on March 3rd and the 31st where After School Members will be given the opportunity to do a hands-on activity involving science, technology, engineering, art, and math with our new curriculum funded by a grant from the Milford Cultural Council! We will continue our “Water on the Move” portion of the curriculum where the children will test different water temperatures to discover how it effects movement, they will also learn about water as a liquid and a solid along with the necessity of water to live in the S.T.E.A.M program in the month of March.
  • Weight Room: This program will be overseen by MYC staff. It will give kids, ages 12 to 18 an opportunity to use the weight equipment safely. This will take place on March 3rd, 10th and 23rd.
  • Nutrition: In collaboration with the Milford Regional Medical Center and Nadine from Connected and Inspired, the MYC will resume the Nutrition program on March 14th at 3:30. We are very excited to bring the importance of nutrition and the knowledge of making no-bake snacks for the kids who choose to participate. We also want the children to learn that this is something they can make for themselves! We’ve had a huge interest in this class in the past and hope to maintain the popularity by keeping it fun yet educational, while enforcing healthy-eating habits.
  • Social Emotional Learning: This program is designed to help our youth learn about and manage their emotions and interactions with others and build the core social and emotional competencies including self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, social awareness, and relationship skills need to succeed in school and thrive in life. This program is scheduled to run a few Wednesdays in every month during the school year beginning at 3:30 and will be run by Alisha Rojas-Harrison, CTRT-E and made possible by a $6,400 Community Grant from the Greater Milford Community Health Network (CHNA-6). Sign up is required. Together, the children thought up names for the group and then voted, they decided on a “F.O.N.F.I”, Fear of Not Fitting In, Name created by Evander Abrantes. This month, the program will be held on the March 1st.
  • Milford TV: Milford TV will be running their program, thanks to their amazing staff member, Mishelle. They give the students an opportunity to learn videography skills along with creating their own multi-media projects! This program will run on March 8th and the 22nd. You must sign up in advance (limited space)! Please contact our Program Coordinator here if interested in participating (you will be expected to attend these programs and get transportation to Milford TV once/month).
  • Quiet Zone: Quiet Zone will take place every Tuesday through Thursday this month. It offers students a quiet space to access our computer lab and to do their homework or read.
  • Life Skills: This is a new program in honor of our former board member Ron Taylor. The Life Skills program is going to teach our youth skills that can carry them into their adult years. This month’s program will be an introductory to proper use and safety of handling woodworking tools and the group will also build their own bird house on Wednesday, March 29th! This program is for registered after school members only. David Abrantes will conduct this class as a father of current after school members and a volunteer of the Youth Center.  An email with more details will be sent to parents and guardians. If you are interested and have not received the email, please call the center. This will also be a program that requires advance sign ups and commitment.
  • Boxing/Kickboxing: The Boxing portion of this program will be run by volunteer, Brian Bell. Brian was trained by Coach Pablo Ramos beginning in the Natick and Framingham area. Brian is a boxing coach with over 52 years of coaching and boxing experience. He is a Milford resident and has volunteered in running the boxing program at the youth center in the past. The goal of the program is to teach self-confidence, respect, and discipline with an incredible physical work out. His personal hope is for the students to see their progression from their hard work in the program! In collaboration with the Milford Public Schools, Victor Canino, Milford High School’s Supervisor of Attendance, will be incorporating a Kick-Boxing program. Victor has been involved in kickboxing since 1995. During that time, he studied various martial arts. He is an instructor under IMB Academy in California under Richard Bustillo and the AMAC in Massachusetts. He is currently working on becoming an instructor with FCS Kali organization. While working for the Federal Court as a probation officer, Victor was an adjunct defensive tactics instructor at the national training academy. This program will run on Thursdays, on the 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd and the 30th of March at 3:30.
  • Nail Painting: On Friday, March 10th, a staff member will be doing some fun St. Patricks Day nail designs!
  • MYC Book Club: We are very excited to continue our Book Club initially Create by Girl Scout Carly Haley! With the help of Emily, our Assistant Director, books have been carefully selected that are interesting, culturally impactful, and age appropriate with life lessons in each book for the Book Club members to read this year. Samantha Cesario of the Milford Public Library has volunteered to run this club. The club will be held this month on Thursdays, the dates are the 2nd, 9th, 23rd and the 30th at 4:00. There will not be Book Club on the 16th.
  • Dance with Iliana: One of our outstanding part-time staff, Iliana Gonzalez has been dancing for 15 plus years! She began dancing as a little girl at the Milford Dance Center and then moved to Connecticut and danced for a studio on their competition dance team. When she began college at Bridgewater State University, she danced on the hip hop team. She has experience in many genres of dance such as hip hop, tap, jazz, lyrical, ballet, contemporary and modern. Dancing has always been an outlet for her to express herself and to keep herself motivated, and in doing this program at the Milford Youth Center, she hopes to bring that same feeling to any child who joins. Dance will be held on Mondays this month. The dates are the 6th, 13th, 20th and the 27th. For March, the dance program will begin at 4:00 and end at 5:00. This will also be a program that requires advance sign ups and commitment.
  • March Madness: This is a wonderful event for the after-school youth members to get active, stay team orientated and get involved in some fun competition. This will be a 3-week long, double elimination, 3 vs. 3 tournaments! All the youth participants will receive a T-shirt, along with trophies and medals being awarded at the end of the tournament to second and first place participants! Games will be played on Mondays and Wednesdays at 3:30 during our after-school program. All members of the youth center who would like to participate may sign up at the Center by Wednesday March 1st at 3:00. There will be a mandatory meeting on Wednesday, March 1st at 3:30 to discuss dates, times, rules and to draft teams! On March 22nd, the March Madness Championship games will take place followed by a 3-Point contest. New this year, on March 24th we will have our first annual March Madness Staff vs. MVP Youth game which will begin at 3:30 p.m. MVP players will be selected by their peers and staff. MVP players will show excellent sportsmanship, leadership, and skill.
  • MYC Youth Council: The MYC Youth Council is a leadership and community service-based group, created to encourage MYC members to help make a difference in the community through facilitating several youth community events as well as taking part in volunteer opportunities! Registered after-school members, ranging in ages from 8-18, can join this program and commit to making changes together!  Paige, our full time Social Capital Inc. AmeriCorps member will be restarting the MYC Youth Council, which has not been running since prior to COVID! The Youth Council will be held weekly beginning on March 14th at 4:30 pm. If interested in participating, please email Paige here: Milford Youth Center milfordyouthcenter@townofmilford.com

The Milford Youth Center hosts many different events and activities throughout the year for the youth of Milford and the Milford Schools. The Youth Center’s after school program is open for youth ages 8-18, free of charge, from 2:15-6pm, Monday through Friday. Only students registered by 1PM each day will be allowed to attend (10 am on vacation weeks). Any forms received after 1PM (or 10 am on vacation weeks), will be allowed to attend the following program day, if completed correctly. This is to ensure we have adequate time to process registrations.

  • That Milford Youth Center is not licensed by the Department of Early Education and Care or any other state agency;
  • Registered youth may arrive at or depart from the program at any time during their time at the program.
  • As of Monday, February 28, 2022, we will be mask optional. It is important to note that we will support all members and staff who choose to wear a mask after the mandate is lifted. It is possible if conditions shift that masks may be required again sometime in the future as well. This does not change our policy in terms of attending being sick and/or having COVID symptoms. If you don’t go to school due to any type of illness you are not allowed to attend the Center;
  • Please make sure your child brings a water bottle with them daily, to refill;
  • There is no hanging out in front of the MYC property unless students are waiting to enter and/or to be picked up;
  • All students must be picked up by the time of closing, unless they walk home. Pick-up is outside of the youth center at 24 Pearl St (use intercom to communicate with the front desk);
  • The Youth Center is not responsible for the care or supervision of children beyond program closing time;
  • All lost and found items without names on them are donated and/or recycled (water bottles) at the end of each month as it accumulates quickly! Please remind your child/participant to check daily as they exit;
  • Please visit our polices here: behavioral, weather, health and traffic.
  • For video of rules, produced by Milford TV click here (video was made prior to mask optional, just FYI).

All participants of the Youth Center must annually fill out our registration form to be a member. Once this form is completed, members will receive a key tag and ID number if they are new to the program. This is our way of tracking attendance, so please make sure all members bring their key tag in order to enter. If key tags are lost, the Youth Center will charge $1.00 for a replacement.

The Youth Center also offers a free snack and dinner program, due to the collaboration of CACFP, Hockomock Area YMCA, and the Milford School Food & Nutrition Services department. Members will also be able to use our washer and dryer, free of charge, during our hours of operation.

For online registration forms click below:

COVID Update: If your child has been exposed to a COVID 19 positive person, or has symptoms of COVID 19, please do not send your child to Youth Center as they may expose others. Keep them home and get them tested. Your child must stay home until you are notified of the test results and if positive, please get guidance from the Milford Board of Health. If your child is not going to school due to any type of sickness, then they should not be attending the after school program.

Effective August 15, 2022, children and staff in child care, K-12, out-of-school time (OST) and recreational camp settings should follow the below guidance:

  • A rapid antigen test, such as a self-test, is preferred to a PCR test in most situations.
  • To count days for isolation, Day 0 is the first day of symptoms OR the day the day positive test was taken, whichever is earlier.
    Contact tracing is no longer recommended or required in these settings, but schools or programs must continue to work with their Local Board of Health in the case of outbreaks.
  • The Commonwealth is not recommending universal mask requirements, surveillance testing of asymptomatic individuals, contact tracing, or test-to-stay testing in schools. While masks are not required or recommended in these settings except for in school health offices, any individual who wishes to continue to mask, including those who face higher risk from COVID-19, should be supported in that choice. For those who need or choose to mask, masking is never required in these settings while the individual is eating, drinking, sleeping or outside.
  • All individuals are encouraged to stay up-to-date with vaccination as vaccines remain the best way to help protect yourself and others.

Isolation and exposure guidance and protocols: Guidance for Children and Staff in Child Care, K-12, OST, and Recreational Camp Settings:

  • Quarantine is no longer required nor recommended for children or staff in these settings, regardless of vaccination status or where the exposure occurred. All exposed individuals may continue to attend programming as long as they remain asymptomatic. Those who can mask should do so until Day 10, and it is recommended that they test on Day 6 of exposure. If symptoms develop, follow the guidance for symptomatic individuals, below.
  • Children and staff who test positive must isolate for at least 5 days. If they are asymptomatic or symptoms are resolving and they have been fever free without the use of fever-reducing medicine for 24 hours, they may return to programming after Day 5 and should wear a high-quality mask through Day 10:
    • If the individual is able to mask, they must do so through Day 10.
      • If the child has a negative test on Day 5 or later, they do not need to mask.
      • If the individual is unable to mask, they may return to programming with a negative test on Day 5 or later.
    • Symptomatic individuals can remain in their school or program if they have mild symptoms, are tested immediately onsite, and that test is negative. Best practice would also include wearing a mask, if possible, until symptoms are fully resolved. For symptomatic individuals, DPH recommends a second test within 48 hours if the initial test is negative.
      • If the symptomatic individual cannot be tested immediately, they should be sent home and allowed to return to their program or school if symptoms remain mild and they test negative, or they have been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and their symptoms are resolving, or if a medical professional makes an alternative diagnosis. A negative test is strongly recommended for return.

COVID-19 Symptoms for Child Care, K-12, OST, and Recreational Camps:

  • Fever (100.0° Fahrenheit or higher), chills, or shaking chill
  • Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
  • Muscle aches or body aches
  • New loss of taste or smell
  • Cough (not due to other known cause, such as chronic cough)
  • Sore throat, when in combination with other symptoms
  • Headache, when in combination with other symptoms
  • Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea, when in combination with other symptoms
  • Fatigue, when in combination with other symptoms
  • Nasal congestion or runny nose (not due to other known causes, such as allergies) when in combination with other symptoms\