When the Katz JCC was considering a new after-school program for kids in grades six to eight, officials didn’t want it to be just a place to do homework or participate in activities.
“My purpose was to create a program that is not only a cool program for sixth to eighth graders, but make it an enticing and interesting program,” said Kenny Einhorn, director of children and family programs for Katz JCC.
The JCC ended up creating J Crew, an after-school program where middle school students have the chance to participate in community service and leadership opportunities as well as give the students a choice in what activities they’d like to participate in.
Set to begin in September when school opens, J Crew is an after-school program specifically for kids in middle school. Unlike the Just 4 Kids after-school program for kids in kindergarten to fifth grade, J Crew will allow the kids to have greater independence and choice in how they want to spend their time.
“It’s a lot more flexible program,” Einhorn said. “We’re going to give the kids structured independence. If they decided they want to go play basketball for a half hour and the gym’s open, that’s OK.”
A large component of J Crew is the opportunity to perform community service both on and off the JCC campus. Kids will have the chance to participate in community service and Mitzvah projects at the neighboring Saltzman Housing for seniors.
“We’ll probably do some projects outside of the JCC such as meet at the Animal Orphanage,” Einhorn said. “We’ve also been in touch with the Jewish Family and Services program.”
One of the goals Einhorn hopes to achieve with J Crew is to help the teens become leaders in their communities. The JCC plans to have a number of speakers talk to the kids.
“We will line up a number of speakers, such as business leaders, maybe the mayor and other important individuals in the community,” Einhorn said.
Some of J Crew’s programming will be similar to Just 4 Kids. There will be homework assistance available, kids will have access to all of the JCC’s facilities and there will also be special events.
To get the kids to the JCC each day, transportation is being provided for free from the middle schools in Cherry Hill, Marlton and Voorhees as well as Kellman Brown Academy in Voorhees.
Understanding the number of after-school activities middle school students have, Einhorn said kids don’t have to come to J Crew right after school. Participating kids can be picked up later in the afternoon if they want to stay at school for a club or activity.
Einhorn said there was a lot of demand for a separate after-school program for middle school students. The JCC’s goal was to come up with something to keep the kids social and active.
“Instead of them just going home and being on the computer, we wanted to have them in a social setting with other middle school kids,” he said.
Einhorn hopes J Crew not only gives middle school students something to do after school, but also gets them more involved in their communities.
“We have some regular scheduled programs at the JCC for that age group,” he said. “So hopefully they’ll want to take part in our other teen programs.”
Registration is now open for J Crew. For more information on the program or how to register, email Einhorn at keinhorn@jfedsnj.org or visitwww.katzjcc.org/afterschool.
