Over the past couple years, Dee Dee participated in afterschool activities that were offered by the school district’s Community Education program.  Two years ago, she was in Readers’ Theater, last year she did Musical Theater for half the year and Future Scientists for the second half of the year.  She enjoyed the Readers’ Theater course, and liked the teacher who ran it.  Unfortunately, the teacher hasn’t offered the course since.  The Musical Theater class was run by a lady from a company that the school hired to come in and run the afterschool activities.  Dee Dee had a good time at the time but hasn’t been interested in doing anything similar since.  She really liked the Future Scientists course, even though there wasn’t a teacher for first few sessions and the kids were lumped in with another group (which was not remotely sciencey) or just sent home.  Eventually, one of the kid’s dad volunteered to teach the course.  For the most part, I think that what she likes is being able to hang out at school with kids at school without having to do “school.”   

So far, there hasn’t been any information about what courses are going to be offered after school this year.  We have been told that the courses are scheduled to start mid-October.  We’re in the second week of October, now.  So, I thought that we would have heard what the options will be by now, if they are going to offer anything.   

A couple weeks ago, Dee Dee came home from school and said that kids who had signed up for the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) course were given paperwork to have their parents sign.  She felt left out, even though she wasn’t quite sure what the course was all about.  So, I looked up information about the program on the school’s web site.  For the first half of the year, the students build some sort of Lego robot and for the second half of the year they build a rocket.  There were two typos in the description.  After hearing that the program ran the entire length of the school year, Dee Dee wasn’t as interested.  So, we decided to wait until we learned what other afterschool activities would be offered, if any.   

Dee Dee and Audio are both doing swimming lessons through Community Education on Wednesday nights.  When we were at the pool last week, I saw the woman from the Community Ed program who ran the afterschool program at the girls’ school last year.  She said that the person who is running the program is still working out what classes will be offered.  So, I mentioned how Dee Dee had been interested in the STEM program and asked if she thought that the teacher running the program would allow Dee Dee to sit in for the first week.  She thought that the teacher would allow that, since there is traditionally a rather small group of kids interested in the program, especially girls. 

Dee Dee didn’t say where she heard the information, but she said that the teacher in question wanted to retire last year but was talked into sticking around for one more year.  And, when my wife and I volunteered for the end of the year, Field Day last year, the teacher was wearing a medical boot on one of her feet.  Kids kept bumping into it and upsetting her.  She didn’t seem to have the temperament of a grade school teacher.   

So, I didn’t expect much when I emailed the teacher and explained that Dee Dee would like to learn more about the course and asked if students were welcome to show up for the first week of classes to see if they are interested. I kept the email as brief as I could while working in all of the information that I thought would encourage the teacher to invite Dee Dee to sit in for the first week.  The teacher responded with one line, “We like to have students stay the whole time but completely understand if they decide it isn’t for them!”  So, I thanked her for her time and told Dee Dee that we’d wait to see what other options there will be for afterschool activities.