Malden Out-of-School Time

The MOST Program is excited to launch our newsletter in a new online format! We will be publishing one newsletter that includes our four schools for each of our 10-11 week enrichment sessions in the fall, winter and spring. We are looking forward to sharing photos, artwork, stories and more from our Afterschool Programs at Beebe MOST & CCC, Forestdale, Linden and Salemwood!

We began the school year by reuniting with old friends and welcoming new participants into our program! The past three months have been incredibly busy with activities and events. The kids are having a great time and clubs are back in full swing. Here’s a look at what each grade level has been up to:

Mrs. Whitney (K-1) and our tiny but mighty kiddos have enjoyed reading stories in the Eric Carle Club, being creative in Oh NO, Play Doh!, learning about various holidays in the Calendar Club, and also discovering a variety of wildlife in Animals Around the World.

Mrs. Zahid (2nd-3rd) explored the deep blue sea in Ocean’s Blue, problem solved in Think Math, got crafty in Art In Motion all while discovering new books in Read, Write, Think.

Mrs. Esposito (4th-6th) Our older students were excited to take a trip around the world in the Passport Club where they learned about different countries' traditions and cultures.

Students got creative in the Makers Club designing their own jewelry using a variety of supplies and skills. In Art Thief, they researched the life and work of an artist and then worked together to recreate their own masterpiece each week.

This year we celebrated Veterans day with a special guest, Sergeant Carroll from the Malden Police Department. Sergeant Carroll, a 20 year Marine Veteran gave a presentation on the various Armed Forces that serve and defend our nation. The students ended the day by writing letters of gratitude to our veterans for their service. For the second year in a row, the letters were mailed to the Chelsea Soldier’s Home.

Special thank you to Rosemary from UMA (Urban media Arts) who introduced us to soapstone sculpting where the children were able to carve out their very own design using a variety of materials.

Congratulations to our four Students of the Month who have demonstrated RESPECT, POSITIVITY, DETERMINATION, and KINDNESS. Keep up the great work!

During Session 1, Beebe students had the opportunity to build strong relationships with their peers while engaging in recreational and educational activities and games. They worked on several seasonal art projects and spent many days playing outside. Students worked hard on homework and explored various books during dedicated reading time.

In early October, we welcomed our Enrichment Clubs! One of the student's favorites was the Kids’ Test Kitchen, where students created delicious recipes such as dirt pudding, funny pizza faces, cornucopia cones, and many more.

In the Sports Center Club, students learned about different sports and technical skills for each sport. They got to play basketball and soccer, which were crowd favorites, as well as enjoying some extra time for free gym time.

Students built, measured, computed, and calculated while having fun in STEM Gems! We participated in weekly challenges including the following:

• 100 Cup Tower Challenge: Using only plastic cups, work with your group to build the tallest tower within a 10 minute timeframe
• Straw Boat Challenge: Build a boat from straws and packing tape to test which boat could hold the most weight without sinking
• Paper Chain Challenge: Using a single piece of paper, make the longest chain possible in the given amount of time

Art Thief gave the students an opportunity to learn about famous artists and their style of art such as Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Georgia O’Keeffe and more. Our talented artists painted, colored, drew and made sculptures.

Throughout the week, students earned tickets when they demonstrated their REACH values which are Respect, Effort, Accountability, Consideration, and Honesty. Fridays at Beebe have been joyful; we called them Fun Fridays, as students got extra playing time and earned prizes for our weekly raffle. We also gathered as a whole group to reflect on the week. Students gave feedback on all the activities they had during the week, and we used the comments to improve our lessons for the following week.

It has been an honor to be a part of the Beebe community, and I can't wait to show you all the fantastic projects we have lined up for the next Session.

Can you build a boat using nothing but straws and tape? Our Beebe students took on the challenge! Check out our designs below.

Session 1 of the MOST Forestdale Afterschool Program has flown by! This school year we have 3 groups at the Forestdale, K-1 students, 2-4th graders and 4th-6th graders. Students and staff have been busy participating in daily clubs and have been trying to enjoy as much outside time as possible before the cold settles in.

Our younger students engaged in Music Club, arts and crafts projects and kids Zumba! They also had a weekly board game club where they learned to play a variety of games and then created their own board games.

The 2nd-4th grade group explored space, learned to code and worked on creating their own comics. Extra, extra, read all about it… the Comic Book Club is having their final masterpieces printed in a book!

And our older students have had fun with STEM Gems challenges, arts and crafts projects and board game competitions. For their STEM challenges students needed to work as a team, think creatively and test their ideas.

One of the highlights for all groups has definitely been the weekly food art or baking projects. All their creations have tasted as delicious as they’ve looked!

In October, we also had an exciting half day Friday with a visit from Curious Creatures where students held snakes, had chinchillas sit on their heads, and we even had a slimy frog pee on one of our staff! That afternoon also included a special pizza delivery and watching Toy Story.

Later on that month, our team also put together a fun Fall Fest for students with cookie decorating, goodie bag designing, a pumpkin investigation and fun games. One of our students even guessed within 18, the total number of seeds inside the pumpkin!

Half days are super fun when Curious Creatures stops by with some animal friends! :)

Clubs are back at the Linden MOST Program and we had a BLAST this fall! Here’s a peek at some of our fall favorites:

Dungeons and Dragons - The students created strange and exciting characters. The dungeon master, Mr. Didie, took this party of adventurers to a mysterious shipyard where the workers had gone MISSING! The party solved the mystery of the missing workers, foiled the evil plot of a monster, and had a rocking good time to boot.

Tabletop Games (K-3) - Each week Ms. Gen provided a large variety of tabletops to the younger students. They played Clue Junior, Monopoly Junior, Jenga, as well several other classic games. The children learned to play these games while also learning important social skills.

Read & Craft - Each week Ms. Alisha paired a seasonal story with a craft. Some of our favorite creations included oil pastel skeletons and Picasso Turkeys!

Pokemon Club - Ms. Alisha had our trainers learn about different types of Pokemon. She had them craft their own deck boxes and pokemon stadiums. Then the group began to learn the basics of playing the Pokemon card game. Soon they will all be Pokemon Masters!

Recycling Club - Students help their school and the environment by completing the weekly recycle pickup for the whole school. They work in teams with a teacher to clean up the hallways and make the world a better place.

Mystery Club - Over the course of ten weeks these students have been transformed into full blown detectives! Each week they solved cases and cracked Ms. Alisha’s secret codes.

Improv - Mr. Anthony taught this crew how to think on their feet. With a combination of improv games and quick thinking skills these improv performers are now ready for primetime players!

Our students also enjoyed a lot of outdoor and gym time and making new friends. We are looking forward to new adventures in 2023!

We love edible activities! YUM!

Little Dragon

In September, students kicked off the new school year with a new class schedule. It included homework support, a Chinese class, and one enrichment class with different subjects every day, such as Arts & Crafts, Weiqi (GO) and Chinese Culture.

In Chinese classes, our students learned many Chinese greeting phrases as a starting point, like hello and goodbye in different ways, and learned a number of counting songs. We learned to recognize basic Chinese characters, practiced simple sentences, and sang Chinese songs throughout the semester. To provide students with an immersive learning environment, we explored the different types of Chinese architecture, created a Chinese pagoda, played Tangram, and even designed our own blue and white Chinese porcelain.

For tutoring/homework support classes, once homework was complete, students could focus on crafting their own art. Some of them even started to create storylines along with their pictures. Older students were encouraged to journal their daily activities through an art journal. We also introduced Chinese folk games during the activity time. Everyone loved it and was eager to try it.

Another great addition to our curriculum is the new musical lessons (Hulusi and Violin). Students have been practicing very hard and can now play some simple songs by themselves.

The fall semester is always full of celebrations. We painted our favorite mooncakes, learned the history, and read the legend of the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. Our spooktacular Halloween party was a highlight as well. Students loved face painting, Jack-O-Balloon and the dart games. We had so much fun together!

Time flies, and it is hard to believe that the semester is almost over. I wish our Little Dragons' families all the very best for the holidays and look forward to welcoming you all back.

We are happy to announce that since September, we have been able to increase our enrollment at all four schools. Our district enrollment has grown by 65% from last year and as we continue to hire additional staff, we will continue to expand our capacity.

We are looking forward to Session 2 which starts on January 3, 2023. We wish you all a healthy and happy holiday season. See you next year!

Email: mpsafterschool@maldenps.org
Website: https://maldenps.org/mpsbeforeafterschoolprograms/
Location: 529 Salem Street, Malden, MA, USA
Phone: 781-870-7684