Backpacks lined up at the Ferguson Family YMCA in Downtown Green Bay. (IMAGE: WTAQ News)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – The Greater Green Bay YMCA is preparing to provide assistance for parents who are looking for places to keep an eye on their kids as a virtual start to the school year approaches.
The Green Bay Area Public School District is set to start their fall semester fully virtual, and local YMCA’s are responding to help students with more than just their basic educational needs.
“The Y’s response was to establish more continued work towards our Y Learning Academy, which will allow families who have a need for their children to be in a safe space that is supervised while still virtually learning with their home school district…We’re providing that safe space for them to come. Most of them will have their own devices issued by their school district, but we will be able to provide those as well,” says Vice President of Programs and Innovation Kathleen McKee, “They’ll have that academic time throughout the day, and then in addition to that, our staff will be providing those those mental brain breaks that they might need to get up and get moving. We all know the kids can’t sit and learn virtually all day long nor should they.”
Those extra activities include things like enrichment clubs, where youth might spend an afternoon doing STEM-related activities or theater improv. McKee says providing a rounded experience is important – as it enhances academic learning with social emotional learning as well.
Some parents may still be concerned about putting their children into a group setting. However, McKee believes the measures being taken should increase their comfort-level of sending their kids to the Y while they head to work.
Children participating in day learning activities at the Ferguson Family YMCA in Downtown Green Bay. (IMAGE: WTAQ News)
“We’ve adapted all of our practices around good guidance with the county and with the CDC as well. Our kids this summer are wearing masks, our staff have been masked throughout, and they’re really getting pretty good at that social distancing piece with some reminders as well,” McKee tells WTAQ News, “Really setting that expectation, then positively reinforcing it. We certainly don’t want to be punitive and say ‘Oh put that on,’ or be shameful about it, because it’s something new for everybody…Surprisingly, the kids do really well with the masks so far. Sometimes better than adults.”
The exact plans are still in the works, but McKee predicts more information on where sites are going to be located, who they will be serving, and how families can register to be released within the next few weeks.
For more information about the Greater Green Bay YMCA and services they provide, click here.
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