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Out-of-School Time (OST) Initiative (Wicomico County FY17-FY20) Annual

Story Behind the Curve

FY19: As we continue to provide programming that is engaging for students as well as encouraging academic achievement, we are continually seeing improvement in both the academic and social aspects of students’ lives. Additionally, Epoch staff members strive to have meaningful relationships with each child. Each staff member makes a significant effort to understand each student, knowing that all students have different needs. Staff get to know their strengths, weaknesses, goals, families, passion and interests. Epoch staff use this knowledge to individually plan programming and give each student what they need to be successful. Epoch staff participated in annual performance reviews this quarter, a professional development meeting discussing classroom management and personal feedback sessions with the program director. These staff enhancement strategies are
utilized to strengthen the staff as a team, and to improve services and function of the program.


The final months of the school year are always challenging for students across the board, not just EPOCH students. Students typically have trouble finding motivation to put forth great effort and end strong when summers feels so close. EPOCH staff put alot of effort into encouraging students to work hard all the way to the end. Students repeat it everyday as one of the established EPOCH codes and as part of a daily mantra: "Today is a good day..... everyday I will be educated and empowered by my teachers with the tools to be successful within my community and throughout the country. I apply myself daily. I study and I ask questions when I don't understand... I work hard!" 

FY18, the LMB decided to choose only one vendor instead of three (3) from FY17. 

FY19, the LMB continued with one vendor. 

Partners

FY19: We have continued to partner with Salisbury University and UMES to offer volunteer opportunities and internships to students. Additionally, we have continued our partnership with BBBS to obtain background checks at a discounted rate and with ShoreCorps/PALS to have two members serve at our site. Boy Scouts of America has reinstated our Epoch cub scout pack this quarter; the young boys look forward to their regular meetings.

 

Salisbury University

UMES

Boy Scouts of America

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Eastern Shore

Shore/Corps/PALS

Dr. George Whitehead

United Way

Community volunteers and mentors

Bless Our Children

The Pajama Program

The Restoration Project

Providence Presbyterian

Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore

What Works

As EPOCH continues to provide programming that is engaging for students as well as encouraging academic performance, the staff continues to see improvement in both the academic and social aspects of student's lives. Additionally, EPOCH staff strives to have a meaningful relationship with each child. By learning their likes, dislikes, interests, showing up to school events, etc, the staff believes their are investing in each child, encouraging them to do their best, and as a result seeing them excel. EPOCH provides summer camp to students and will also be incorporating activities that will provide physical exercise, interest-based exploration and mental stimulation in addition to breakfast and lunch. 

Strategy

Academic enrichment activities through out of school time programming offered from Monday-Thursday from 2:50 pm to 6:30 pm on days when Wicomico County schools are open for kindergarten through 8th grade students during the 2018-2019 school year.

EPOCH will continue to provide programming that is engaging for students as well as encouraging academic achievment, the staff continually sees improvement in the children in both academic and social aspects of their lives. Additionally EPOCH Staff members strive to have meaningful relationships with each child. Each staff memver makes a significant effort to understand each student, knowing that all students have different needs. Staff get to know their strengths, weaknesses, goals, families, passions, and interests. EPOCH staff use this knowledge to individually plan programming and give each student what they need to be successful. For Half Year 2 of FY19, EPOCH is already looking into a new series of engaging and interest based extra-curricular activities, and build upon the foundation, both academically and socially. 

Action Plan

EPOCH will also continue to offer programming to enrolled students next quarter in FY19 that will include: Reading Development, Homework Assistance, Physical Activities, Interest Hour Activities, and Dinner. The staff will continue to utilize volunteers and mentors to help provide programming. 

FY19 Annual: We will continue to offer programming to enrolled students next quarter, including: reading development, homework assistance, physical activities, interest hour activities, and dinner. We will also continue to utilize volunteers and mentors to help provide programming. Staff will continue to participate in monthly professional development trainings and feedback sessions with the program director to enhance services to clients. Directors will lead a week of professional development, training and planning meetings for new and returning teachers at the end of the summer. This week will lead to a strong start of the 2019-2020 school year where students are given every resource needed to be successful, including effective program staff.

Who We Serve

The prioritized indicator is Academic Performance, Truancy, and Juvenile Felony Arrests. 

How We Impact

Governor Larry Hogan has prioritized this result to help communities become safe for children, youth, and families and help children become successful in school. 

Program Summary

School aged youth attending school in Wicomico County, Maryland. Programs will adopt and apply the Maryland Out of School Time Quality Standards Framework and shall share and review the framework with all program staff. 

Target Population

  • Incarceration Homelessness​​​​​​
  • Social Isolation
  • Neglect
  • Financial Hardships
  • Free & Reduce meals program

K-8th grade school age youth attending school in Wicomico County, Maryland. Preference will be given to programs that service 50% or more of the students impacted by incarceration (a parent or guardian is incarcerated and/or the student is involved in the juvenile justice system). 

Governor's Strategic Goal

Reduce the Impact of Parental Incareration on Children, Families, and Communities.

Local Highlight

Half year of FY19 did not disappoint, as it was full of exciting activities in additional to daily programming. In October, the students participated in what is called "Reverse Trick or Treating". Everyone dressed up in costume, went door to door around Hebron MD area, but instead of recieving candy, gave candy away. It was an amazing lesson for the children about the powerful impact of giving, which can be hard to learn while growing up. The neighborhood seems to always be so surprised by the children in their neighborhood handing THEM candy: they are grateful. The children loves to see the reactions of people they look forward to this event each year. 

For this quarter’s highlights, we would like to share a mentoring story. One of our male mentors has been mentoring an Epoch participant for almost six years. In this time, they have formed an incredible bond of trust, encouragement and a mutual respect for one another. Even the mentor’s children call him an uncle. They have shared a lot of great experiences over the past years, including going to sporting events, college tours, going to the movies, time spent with family and having incredible, matching halloween costumes. This is especially impressive, considering that our mentors are not required to meet with mentees outside of program hours. This mentor has gone above and beyond. Of all of these experiences, our very favorite event took place in Q4 of this year. The mentor is a prominent figure in the community, previously having worked in government relations. Through his connections, the mentor was able to arrange a meeting for the mentee and Speaker Adrienne Jones of the House of Delegates. The mentor says this about their experience: “Several months ago, (my mentee) warmed my heart by sharing with me that he wanted to pursue a career in government affairs because he
wanted to help people in his community. One of the greatest examples is Speaker Adrienne Jones of the Maryland House of Delegates. We’re simply blown away by the time she gave us this morning, sharing her story and her journey to the speakership. Not to mention, I can’t believe that she let (my mentee) sit in her chair in the House of Delegates Chamber!” We are so thrilled that this mentor was able to provide his mentee with his experience that could potentially shape his future career and life choices. We are adamant believers that relationships are the key to life change. When relationships are formed, we have the right to encourage success and influence choices. This mentor is a prime example of the meaningful impact of relationships and the selflessness that we should all strive to emulate for the next generation. This is just one example of what is happening in our mentoring relationships; we have the best mentors! Additional highlights from Q4 include the “thank you” picnic held for our mentors and volunteers, and the annual picnic held for families of the students at the end of the year. The Epoch directors also held a parent meeting to give end of year information, the opportunity to enroll students for the next school year’s program, and to give parents information on the upcoming Epoch summer camp. In Q4, our students continued participating in interest hour clubs. Every Tuesday, the students choose between meeting with their cub scout pack, the soccer club, art club or music and dance club. Tuesdays are the favorite day of the week for everyone. In Q4, our directors continued to implement professional development sessions which included a staff meeting on class management and summer camp preparation. Our directors also continued staff feedback times with each staff member bi-weekly. These tools have been positively impacting the services offered by staff and will continue to enhance the program as they continue in future quarters.

Data Discussion

FY19 Demographics: 

Female- 18
Male- 22
White- 16
African American- 22
Biracial-2
Income - 100% of the students enrolled in the Epoch Dream Center's after-school and summer program must be enrolled in the Free And Reduced Meals Program (FARM) through the Wicomico County Board of Education or identified as a Family In Transition (FIT ie. homeless). The students enrolled in FARM are eligible to receive free
breakfast and lunch if they are living less than 30% above the Federal Poverty Level guidelines or reduced priced breakfast and lunch if they are living at less than 85% above of the Federal Poverty Level guidelines.

 

In 2016 and 2017 we had 3 OOST vendors- EPOCH Dream Center, TRIBE, and WISE

In 2018 we contract with one vendor-EPOCH Dream Center. The numbers will be less due to having only one awarded vendor. The Local Management Board decided to provide a higher level of care by focusing on one awarded vendor. 

During 2018, EPOCH served 50 children in grades K-8th, of which 34 were students impacted by incarceration. 

Measurement Tool Used

The data provided will be collected through participant surveys, communication with Department of Juvenile System, and report cards. For the data related to program participation and hours, attendance sheets and enrollment forms were used. 

Measures

Time
Period
Current Actual Value
Current Target Value
Current
Trend
Baseline
% Change

Clear Impact Suite is an easy-to-use, web-based software platform that helps your staff collaborate with external stakeholders and community partners by utilizing the combination of data collection, performance reporting, and program planning.

Scorecard Container Measure Action Actual Value Target Value Tag S A m/d/yy m/d/yyyy