The Abingdon-Avon school district is pursuing a federal grant for after-school programming for students in the district’s middle school.
Currently, District 276 has utilized the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant to operate an after-school youth and family-focused group for high school students.
Superintendent Dr. Mike Curry tells WGIL that the five-year grant funds a coordinator position that organizes lots of different activities for students that may fall through the cracks — are not part of after school athletics or have jobs.
“It’s a place for them to go and meet and hang out with other students and work with staff. They do anything from play board games to weight train, to video games, to cooking, to art,” said Superintendent Curry. “It’s just a great program. And then we do family and community events. We [did] a paint night. We did a wreath — Christmas wreath night and other. So it’s just a great program and we’re just thinking about bringing that to the middle school.”
Dr. Curry says the school board gave him the nod to apply for the grant to create a similar group for middle schoolers at the district’s meeting Wednesday night.
Curry also updated the board on the IHSA’s return to play for fall sports.
Student-athletes are getting back into the groove of things with summer workouts ahead of what is supposed to be the fall sports season.
Curry says students are working on things like cardio and endurance, weight training and calisthenics. He says that while routes can’t be run and students can’t handle footballs or basketballs, it’s a start.
“It’s a start. It gets our kids back engaged with their coaches. I know every athletic program in the state is excited to see the fact they can get back with their athletes. If we enter phase four at the end of the month then things will change a little bit more.”
Curry says that for now, social distancing and masks are the norms and while he doesn’t know yet what that means, he says that, once they see what the second stage of the IHSA’s “return to play” looks like, the district will have a better idea of how to play for it.
He adds that every day that there is any kind of summer contact between students and coaches, temperatures will be taken.
