What Is Not

Going On At
3pm?

After 3pm
At Waldon Middle School in Lake Orion, Michigan not a lot happens for a large group of our
students after school is out for the day, or in other words too much of what should not be
happening, happens. Whether it is staying at school without any intended purpose, going home to
video games and YouTube, or making incorrect decisions that could develop a long term
destructive pattern; there is no question that many of Waldons students are left alone physically
or psychologically, and in some cases both. As a result far too many students are at school when
school is out without anywhere to go or at home with no supervision possibly making destructive
choices.

Waldon Middle Schools location within the community is one that lends itself to as well as
creates a great need for a quality after-school program. The immediate surroundings of the
school consist of low income apartments and housing. Within these housing complexes we
receive the vast majority of our lower socio-economic students and minority students. Daily,
many of these students choose to stay after school and hang around in the hallways or outside
because it is a more desirable option for them than returning home. Unfortunately, the programs
that we offer are either seasonal athletic and or niche sponsored programs one day a week for a
few weeks at a time. As always there is a money component to registration for these activities
that are often times not affordable for many of our families in need. Above all, the programs that
are offered are very specific in nature and do not appeal to the students that are in the greatest
need, largely because they are not consistent and do not possess enough of a non-school flavor to
create an interest within the student body.

At Waldon you will see a staff that recognizes and claims to understand what the students face
after 3pm. Although, understanding and living it are two completely different experiences.

Before I read about after-school programs, researched them, and understood the options I did
not need data to tell me that we have a countless number of students that need guidance and
mentoring. Telling boys, play football, so they could be mentored and assured discipline,
responsibility, and be shown that there are people who care about them doesnt accomplish the
need of the whole student body, there is a far greater need. Mentoring aside, educators are in a
position to put children in a position to succeed outside of the classroom as well. Statistics show

that crime rates are significantly higher on school days than on non-school days1, as well as the
peak time for juvenile crime being the immediate hours following the conclusion of the school
day.2 Every school day at Waldon Middle School you can see students staying after without an
intended purpose and easily see that each one is on the precipice of developing self-confidence
or self-consciousness, either industry or inferiority. Forks in every students road that can be
addressed by a quality after-school program.

Far too many of Waldons at risk students who stay after school to be with friends are the same
students that are disengaged during the day. School for them is a safe place, a place where they
can have structure and positive experiences yet in many cases do not have the guidance and
positive reinforcement to be engaged in the academic side of school. Having an after-school
program that provides those basic fundamental needs gives those who may not otherwise have it,
an opportunity to make the right decisions and develop positive patterns they will carry with
them into their future.
Goal #1: Targeted students at Waldon Middle School participating in the after-school program
will increase their self-confidence, efficacy, school attendance, and engagement.
Objective 1a: Beginning in 2014 a four day a week after-school program will be operational at
Waldon Middle School throughout the 2014-2015 school year.
Objective 1b: Of those students who participate in the after-school program regularly (at
least 10 times per month) there will be a 70% reduction in unexcused absences.
Objective 1c: Coordinators at Waldon Middle School will use existing school criteria to
identify At-Risk students. As a result, 80% of the identified and invited At-Risk students will
attend the after-school program regularly.
Goal #2: Through participating in Waldon Middle Schools after-school program students will
broaden their awareness and life experiences while maintaining discipline and a consistent work
ethic
Objective 2a: Students will be eligible to participate in quarterly field trips through
attending 60% of the programs sessions each quarter not counting excused absences, maintaining
a Good Citizenship (2) or an Excellent Citizenship (1) grade for the marking period, have no
discipline referrals, no more than one detention, and finish with not more than 2 Ds and or 1 E.

1 63% of violent crimes committed by juveniles occur on school days.

2 Juvenile crimes in the afternoon period 3-7pm is 5 times higher than juvenile
crimes during the curfew period.
3

Program Description
At Waldon Middle School in Lake Orion, Michigan we have
students that are in need. They are in need because they are not
having their needs met by our current configuration of the school
day, we need a program that is going to satisfy our students, or
more specifically the needs of our at-risk students.
Figure 1 shows Maslows Hierarchy of Needs

SelfActualization
Self-Esteem
Belonging
Safety
Physiology

Fulfillme
nt

Achievement,
Mastery

Friends, Family, Community

Security, Safety
Food, Warmth, Water

3pm
At the end of each school day you can see any number of
students in and around the school with no specific or intended
purpose. Upon getting to know many of the students one realizes
that they are the same students that are not having the hierarchy
of needs met and the same students that are experiencing
growing disengagement from school. Sadly, students that have
gifts, abilities, potential, and aspirations are seeing their
disengagement from school grow and their likelihood of making
poor choices increase.

We believe there is a way, a way for these students to experience

an adolescence and a life where more if not all of their needs are
met, where school becomes a place where they feel a sense of
belonging. We aim to accomplish this by creating 3pm. 3pm is an
after-school program that sets out to construct an identifiable
group of at-risk students and provide them with the mentorship,
tools, and experiences they will need in order to achieve their
potential.

Our program will look to accomplish our goals and objectives

through providing a curriculum and structure that will foster
motivation through providing encouragement and experiences
that will enhance the level of engagement each student will feel
towards their learning. Through our focus on motivation and
engagement we will reach out to current and former participants
5

of the program to mentor them as they strive toward

accomplishing their goals.

In the past my district has experienced both success and failure

when trying to provide for the need of an after-school program.
Currently, my district is able to reach out to students through a
district, participant funded program called GAP (Guided After
School Program). However, although the initiative has provided
opportunities to students it is limited in its offerings and appeals
to only particular interests. More concerning is the participant
participation fee of $50. Through the activities offered and the
fees associated it excludes the very students that need it most,
the same students 3pm plans to target. If the current form of
after school opportunities continue I fear it is only going to further
exclude and already isolated portion of our student body.

Program Components
We believe that in order to operate a program that will achieve
its intended purpose we must strictly adhere to its foundational
components at all levels of its operation. Through consideration
and research we have narrowed our focus to 5 key components
that we feel must be present in order to obtain a high quality
after-school program. According to the National Center for
Research on Evaluation, Standards, & Student Testing there are 5
common components in quality after-school programs Goals,
Leadership, Staff, Programming, and Evaluation.
Figure 2: Foundational Components

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11

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Lake Orion, Michigan:

and Relevant
History
in relation
to the
need for after-school
LakeChallenges
Orion is a sub-urban
to rural
community
located
approximately
forty five minutes
programming:
The portion of the school district that Waldon draws from presents a unique set of
challenges when trying to appropriately serve the entire student body. Waldons
student body largely is comprised of students from affluent to middle class
neighborhoods, however there are substantial pockets within the service area that are
low socio-economic, minority, and minority low socio-economic neighborhoods, in
which our data shows the vast majority of our at-risk students reside. Due to the
disparity within the student population the programs offered are unintentionally
geared toward the needs and interests of the majority.
Recent History
Over the last two school years Lake Orion Community Schools have instituted and
subsequently expanded (K-2 expanded to K-8) the School of Choice enrollment policy.
School of Choice has and continues to be a viable option for LOCS due to the academic
programming it offers as well as its location. Due to the financial struggles of
surrounding districts, mainly the Pontiac School District, a decreasing urban school
system. With the increased number of students enrolling in LOCS from districts such as
PSD we will continue to see an increase in the percentage of minority students and or

13

Prior Programming Success

In 2011 in response to a need and call for each district to adopt an anti-bullying
program began the Olwues Bully Prevention Program. The program offered the
curriculum, resources, and structure necessary for enacting a positive change in
culture. Part of the structure was to identify a school coordinator. Having a passion for
this I became the coordinator and was trained in the program alongside 5 volunteer
committee members from my school. Upon the completion of our training we carried
out the following steps to ensure success and sustainability.
Determined most appropriate schedule and curriculum to fit the needs of our
building, organized and assembled binders for each teacher of the years curriculum,
planned a beginning of the year staff training as a committee to introduce new
program, provided lesson synopsis for teachers of each lessons topics and objectives
prior to date, sent concise description of topic and objective to parents through
weekly newsletter, conduct an end of the year survey measuring the effectiveness of
the program from one year to the next.

Management Personal

Principal: Randy Groya, Eight years

Principal at Waldon, Tracking and
identifying At-Risk students through data.

Assistant Principal: Sarah Perry, Two

years Assistant Principal at Waldon,
Olweus Committee member.

At-Risk Coordinator: Jayne Imber,

Eight years Waldon At-Risk identifying,
mentoring, tutoring, and home-school
coordinating.

Teacher: David Duva, Four years

teaching, Three years school
14

chair/coordinator for Olweus program, and

grant writer.

Program Management
Figure 3: Program Management

Program
Director

Administrati
ve
Responsibilit
ies

Group
Worker

Staff Asst.
Leader

At Waldon Middle School the program director will

responsible for staff supervision, administrative operations of the
program, and day to day operations. The group worker will be
responsible for supervising children, planning curriculum, as well
as certain administrative responsibilities. Finally, the staff
assistant leader will work under the group leader in planning and
carrying out activities with the children.

15

Implementation Plan
Figure 4: Implementation Plan

16

Step 1: Program Design

- Receive Organizational Support
- Research Programs
- Develop Program Structure

- Grant Writing
- Research Other Programs
Success/Failures

Step 2: Funding
- Receive Program Funding
- Schedule Budget Items
- Hire Necessary Staff

Step 3: Initiation

- Develop Vision/Misson Statement/s

- Staff Training
- Curriculum Development

- Develop Partnerships

- Establish Transportation
Accessibility

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4: Training
Comunication
-Step
Whole Staff
- Develop Polcies and Rules
- Develop Target Group
Requirements

- Communicate and Develop with

Step 5: Committment
measures
- Effectiveness and sustainability
evaluators

- Develop and implement

Identification Plan

- Schedule Periodic Checks

Throughout Year

-Step
Begin Program
6: Implementation
- Remain Focused and Committed to
Goals
and Objectives

- Develop Ongoin and Year End

Step 7: Maintenence and
Evaluation
Evaluations

- Make Administrative Adjustments

Throughout the year

- Make Necessary Improvements to

Incresingly Align With Goals and
Objectives

Evaluation Design
18

Our evaluation design model will reflect our evaluation of the

program, students, data, and staff in conjunction with our goals
and objectives. Our diligence in constant and consistent
evaluation will allow us to maintain and sustain a high quality
program that will meet the needs of our At-Risk population.

Data Assessment
Figure 5: Evaluation Design

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Outcom
e

Indicat
or

What data When

Who will
collection will data collect the
method?
be
data?
collected
?

For what
will the
data be
used

Regularly
accessible
after school
program for
At-Risk
students.

Approximat
ely 4 days a
week the
after-school
program
will be in
session
including
some days
off and
potentially
Saturdays.
Improved
attendance
rates for
regular
participants
.

Attendance,
sign-in sheets,
building usage
records.

Quarterly and
at the end of
the year.

Group Worker,
Staff Assistant
Leader, and
Program
Director.

Aligning the
program with goals
and objectives.

School
Attendance
records.
PowerSchool.

Quarterly and
at the end of
the year.

Group Worker,
Staff Assistant
Leader, and
Program
Director.

To improve school
performance,
students
engagement, and
align with goals
and objectives.

80% of
schools AtRisk
population,
according
to school
criteria will
attend the
program
regularly.
Regular
participants
will
exemplify
positive
behavior
choices and
a
consistently
good work
ethic.
Furthermor
e the
students
will be able

School records,
attendance,
family history,
SES, students
and parent
interviews,
PowerSchool.

Ongoing
collection, and
at the end of
the year.

Staff Assistant
Leader, Program
Director, and
Group Worker.

Targeting and
servicing Waldons
At-Risk students.

PowerSchool,
Marking and
Mid-marking
period grades.

Quarterly and
at the end of
the year.

Group Worker
and Staff
Assistant
Leader.

The data will be

used for
reinforcing positive
behaviors and
presenting
students with
unique
opportunities.

Regular
participants
will have a
70%
reduction of
unexcused
absences.
80% of
targeted and
invited AtRisk
students will
attend the
program
regularly.

Students
that
participate
regularly in
the program
will benefit
from having
unique life
experiences
while
learning the
responsibilit
y of making
positive
behavior

20

choices.

to build
upon their
new life
experiences
.

Conclusion
Sometimes when trying to decide what is best for the students,
families, and communities that we have the privilege of serving it
is easy to get lost in the fray. Thinking minds and big hearts
introduce theory after theory and method upon method in order
to accomplish what they feel is best for the students they care
about. We can all rest assured that as a collective unit we can say
that we know a lot about education even though we are always
striving to understand more. However, beyond the theories,
beyond the methods, and outside of all the academic debates
there is one thing we can all agree on. It is the same thing that
motivates people to want to be educators, the same thing that
motivates psychologists and researchers to want to learn more
about students. That one thing, the umbrella, all-encompassing
thought that we can all agree on is that we all can make a
difference. The biggest and most important step in making a
difference in one or an innumerable number of students is simply
to take that step, make that commitment, and dedicate yourself
to do something. Through 3pm we feel that we arent just
providing an alternative place for students to be after school, but
instead engraining them with the tools and passion they will need
to carry them through the ups and downs all while being an
example to others who may not be so fortunate.

21

List of Appendices
List of Topics
Needs Statement.Page 2
Program Description.Page 4
Program Components..Page 6
Organizational Profile..Page 8
Program Management.Page 10
Implementation Plan.Page 11
Evaluation Design.Page 13
Conclusion.Page 15
Budget

List of Figures
Figure 1..Maslows Hierarch of Needs
Figure 2..Foundational Components
Figure 3..Program Management
Figure 4..Implementation Plan
22

Figure 5..Evaluation Design

23