ROCHELLE — Children and their families in the HUB Project enjoyed an evening of entertainment and activities at the Lights On Afterschool event at Lincoln School last week.
Several stations were set up featuring books and hands-on corresponding activities from the Discovery Center’s Storybook Science program. The students and their families created constellations, assembled treasure chests, and made balancing acrobats, to name a few.
There were also displays of recent STEM-related projects as well as a board featuring the reasons why students like the afterschool program, cleverly written on a picture of a light bulb reflecting the theme of the evening.
Jodee Craven, HUB Project Grant coordinator, explained this is the second year participating in Lights On Afterschool, which celebrates the achievements of the HUB Project. The nationwide event is also meant to draw attention to the need for more programs to serve millions of children that are unsupervised and at risk during after school hours.
Rochelle’s HUB Project was just one of over 8,000 such events across the nation aimed at emphasizing the importance of keeping the school lights on and the doors open afterschool.
“It’s more important than ever that we raise awareness of afterschool programming and the number of children that don’t have access to high quality afterschool programs and safe spaces for them to be where there are enriching opportunities and a place to complete their homework,” Craven said.
Currently there are nearly 300 students participating in Rochelle’s HUB Project with room for more.
“We do have the program and have some space which is nice. We are not in a situation where we are denying programming to students because of no room,” Craven said. “There are some communities that either have full programs or none at all. Some kids…they just head for home and they are in an empty home. Again it might not be the best place for them to be.”

Adding, “As a community we are really excited we have this opportunity for these kids.”
Craven explained after recent discussions on the federal level to eliminate funding for programs such as the HUB Project, citizens local and across the country spoke out and contacted their legislators urging them to keep the program funded.
Subsequently, the HUB Project’s grant has been extended and is fully funded for the next five years.

Shifting focus
Students in the HUB Project still have activities geared for the English Language Arts and Math, but as Craven explains the focus will shift to include more science, technology, and engineering (STEM) components as well. The STEM-based projects will incorporate hands-on activities and writing segments to go along with it.
“They are building, measuring, and writing about it. There’s definitely a lot more up and moving and building and getting their hands dirty…the kids really enjoy that part,” Craven said.

Having fun
Along with the structured activities, students and parents enjoyed the time together at the Lights On Afterschool. The HUB Project schedules monthly parent and child activities that are aimed at promoting quality time that is educationally based while having fun.
Some of the evenings scheduled include a literacy event at the library, a holiday celebration in early December, a penny carnival in January, and a Valentine’s dance in February.
“This is a fun night and an opportunity for our parents to see what our schools are about,” Craven said. “We offer an opportunity for them to come into the school and have a fun night, leave with some make and takes, a book or two to build their home library, and a good feeling of a good experience they get at school.”