We kept the Lights on Afterschool

Thanks to all that helped (especially the YMCA School Age Staff) with our Lights on Afterschool Event! It was wonderul.
Despite the wet weather, the kids enjoyed games and colored their Lightbulbs indoors. We then had sub sandwiches as well and enjoyed parents and other community members visiting with us. Stay tuned to the Prescott Daily Courier, where the event will likely be featured.
See you next year for Lights on Afterschool.

Lights on Afterschool

Help the Prescott YMCA Celebrate Lights on Afteschool on Thursday, October 21st from 4:00-6:00pm in the After School Building. We will have a potluck, bring a friend day, games, special snacks and more!

Afterschool programs are a vital support for youth, families & communities. They keep kids safe, inspire them to learn and help working families. The engaging, hands-on experiences provided by afterschool program help youth develop the skills they need to succeed.

The Lights on Afterschool program helps to highlight the importance of these programs for kids.

Did you know?
15.1 million school age children--more than a quarter of all youth--are alone and unsupervised after school. That's an increase of nearly 1 million children in the past five years. (America After 3 PM, 2009)

The hours between 3p.m. and 6p.m. are the peak hours for juvenile crime and experimentation with drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and sex. (Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2002)

Currently, the federal government contributes only 11 percent of the cost of afterschool, while 29 percent of the children in afterschool meet the federal government’s definition of low-income and in need of federal assistance. (Afterschool Alliance, 2009)



We hope that you will join us for our special event! Please contact Jessica Leary, Child Care Services Director for more information. 928 445 7221 ext 36
(E) childcare@prescottymca.org (W) http://www.prescottymca.org

The Y: We're for youth development, healthy living and social responsibility.

Fire Department Visit & PHS Pep Rally

I must say we are lucky to live in a community like Prescott where Preschoolers at the YMCA can enjoy a special safety visit from the Fire Department and a field trip to the high school all in one week! It was lovely to see the support from the F.D. and PHS students and faculty in taking the time to enrich the days of our Preschoolers. Thanks also to the parents that assisted us in the Fire Department presentation and the field trip too. The children behaved so nicely, practicing their best manners and walking safely all the way to the high school. I encourage you to follow up with a conversation about the week's events with your child. Perhaps they can show you how to "Stop. Drop. and Roll" or demonstrate the cheers they used to encourage the Badgers.

The SPOT Children's Museum

This summer we had the pleasure of experiencing the SPOT Children's Museum Field Trips with both Preschoolers and our young Summer Campers. The SPOT is a new museum for exploration and experimentation with art for our young Prescottonians. The YMCA kids had a blast making collages and playing with all of the magical manipulatives at the SPOT! Located at the Gateway Mall in Prescott, this is a convenient and economical way to spend the afternoon with your kids too.

Quality First Funding at Work in our Preschool

Did you know that the Prescott YMCA Early Childhood Center (Preschool) is participating in Quality First?

Quality First is a statewide system created by the Arizona Early Childhood Development & Health Board, knows as First Things First. Quality First is designed to increase access for Arizona families to quality early childhood developmental and educational programs. Through financial grants, academic scholarships for Child Care Staff and individualized coaching, our Preschool is receiving wonderful support…and it shows!

In the upcoming weeks you will notice new material (rubberized mulch in addition to sand) on the Preschool Playground area to improve the safety for the little ones playing. We are excited to be receiving the funding from Quality First to enable us to execute this project. Later in the year new furnishings, dramatic play items and learning tools will also be purchased using our grant monies. In addition to these visible changes in our Early Childhood Center, there are “invisible” improvements too in the way of additional training for our staff in the areas of allergies and sun safety, courtesy of our Child Care Health Consultant as well as topics such as supervision, maximizing classroom arrangements and incorporating Arizona’s Early Learning Standards.

Our Preschool is AZ State Licensed and DES Approved and currently accepting children ages 2-5, that are non-diapered, to join our active, dynamic program.

Volcano Project

In May of 2010 the After School group worked on a special Volcano Project. They designed, constructed and engineered a functional volcano made of pvc pipe, paper mache and a wooden base. Candy and soda were the secret ingredients for the eruption, but the mechanism had to allow for distance between the volcano and the person(s) releasing the candy / soda mixture. The video is attached of the eruption and below are the credits for those responsible for this project, which we hope to duplicate again in the 2010-2011 school year. The kids (and parents, leaders, etc.) talked about it for weeks following. It was a blast! (pun intended).


Lead by: Mr. Josh
Eruption Crew: Max F. Dalila G.Caleb M. Brianna B.
Eruption Design: Max F.
Eruption Assembly Crew: Max F. Olivia B. Brianna B. Chris S.
Volcano Crew: Shelby D. Max F. Dakotah L. Zeke A. Skylar A. Madison L. Jewell A. Ashley V. Taylor H. Caleb M. Brianna B. Dalila G.

Summer at the YMCA = busy days for Child Care!

So, if you are a follower of this relatively new blog, you may have noticed a lack of recent postings for the last several months. My explanation boils down to one word: SUMMER. Summer is a busy time around the YMCA. With the kids being out of school, we are the place to be for young and old. This year, with the addition of several new programs such as Adventure C.O.R.P., Snack Shack, and Enrichment Camps the summer was busier than usual. We are happy to provide exciting opportunities for the kids here in the Quad-City area. Field trips were another point of success for our Child Care Programs. We are extremely grateful to the community agencies and businesses that contributed to our summer programs.

I will attempt to highlight many of our summer happenings at the YMCA. Better late than never, as they say. The pictures alone are worth a thousand words. I am sure you will agree.