ASTEP toward fun
<p>Megan Cox, third-grader at Hayden Meadows Elementary, bounces a balloon in the air to keep it from touching the ground in a Minute To Win It competition in the After School Teaching and Enrichment Program on Monday in Hayden. The ASTEP Program provides after school activities for kids such as Minute To Win It games, floor hockey, art projects and cooking.</p>
<p>Hayden Meadows Elementary fifth-grader Sophie Pennings, shows her teacher an elephant that she drew and that she made into a collage, Monday at the ASTEP program in Hayden.</p>
Sew a sock monkey. State a scientific hypothesis and prove it through experiments. Bake a cake. Build a paper airplane. Sing like a rock star.
Those are just a few of the things kids be will be learning to do during the next few weeks at Hayden Meadows Elementary.
The After School Teaching and Enrichment Program, or ASTEP, began Monday and is sponsored by the Hayden Meadows Parent Teacher Organization. The classes offer first- through fifth-grade students the chance to learn a new skill or hobby.
"This program is designed to meet the needs of kids who don't always get to do extracurricular activities after school," said program director Kris Ludwig, who has been involved since it was first offered during the 2006-07 school year.
There are 21 different classes offered once a week for one hour after the school day ends. Most of the classes run for six weeks; a few are four-week courses.
Ludwig said presenters try to limit the class sizes to 10-15 kids.
There are 220 classroom slots filled this year.
The "Wild and Wacky Science" class and the "Kids in the Kitchen" classes are usually the first to fill each year, she said. The paper airplane class is also one of the more popular offerings.
"It is a self-sustaining program," Ludwig said. "The kids pay to take a class, and that covers supplies and I'm able to pay my instructors for that hour."
The program is not funded by the Coeur d'Alene School District, nor is it a fundraiser for the PTO.
The cost is $25 for a six-week course of classes, or $20 for a four-week course.
"We've actually made money every year that we've run the program," Ludwig said. "This year, we've paid our instructors more."
For kids whose families may not be able to afford the class fees, scholarships are available, if a teacher or counselor recommends it for a particular child.
"It's nice to be able to offer that," Ludwig said.