School-day social worker supporting students' passions in afterschool STEM

We often say that afterschool STEM is complementary to school-day learning—it is a great way to engage young people in STEM through their personal interests. But did you know that schools and school-day teachers, social workers, and support staff often work beyond the school day to support afterschool programs as well? In fact, more than a third of the staff in 21st Century Community Learning Center afterschool programs are school-day teachers. For many students, their afterschool programs are initiated and led by school-day teachers who feel compelled to provide extra space for their students to dig deeper into what they learn and apply it to something they are interested in, all while having a safe and supportive environment in the afterschool hours.

A great example of this is at Tapestry Charter Middle School in Buffalo, New York, where the school-day social worker, Mr. Anthony, facilitates an afterschool STEM program, focused on gaming. Weaving his area of expertise skillfully with his personal interests, he is able to integrate social-emotional learning and foster co-regulation skills through discussion and play.  He says that even though he uses his counseling techniques in the afterschool program, it doesn’t feel like he is.

The middle school students look forward to coming to a gaming club, where they have a space to freely express themselves and play games they enjoy with fellow peers they don’t necessarily hang out with during the normal school day hours. Mr. Anthony acts as a guide as the young people in his program navigate the sometimes difficult feelings of losing and winning.

One parent shared with us the following testament to the importance of the afterschool program for her son:

“My son is high-functioning autistic and has been seriously struggling with the transition from elementary school into middle school. But, the one thing he does look forward to is the afterschool gaming club run by one of his teachers who volunteers not only his time but also his own money to provide equipment (gaming consoles, TV’s, etc.) and prize incentives (gift cards, certificates, etc.) to the 25-30 children who attend.”

In providing a unique, “no-judgement zone” for students to interact with peers who share a common interest, Mr. Anthony fosters the opportunity for students to get to know each other, play together, and learn from each other in ways they might not always be incentivized to do during the school day hours.

While he is provided some monetary compensation for facilitating the club, the funds are reinvested into the needs of the students and the program itself. He also leverages his own social capital to support his students. The students in his program have expressed interest in coding, robotics, and machine building. So, he is collaborating with one of his friends who is working towards a computer science degree to bring them into the program in order to engage the youth in coding activities. 

Why does he spend all this extra effort in supporting his students during the afterschool hours? When he was in middle school, the social-emotional-learning team at his schools were the ones who helped support and guide him for life after school. He wants to be that same support for young people today. He hopes to be a positive footprint in the path of their lives so that as they get older they will remember his support and pay it forward to future generations.

Mr. Anthony is but one example of many teachers who run afterschool STEM programs. For instance, teachers at Gladys Noon Spellman Elementary School in Cheverly, Maryland, stay after the school day ends to engage with students in the Virtuous Boss afterschool programming. And, Amanda Zullo, a school Principal in Saint Regis Falls, New York, works with staff to offer afterschool programming focused on students’ interests. Even popular culture is reflecting these realities in many schools, as seen in the series Abbot Elementary, where teachers at the school strive to find what sparks their students’ interests and advocate for funding to support afterschool initiatives focused on those interests.

If you are a teacher or know of a teacher interested in starting an afterschool STEM program, you can find some helpful information in our Starting a Program Toolkit. You can also reach out to your state’s afterschool network to connect with and learn from others running afterschool programs.