Halloween event supports afterschool program

WILLIAMSBURG — KIND Care, which has offered afterschool programming in Williamsburg for more than 30 years, will host a Halloween-themed event to bring attention to the need for after-hours activities.

During the month of October, more than 8,000 such events will take place nationwide as part of Lights On After School sponsored by the Afterschool Alliance.

Launched in October 2000, Lights On Afterschool is the only nationwide event celebrating afterschool programs and their important role in the lives of children, families and communities, according to the organization’s website.

“I think it’s definitely to highlight that afterschool care isn’t just child care,” said Olivia Doehrmann, program supervisor of KIND Care at the Williamsburg Community Child Care Center. The programs provide more than babysitting, she said.

The KIND Care event is scheduled for 6:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24 at 802 Franklin St. in Williamsburg.

“We’re going to have a trunk-or-treat outside,” said Doehrmann. KIND has invited its sponsors to participate. “Sometimes sponsors get the backseat,” said Doehrmann. They don’t get the attention they deserve.

“We’ll have a haunted hallway inside,” said Doehrmann.

Sandy Joseph, the center’s director, will have a food challenge, called the barf buffet by her colleagues. Joseph sets out different food items, and people roll a die to see which one they have to eat.

“It’s all edible,” Doehrmann said. “It’s all safe.” But the food might be labeled with unappetizing names. Tomato soup might be presented as cow’s blood.

Doehrmann’s husband remembers the food challenge from his childhood, Doehrmann said.

“Sandy’s been with KIND Care for over 30 years,” Doehrmann said. She plans to retire next year.

Michelle Koenighain will provide tours of the KIND Care facility and will talk about the programs available, Doehrmann said.

In the 30 years it’s been in Williamsburg, KIND Care been housed in various locations, from a trailer at Lutheran Interparish School to the old elementary school.

For summer programs, the organization brought collapsible walls into the school gymnasium to create classrooms, said Doehrmann.

“It’s an important part of a community,” said Doehrmann of afterschool programs.

Initially KIND was separate from Williamsburg Community Child Care, but the organizations merged in 2013 and built a new building at 802 Franklin St. The facility serves infants and children through sixth grade.

“Our staff provides more than day care,” said Doehrmann. It meets learning standards and makes sure students in its programs hit all the learning benchmarks, she said.

The facility includes a Head Start program.

“At the KIND Care site we have two different classrooms,” said Doehrmann. KIND Care Purple focuses on science, technology, engineering, art and math learning programs and social and emotional learning.

Students start the afternoons with a snack, then take part in the STEAM activities. “They get to bond with one another,” said Doehrmann. Students at different grade levels learn from one another.

KIND Care Blue is a homework support room. After a snack, students receive one-on-one help with their homework. The program is for students in first through sixth grades.

“If they’re struggling at school, they can enroll in that room,” said Doehrmann.

“KIND Care’s new adventure is our STEM lab,” said Doehrmann. “This is really a developing program. Right now we don’t have full-time enrollment within that room. But it is an enrichment program.”

The last program was called STEM of Grapes, said Doehrmann. Students learned about grapes, made jelly and visited a vineyard.

That program was funded by the Iowa Agriculture Literacy foundation.