San Fidel after-school program
builds literacy

Kindergarten students Savanna Felipe concentrates on creating a jellyfish Wednesday while working next to Miranda Chino, an eighth grader, who is making the head of an orca in the Save the Children at St. Joseph's School in San Fidel, NM. Once they sea creatures are completed they will be affixed to the 3-D ocean scene mural on the wall behind them. [photo by Jeff Jones / Independent]

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

SAN FIDEL — Lindsey Riley likes to read, as do most of the elementary school children in the St. Joseph’s School after-school program.

Nine-year-old Lindsey said she especially likes to sound out words she does not know.

“Then I can learn them,” she said.

Lindsey, who is now in the third-grade, has been in the program since she was in preschool.

Gerald Helting, 11, a sixth-grader at St. Joseph’s, said he likes to read different books, and his favorites are the adventure books.

“My favorite book, that I have read so far, is ‘Cirque de Freak,’ ” he said. “It is about a vampire and a midget and they go to other planets.”

Save the Children

The after school program is run by New Mexico chapter of Save the Children. Jeanette Garcia, who recently won the Golden Star Award for excellence as a literacy coordinator, said the program is built around a one hour reading block four days every week.

The 47 pupils, from preschool through eighth-grade, enrolled in the program attend Monday through Thursday from 3-5:30 p.m., Garcia said.

This summer, the program is offered from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., four days a week, beginning in the middle of June, for five weeks, she said.

David Neff, western regional director of Save the Children in Albuquerque, said there are 38 such programs in five states, including Arizona and New Mexico, and of those several are located around Gallup and Grants.

In the Gallup area, two schools in the Zuni School District, Ashwiwi and Doya Yalanne elementary schools, as well as Crownpoint Elementary, Crownpoint Community and Crownpoint Middle schools have the after school program.
In Cibola County, St. Joseph’s is the only Catholic school, then there are Cubero Elementary, Laguna Elementary and Laguna-Acoma Middle schools operate the program, Neff said.

All the staff for the various programs are employed by the individual schools, but funding, from Save the Children, and sometimes from the state of New Mexico, pays for the program, Neff said.

Reading, activities and snacks

In addition to the hour reading period each day, the children participate in 30 minutes of physical activities, do their homework and have a healthy snack.

On Wednesday, the 31 pupils at the program received bottled water, seedless red grapes and mozzarella cheese sticks.

Sponsorships are available for children, Neff said. It costs about $25-$30 per month to sponsor a child and each child may have up to two sponsors.

Major funding comes from other sources however, such as the April 9 “American Idol Gives Back” TV program that raised millions of dollars for Save the Children, Neff said.

“We are still counting it,” he said.

The students at St. Joseph’s have created a large wall mural, about 50 feet by 30 feet, of an under-ocean scene and have created three-dimensional sea creatures to place on it.

Garcia said each pupil researched a sea creature on the Internet, designed their creatures, made them and then the entire group went on a field trip to an aquarium in Albuquerque.

“It was amazing, The kids started talking about all their sea creatures and knew a lot about them,” Garcia said.
Neff said donations to Save the Children are tax deductible.

“We are a 501-3(C), not for profit corporation,” he said.
Save the Children is an international organization with its home office in Westport, Conn. It works in around the world with a variety of programs.

Those without Internet may call the Albuquerque office, (800) 355-5364, ext. 104.

On the net: www.savethechildren.org.

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin call (505) 285-2560
or e-mail: jtiffin.independent@yahoo.com.