When the bell rings at the end of a school day, millions of children are left to their own devices while they wait for their families to return home at the end of the work day. Findings from a study by the Afterschool Alliance, “America After 3PM,” show that 15.1 million children are unsupervised when the school day ends. Target Excellence has a proven solution for this problem and invites the community to be a part of this solution. Empowering Possibilities Unlimited receives ASES (After School Education and Safety) funds to provide after school programming to nearly 1,500 K-12 students each day in fourteen sites in the greater Sacramento region. After school programs keep kids safe, inspire learning, and help working families.
By offering kids a positive alternative to unsupervised care between the hours of 3PM and 6PM, Empowering Possibilities Unlimited ensures that the after school experience is fun and well rounded, consisting of a large variety of enrichment activities. We partner with each school to provide a high quality program designed to engage students, families, and communities to achieve at a high level both in and out of the classroom.
S.T.A.R Curriculum
STEM During this time emphasis is placed on STEAM activities and education. This year, students at many of our sites built computers and remote control cars. We also have an existing relationship with Square Root Academy, a vendor who provides STEM resources and activities for our students. AT the end of the 9 week quarter a Science Fair is put on by the students to showcase all of the projects.
THRIVE This quarter is focused on what we need as students and human beings to thrive. Topics of interest include food, water, music, dance, art and mindfulness exercises that help us stay healthy, centered and focused. We are partnered with Food Literacy Center, a vendor that teaches our students nutritional facts about fruits and vegetables, and provide healthy recipes for our students to try at home! Coach Hutchins is another one of our awesome partners that coaches basketball for our students to teach them team building and to be active. He also provides mindful breathing and stretching lessons to all our K-8 students to teach our students how to stay calm during stressful situations.
ARTS The emphasis of this quarter is the ARTS, all inclusive. The students may choose any of the arts to study and are encouraged to learn many. Arts is not limited to drawing, but includes theater, dance, spoken word, sculpting, and any other form of verbal or non-verbal expression.
RESEARCH Empowering Possibilities Unlimited's objective is to introduce skills necessary to succeed in the future and to prepare our students for their next steps as they continue to pursue their education and their careers. During these 9 weeks students are given the opportunity to thoroughly research any topic of interest, such as a country, culture, cuisine, famous figures, a trade, college or career path. At the end of the 9-week quarter, students showcase their all they have learned about their research topic.