Heather Jones walked into the Wiscasset Community Center in September in search of a part-time job to round out her schedule. Already a pre-kindergarten teacher at Dresden Elementary School, Jones was simply looking for some afternoon work.
As luck would have it, the Wiscasset Community Center was in search of a director for their After-School Adventures program. Jones was the best person for the job. “It kind of just fell into my lap,” Jones said of her new position. “I call it destiny.”
Since assuming the role of program director Sept. 29, Jones has revamped the After-School Adventures program, introducing activities that build children’s social skills, deepen their learning, and are just plain fun. The Wiscasset Parks and Recreation Department has been singing her praises.
“We’ve been trying to strive for that educational component, but we understand that the kids are in the classroom all day long,” said Wiscasset Parks and Recreation Department Director Todd Souza. “Heather’s really brought recreational activities that combine education with things that the kids really enjoy.”
Born in St. Agatha, Maine, Jones attended Washington College in Maryland, where she earned a degree in art and education. She returned to Maine and lived on a 32-foot Columbia sailboat in South Portland and in Auburn before settling in Westport Island, where she now lives with her husband and two children.
She credits her parents, both educators, for helping her discover her passion. “I had great role models in my parents,” Jones said. “They provided a lot of opportunities for my brothers and I to go out and explore and find our interests. I’ve always been interested in working with kids.”
The importance of choices is an element of the After-School Adventures program that Jones has incorporated. The first hour of the program, which runs from 3-5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday with an extra hour on Wednesday due to early release, is a guided choice time. Children have the opportunity to select an activity that interests them from a pre-developed list.
“I think that it’s important for kids to have time to make their own decisions,” Jones said. “But within that we can offer them choices that they enjoy and that deepen what they’re learning in school as well.”
Jones has successfully introduced many activities that contribute to the education of the children that participate in the After-School Adventures program without them knowing it. The Lego Challenge is an example.
Inspired by the global Lego Challenge program, Jones has asked children to organize themselves into groups to build a structure. The idea and some requirements for the structure are provided, but children use their imagination to complete it.
In the first Lego Challenge, Jones asked children to build a superhero hide-away that included a command center and an escape hatch. Children are now working on building a habitat for a creature of their own design, which will be accompanied by a story.
“It’s a way to be creative and meet goals,” Jones said. “It’s not just teaching the curriculum, it’s teaching them how to learn. We’re supporting those strategies that they learn in school but through a different medium.”
Jones is also working on bringing in volunteers to the After-School Adventures program on a consistent basis to share their interests with the children. She has already been in touch with a quilter and a chess teacher to schedule a regular time for them to work with the After-School Adventures program.
Jones said she is always in search of volunteers willing to donate one day a month to share their special interests and talents. She would like to incorporate music and dance, and fine someone able to run a Young Engineers group, which would challenge children to build structures.
Jones has also been in touch with the student council at Wiscasset High School to arrange for them to tutor children struggling in school. Her work at the community center has also informed and influenced her work as a pre-K teacher at Dresden Elementary, because, she explained, we learn from each other.
“This is where I’m going to raise my children,” Jones said. “To become a part of the area where they’re going to grow up, and to be in the community like this – it’s such a rewarding position to have. I’m enjoying it so much.”
The Wiscasset Community Center will host an open house for its After-School Adventures program Nov. 18 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Parents of children enrolled in the program and parents interested in more information about the program are welcome to attend.
