20A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • September 30, 2015
Polk County Education
DHS auction
set for Saturday
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
EMILY MENTZER/Itemizer-Observer
Kathy Martin-Willis, right, helps children during the YMCA’s Go Club, which promotes a healthy, balanced lifestyle.
Go Club: more than just baby sitting
After-school program at the Y offers activity, help with homework, snacks
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — The
after-school program at
Monmouth Independence
YMCA, Go Club, is more
than just a baby sitting serv-
ice, said executive director
Natascha Cronin.
“It’s not just that we’re
making sure your child is
safe and dry and feeding
them,” she said. “It really is a
very different program than
what it’s been in the past.
We’re considering ourselves
more of an extension of the
school day.”
There’s plenty of play
time, especially if it’s nice
outside.
Monday afternoon, about
a dozen kids chased each
other on the playground at
Henry Hill Education Sup-
port Center while others in-
sisted on Kathy Martin-
Willis pushing them just one
more time.
The Y uses the physical
components of the CATCH
curriculum, which stands
for Coordinated Approach to
Child Health.
Monday through Friday,
children who are part of the
Y after-school program get
45 minutes of vigorous ac-
tivity, Cronin said.
“We started this (pro-
gram) in the summer, and
our staff has lost anywhere
from 10 to 20 pounds, be-
cause our staff is required to
participate,” Cronin said.
“It’s really interesting to see
the health benefits we’re try-
ing to provide our kids in
our program also impacting
our staff.”
When a child enters the Y
after-school program, he or
she will be evaluated, and
then re-evaluated at the end
of the school year to see how
he or she has improved — in
all aspects, including fitness.
Cronin said the kids
won’t be weighed or literally
measured, but rather will
take something similar to
an old physical fitness test:
how many pushups can you
do? How many sit-ups?
“We want them to be able
to be more active at the end
of the school year because
we know that active kids do
better in school,” Cronin
said. “Their brains function
better. They’re able to pay
attention. It’s just good for
them.”
Playing on the swings is
not part of that curriculum,
Martin-Willis said. It’s just
letting them be kids with
some free play.
In addition to the physical
component, time is set aside
each day for homework.
Martin-Willis and other em-
ployees help kids with their
studies.
The children file into the
gym at Henry Hill, wiggles
thoroughly released, and get
ready to work on home-
work. Each child makes a
beeline for his or her back-
pack and takes a seat, ready
to study.
“ We don’t guarantee
they’re going to go home
with all their homework
done, but we’re there to help
them and be with them,”
Cronin said.
Children also are taught
the four core values of the Y:
honesty, respect, responsi-
bility and caring.
Cronin said basing all the
Y’s programs on these four
values carries through more
than one might think.
“It’s not just spouting
from the rooftops,” Cronin
said. “It’s a really nice
teaching tool to remind
kids how to behave with
one another. We kind of
forget that now. Just be
nice.”
Because Go Club is a cer-
tified child care site, Depart-
ment of Human Services as-
sistance is accepted, Cronin
added. Scholarships also are
available, as with all Y pro-
grams.
The Y’s after-school pro-
gram has openings avail-
able.
For more information:
www.theyonline.org, or 503-
838-4042.
DALLAS — The annual
Dallas Booster Club Auc-
tion returns Saturday
evening.
Tickets for the event,
which begins at 6 p.m. at
the Dallas Nesmith Readi-
n e s s C e n t e r, l o c a t e d
at12830 Westview Drive,
are $25 and will be avail-
able at the door, organizer
Michelle Nelson said.
This year’s auction will
include a variety of items to
bid on, from house rentals
at Sunriver to the chance to
be a wrestling coach during
the wrestling team’s Orange
and Black scrimmage, to
local artwork, a pair of
grills and gift cards.
Money raised from the
auction goes toward sup-
porting all of Dallas High’s
sports programs.
The auction raised about
$35,000 in 2014.
“We always shoot for
more,” Nelson said. “If we
could bring in $40,000, we
would be thrilled.”
If you miss out on the
item you were eyeing, you
can also choose to donate
directly to a specific team,
Nelson said.
Money raised from the
auction is split between all
athletic teams. Funds are
also used to support vari-
ous facility upgrades.
“We get requests from
the teams through (athletic
director) Tim Larson and
we take it case by case,”
Nelson said. “We have
heard that there is some
desire to replace the score-
board in the gym, so we
may be funding part of
that. Last year’s funds were
used for a portable soccer
scoreboard, turf around
home plate at the baseball
field, help with the score-
board at girls softball, and
more.”
Saturday’s auction will
also serve as an opportuni-
ty for parents to meet Dal-
las School District’s new
Superintendent Michelle
Johnstone, and a chance to
reconnect with old friends.
Most importantly, Nelson
said it provides a fun
evening to support all of the
student-athletes at Dallas.
“I’ve been going to this
since I was 21,” Nelson
said. “My favorite part is
seeing people I haven’t
seen since last year and
having a fun way to sup-
port Dallas High School.”
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
The Dallas Booster Club Auction on Saturday will fea-
ture a variety of items from gift certificates, artwork
created by local artists and house rentals in Sunriver.
Who says there’s no such thing as free lunch?
House Bill 2545 provides free school lunch for all who qualify for ‘reduced’
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY — The
number of kids eating free
lunch at school has in-
creased, thanks to House Bill
2545, passed during the
2015 Legislative session.
The bill provides school
districts with reimburse-
ment for anyone who quali-
fies for reduced price lunch
under federal guidelines.
In Central School District,
that means an additional
253 children no longer have
to carry 40 cents to eat
lunch. Out of the 3,253 stu-
dents enrolled, 1,779 qualify
for free lunch in Central
schools.
DALLAS 121 Main St. • 503-623-8155
INDEPENDENCE 1710 Monmouth St. • 503-838-6340
Mon-Fri 8AM - 6PM • Sat 8AM - 5PM
Mike Vetter, the food serv-
ices director for Central
School District, is contracted
out to serve both Dallas and
Falls City schools as well.
He said the change won’t
affect Falls City at all.
“Falls City is free for
everybody because they’re a
CEP site,” Vetter said.
A CEP (community eligi-
bility provision) site is re-
served for districts with very
high poverty level. Every
child in Falls City School
District is eligible for a free
breakfast and lunch.
All students in Central
schools also receive a free
breakfast option, Vetter said,
regardless of whether or not
they qualified for free or re-
duced meals.
“For Central, it was so im-
portant that we offered
breakfast to students,” he
said. “We found that a hun-
gry student doesn’t learn
very well.”
With the reimbursement
provided by HB 2545, the
district will see a little more
money from those free
breakfasts, but not much,
Vetter said.
Mostly, he hopes the
change will encourage more
people to use the school
lunch program.
“Of course the paid kids
are definitely welcome to eat
as well,” Vetter said.
He said it is always good
to fill out a second, or even a
third, application for free or
reduced lunch.
“If their status changes in
life, especially if it changes
negatively, apply again,” he
said. “You never know.”
In October, everyone will
have to fill out a new appli-
cation, which is only good
for one year.
“We have pages of kids’
names whose applications
are getting ready to expire,”
Vetter said.
Applications may be
picked up from every school
building in Dallas and Cen-
tral school districts. Also,
they may be found online:
www.ode.gov.