Journal 1- Prompt #3

If you were a youth participant in the program you are doing your fieldwork
at, what would keep YOU coming to the program?
Hansen and Larsen stress that experiences of teamwork and social skills, positive
relationships, getting to know someone from a different ethnic group, and people in the
community are all important amplifiers in childrens participation in activities. Turtle Rock
provides opportunities for children to discover all of these on a daily basis. The two main
reasons why I would be attracted to the Turtle Rock program as a youth participant is because
it offers a fun, safe place for students to stay after school and exposure to kids of different ages,
ethnicities, and schooling.
Huang claims that successful programs are collaborative and should, provide
recreational and crafts activities in order to keep[ing] students engaged while exercising
other parts of their brains. Turtle Rock excels in this due to the fact that their focus is to be a
mainly recreational program that also provides children time to do their homework. But
because their main focus is about activities, this program excels at providing a fun place for
kids. When I was a child, all I ever wanted to do was play. Not only does Turtle Rock provide a
place to play, but also provides toys, games, and resources to keep busy with. Every minute of
the day is scheduled out, so there is no extra time for children to become bored due to not
having anything to do. Additionally, kids are given choices throughout the day about what they
want to do. During programming, for example, kids can choose to engage in a physical or
artistic activity. Within these activities, they have choices of what team they would like to be
on, how many art projects they want to make, and who they want to do them with. Even in
little choices, such as what snack they want for the day or what book they want to read, allows
for a child to express themselves through their decisions and ultimately creating a happy
environment because they do what they want to do to a certain extent. Hansen and Larsens
statement that, youth's motivation[s] for participating in a program can be expected to be
associated with experiences. If, as a child, I were to consistently have fun at Turtle Rock, I
would clearly be more inclined to want to return to the program every day.
Additionally, the interactions between multiple kids a day allows for vital developmental
skills such as getting along with others, making friends, and learning about different cultures.
Exposure to new students that attend different elementary schools allows for kids to break out
from their everyday norm and expand their horizons. The children from other schools bring
diverse games, ideas, and attitudes others would not come across within their own school.
Also, there is an average of about thirty five kids a day. Putting all of the children in the same
room erases divisions such as age groups, grade levels, and even cultural background. They are
free to mingle with whomever they choose and have a multitude of options of who they want

to spend time with each day. This teaches kids to reach out to one another and develop
relationships. As a participant, I would want to come back to Turtle Rock everyday so I can play
with my friends and potentially make more.
Resources:
Hansen, D., & Larson, R. (2007). Amplifiers of developmental and negative experiences in organized
activities: Dosage, motivation, lead roles, and adult-youth ratios. Journal of Applied Developmental
Psychology, 28, 360-374. http://youthdev.illinois.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/hansen-and-larson2007.pdf
Huang, D. & Dietel, R. (2011). Making afterschool programs better. National Center for Research on
Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing (CRESST), UCLA.
http://www.cse.ucla.edu/products/policy/huang_MAPB_v5.pdf

Journal 2- Prompt#11
If you could change one thing in the program that you volunteered at, what
would it be and why? Relate to one of our readings/class discussions.
The main element I would change at Turtle Rock is the staff. The staff was highly
unqualified due to their lack of experience in afterschool programs and education levels. Huang
argues that sixty-six percent of successful programs had staff that had more than three years of
work experience in afterschool. Yet the majority of workers at Turtle Rock have only worked at
this program for two years or less without prior experience before-hand. Additionally, staff
members did not reach educational expectations set by thriving programs Huang discusses.
Instead of having a generally high educational levels with forty-seven percent holding
Bachelors degrees, Turtle Rock contained less than five employees with college degrees. The
staff were either current college students at the local community college or were not enrolled
in any form of official school past high school (with the exception of a few members in
administration).
Mott rightfully argues that in order for a program to be successful, the staff must
demonstrate positive work and team ethic through supporting fellow colleagues. However,
it was often found that when there was a lack of communication among staff members, they
would openly argue with each other in front of the kids or say inappropriate remarks about
their fellow coworkers. Because kids are so impressionable, especially at ages 5-12, staff
members must serve as an example to the younger generations. Furthermore, communication
is labeled an essential element in after school programs by Huang, Mott, and a multitude of
others yet this program failed daily in simple activities. It was commonly found that staff
members were unsure about which age group they were in charge of overseeing, what the
programming activity was for the day, what snack the program was offering, when future
events were occurring, and more. Even critical information, like who is and is not on the clock
with them, was overlooked.
Lastly, the student to staff ratio was ridiculously unproportional at an average of 9:1.
Indeed there were often other adults on the site, but they very rarely interacted with the kids.
Their jobs were solely administrative causing them to frequently leave the site or become
unavailable for extended amounts of time. Often times when children needed assistance with
homework, there was not enough faculty to cater to each childs needs. Consequently, students
would be unable to complete their homework or would get frustrated with themselves and give
up. The lack of staff members present poses a serious threat to the childrens overall well being.
If an emergency were to occur, it would be chaotic to organize and control the kids with limited
amount of help.

The staff overall needs heavy reform. I would recommend letting go the ineffective and
unqualified people and replace them with others who are well experienced and educated. They
would be able to provide the program with a new sense of control and direction towards
efficiency. Adding more employees to tend to the children would also be one of the first
changes. I would narrow down the ratio to having one adult to every two to three children, thus
enabling the adults to focus on the children at a more intimate level.

Resources:
Hansen, D., & Larson, R. (2007). Amplifiers of developmental and negative experiences in organized
activities: Dosage, motivation, lead roles, and adult-youth ratios. Journal of Applied Developmental
Psychology, 28, 360-374. http://youthdev.illinois.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/hansen-andlarson-2007.pdf
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation (2009). Core Competencies For Afterschool Educators.
http://www.afterschoolprofessional.info/images/Mott_CC_web.pdf

Journal 3- Prompt#6 What evidence do you see in your fieldwork that the
program is integrating the LIAS principles?
When I was assessing Turtle Rock with the LIAS tool, the programs overall score turned
out to be shockingly low leaving a disappointing feeling towards the program. However, I found
that my fieldwork site did succeed in the active principal very well simply because it is a
program that is highly focused on supplying kids with fun, recreational activities they will enjoy.
The LIAS tool states that being active is strengthened by using many of our senses and by
participating in doing activities while stimulating curiosity through hands-on projects.
Programming is the sites most beneficial element because it is centered solely around doing
activities and incorporates a few additional LIAS principals as well.
Passive programming is centered on arts and crafts. The students are sent to a
designated room with a display of the art project for the day. After listening to instructions and
watching the staff member go through a demonstration, they are left to themselves to recreate
the subject while being supervised. Not only are they using their sight, hearing, and touch
senses to accomplish this task but it also allows for them to use their creativity to make each
project their own. Through explicit hands-on activities, students show strong elements of the
active principal.
In a few instances, a group of girls were finger knitting during inside free play, days
after being taught the skill in passive programming. It intrigued other students to figure out
what they were doing and incited them to want to learn how to finger knit as well. This
provided the kids to be able to teach their peers what they have learned, showing
collaboration. Furthermore, because they were constantly attempting to do it on their own,
days after being taught, they were demonstrating mastery through practice. By applying the
skill and showing others how to engage in the event as well, this provides the child with a sense
of helpfulness and importance.
Active programming is solely based around physical activity. Taken to the largest
space available, the kids are able to run freely as desired. Because participating in the active
program involves moving their bodies, they are already demonstrating the principal. Each game
requires the kids to be physically active to participate, thus stressing the active element. When
the kids played games, I watched them work together as they ran around in order to win.
Without communicating amongst each other, sharing strategic thoughts, and deciding together
on which choice the team should make, the activity would not be successful. This is a clear
demonstration of collaboration.
Outside of programming, the children are also provided time to have outside free play
and inside free play. Outside free play highly stresses activeness through doing activities kids

do every day with their friends such as handball or building blocks. It also enables creativity and
collaboration about what games they decide to play. Although neither outdoor nor indoor free
play provide academic challenges to the students, they do succeed in getting them physically
engaged while having fun with their peers after school.

Resources:
LIAS Tool
http://www.learninginafterschool.org/documents/LIAS%20Observation%20Rubric.pdf