Rally held for YMCA after-school programs

LYNN – Ten-year-old Bryan Zayas dipped his spoon into a bowl of creamy yogurt and lifted a heaping pile onto a cup full of strawberries, blueberries and blackberries.”The yogurt’s supposed to go on the bottom!” cried his friend, 9-year-old Matthew Colon as Zayas ignored his instructions.The boys and a dozen other children were making parfaits in a new, commercial-grade kitchen at the Lynn YMCA on Thursday afternoon as part of the YMCA’s licensed after-school program.On this particular day, politicians and state education officials joined in the activity as part of a national celebration for after-school programs like those at the YMCA.Lynn YMCA’s after-school instructors and hundreds of children held a rally in the building’s parking lot Thursday called Lights On Afterschool, where Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy introduced a city proclamation naming Thursday citywide Lights On After-school Day. She also showed a statewide proclamation signed by Gov. Deval Patrick declaring the same thing.Across the nation, more than 7,000 community after-school programs held similar rallies.”I’m so happy that all of us here in Lynn are part of that 7,000 that can celebrate this great day,” Kennedy told the students.After-school programs like those at Lynn’s YMCA are a big part of helping underachieving students catch up in school, said Tania Buck, the senior director of after-school programs and government relations at the Lynn YMCA.The YMCA provides everything from a study club for students of all ages, to organized activities in the computer lab, to sports games in the gym, to music lessons in a recording studio, to summer programs that support math and reading literacy.”The after-school programs today, they’re not babysitting,” Buck said. “It’s really about extending the learning of children’s day.”The Lynn YMCA sees about 450-500 children a day through its two after-school programs, which include a licensed child-care program for children ages 3-13 and a drop-in center for children of all ages.And enforcing healthy habits is a key component of the YMCA’s after-school program, said group leader Kevin Davila as he led his third-graders in a round of jumping jacks before the rally.For the entire month of October, students in his group will introduce themselves by their name and favorite vegetable and before any scheduled playtime do group exercise.”We just try to keep it stuck in their heads that eating healthy is the right way to go,” he said.But for 10-year-old Zayas, coming to Lynn YMCA every day after school is just a fun thing to do.”I like the gym and I like to play basketball,” he said.Amber Parcher can be reached at [email protected].