NEW GLOUCESTER – SAD 15, Fiddlehead Center for the Arts, Pineland Farms and the Gray Parks and Recreation Department were recently named recipients of the 21st Century Community Learner Center Grant.

The $600,000 award spans a five-year period beginning with $150,000 allocated for the first year, starting in September, and will fund Healthy Opportunities More Enrichment, an after-school learning initiative at Gray Hall at Pineland Center in New Gloucester.

HOME is intended to enrich the lives of children in Gray and New Gloucester with an after-school learning center.

“By offering programs to students after school, we will be building relationships with our children in our community,” said Jacinda Cotton-Castro, project manager. “HOME will provide children with an opportunity to grow and explore knowledge within themselves,” said Cotton-Castro.

“21st Center Community Learning Center Grants are awarded by the U.S. Department of Education, and are the only direct federal funding source for after-school programs. The grants are highly competitive and few in number,” said John P. McLaughlin, senior field representative and spokesman for Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine.

This year, $450,000 will defray after-school programs in York and Cumberland counties.

“The need for quality, affordable after-school programs in Maine has never been greater,” said McLaughlin. “Of the 120,000 or so Maine children who are between the ages of 6 to 12, about 70 percent come from families with working parents. Less than half of these are cared for after school by ‘kith and kin.’ About 46,000 young children need some time in supervised out-of-home care, but there are only 12,000 slots available in the state.”

According to McLaughlin, teenagers are generally mature enough to be left alone, but they, too, need supervision to avoid the pitfalls of youth in the after-school hours. Most juvenile crime, he said, takes place between the hours of 2 and 8 p.m. These are also the hours they are most likely to become victims of crime.

Craig Denekas of Libra Foundation, the Portland-based philanthropic group, oversees the development of Pineland Center, which is owned by October Corp., the real estate arm of Libra.

“We are the landlord. We provide the venue. Pineland is a village of separate programs,” said Denekas. The 200-acre facility hosts a number of program initiatives.

“This opens up so many opportunities for students,” said SAD 15 Superintendent Michael Wood.

After-school bus transportation will link students to programs in fine arts, crafts, language, music, performing arts, science exploration, and literacy through the arts offered by Fiddlehead Center for the Arts.

The Gray Park and Recreation Department plans to offer an outdoor adventure club and a fitness program for overweight youth. Pineland Farm’s campus will be a novel classroom for children in grades two through eight, and much of the learning will take place in Pineland’s fields, forests and farmyards.

A sliding fee scale will be designed to make the programs more affordable to students whose families are income eligible and based on the size and income of each family. There will be a $10 administration fee charge. Fiddlehead Center of the Arts formed 16 months ago by Mary Jo Marquis and Jacinda Cotton-Castro, both of New Gloucester, who recognized the need for conveniently located quality program offerings for children after school.

“The community comes together. This completes the picture looking forward to a bright future,” said Cotton-Castro.


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