AFTER-school engagement for youth within the Flanker community in St James received a major boost last week with the official handover of a brand new video gaming facility at the Flanker Resource Centre.

The new facility features three dedicated gaming stations, complete with flat screen TVs, Xbox 360 game consoles, controllers and headsets, as well as a selection of age-appropriate video games.

“We are living in an age of technology, to which our children, irrespective of their socio-economic realities, are exposed,” said director of programmes for the Sandals Foundation, Heidi Clarke. “We (Sandals Foundation) are therefore finding innovative ways to not only incorporate this technology into our educational support programmes to stimulate learning and impact teaching methods, but to incentivise excellent performance and participation.”

This is the purpose of the new gaming facility,” said Clarke. “It is our hope that the facility will provide great motivation for kids to want to participate in the revitalised home work programme, now the After-school Care and Extended Support (ACES) Programme and other activities being offered at the centre.

The Flanker Resource Centre initiated a homework programme in 2002 in an effort to assist students from the community who were adversely affected by overcrowded classrooms and the absence of personalised attention to their unique learning needs.

“The basic objective of the programme was to improve literacy skills among these children,” said Alecia Spence, programme co-ordinator at the Flanker Resource Centre, “thereby enabling them to expand their knowledge, build their self-esteem, and to participate fully in their school, community and wider society.”

Spence noted, however, that over the years the programme faced a number of challenges stemming mainly from a lack of financial support for basic necessities, including a hot meal for participants.

“After being at school all day, most students are hungry and unable to cope in class; at times they cannot even afford to eat lunch at school because of financial difficulty. So though the provision of a hot meal may not seem like much, it is actually a very critical element that, thankfully, Sandals Foundation has been able to provide,” Spence explained.

With the Sandals Foundation’s expected investment of over $1 million, the ACES Programme at the Flanker Resource Centre will provide nutritional meals and a host of other provisions, such as presenters, sessions dedicated to improving literacy, and access to various technologies.

The ACES Programme will also ensure a safe, structured environment in which at-risk youth from the community can benefit from dedicated counselling and mentorship, guided support with their school work and assignments, and participation in supervised afternoon activities which encourage positive social behaviour.

“It is our hope that, with the new ACES programme, students will be more motivated and engaged and will see the value of participating in the programme, and also encourage other students to do so,” said Spence.

“Numerous studies have supported the notion that children and youth who participate in after-school programmes, such as the ACES programme, can reap a host of positive benefits in such interrelated areas of social and emotional development, academic outcomes, and health and wellness,” said Heidi Clarke.

That is why at the Sandals Foundation we’re working with various interests in high-risk communities to create an integrated approach to learning and change the status quo, and inevitably the future for our children,” she added.