There’s a great big, beautiful world out there…
Once a month, on Smarty Saturdays, we organize an outing for the children in our 3rd, 4th and 5th grade After School classes. Owls at the Rye Nature Center, drones in corn maze construction at Outhouse Orchards, bears at the Bear Mountain Trailside Zoo, theater lighting and wardrobe at the Irvington Town Hall Theater, potato planting at Stone Barns, seining the Hudson River with Bezack, and the masters at the Hudson Valley Museum – the learning is designed to be fun, and to enrich understanding of our world. These opportunities may spark an interest, passion or skill in any one (or all) of the children. And, during the pandemic, the trips offer the children a sense of normalcy, as they lay aside their fear to enjoy activities with their peers. Adding to the fun is the alliterative naming of the trips. Brainstorming, students and instructors have produced Smarty Shearing, Smarty Stars, Smarty Sugaring, Smarty Stalks, Smarty Chivalry, Smarty Skating, Smarty Storms, Smarty Scallywags…
Ultimately Smarty Saturdays exposes the children and, through them, their families, to the resources around them, helping families integrate into the community.