3:02 PM 10/5/1997 JCC supports community with after-school programs By LESLIE SOWERS
The Jewish Community Center's structured after=school athletic program includes basketball, as well as swimming, gymnastics, youth aerobics and dance. The Jewish Community Center prides itself on caring for people from "the cradle to the rocking chair." For children and youths, the center offers activities that take a 42-page brochure to describe. The teen program director, Jordan Shenker, has his hands full, riding herd on about 1,000 kids a week in the after-school programs run by the center. And that's just the older group. The number doubles for the younger ages, who also use the center for day care and after-school care. Most of those served are members of the Jewish community, but the center's mission is to serve the larger community as well. Some programs attract a greater number of non-Jewish participants than others, Shenker said. Fun as it may be for a trigger-fingered middle-schooler to spend hours in the game-room playing the hottest videos, the underlying service is not amusement or entertainment. It's family support, and it is for this reason that the center receives support from the United Way. Shenker said that all the youth programs are regarded as a basic service to families. Though the center doesn't deal with families who are in crisis, it does hope to prevent crises by providing sound activities and resources to keep families functioning. | |
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