The Fallsburg Central School District is asking students to join the new clubs that have been made possible by the 21st Century Community Learning Center After-School program grant from the U.S. Department of Education. 

The grant aims to support the creation of community learning centers to provide academic enrichment opportunities. 

These programs are available during non-school hours for the students in the Junior-Senior High School, according to Jamie Lippen-Shanberg, English Teacher and the Coordinator for the clubs. 

To qualify for this grant, the schools have been in a high-poverty area and are low-performing. The programming allows the students to help meet state and local student standards in core academic subjects like reading and math. 

However, the clubs do not only offer academic components; the district provides enrichment classes and other activities that instill learning in the students and life skills. 

Types of clubs include guitar, Dungeons & Dragons, productions, The Video Game Club, cooking, Latin dance, gardening, puppets, and props, spirit wear and so much more. 

Students who want to attend the enrichment clubs would need to be grade eligible; if they are not, they are required to attend the academic clubs to help get them back on track. Once that is done, they can move on and join the enrichment club full-time if they want to. 

The teachers conduct all the enrichment programs at Fallsburg’s Junior-Senior High School. 

“We have so many talented teachers here,” said Lippen-Shanberg. 

While the program was set to start earlier, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the start of the clubs. Now that the pandemic has subsided, the clubs have officially opened their doors.

Lippen-Shanberg said she hopes to evolve the clubs so one day, they can take the activities they do in the school to the community. An example of that would be the students who take the cooking class to be able to visit and cook in a real working kitchen like the Tango Cafe in Hurleyville. 

Jessica Scanna, Speech Language Pathologist for Fallsburg, handles the spirit wear program where the students aid in creating spirit wear for the school to be used at events, sporting games, and other clubs. 

A Cricut Cutting machine can produce cutouts, heat press products, and t-shirts. The machines were purchased with a grant from the 21st Century Community Learning Center. 

Scanna said the student has really taken to producing the products for the school and have taken leadership roles with the equipment and the clubs. 

The next project for the students is to create some “swag” for the retired coaches’ award ceremony in January. 

“It’s nice to see the kids working together, regardless of academic levels,” said Scanna. 

Fallsburg Junior-Senior Principal Kyle Roddey said what makes the clubs work is the passion from the students for them and the passion he sees in the teachers waiting to conduct the clubs.

“These are labors of love,” said Roddey. 

Brandon Lundgren, a Social Studies teacher who runs the Video Game Club, says the students have really taken to it, and it’s not only about playing video games, the students have to work as a team, making everything a teachable moment. 

“Things like collaboration, teamwork, leadership, responsibility, all these different things [are] really worked on … who they are as a person, and then show [what they’ve learned] through video gaming,” said Lundgren. 

Some of the games that are played have a “party” central theme, where all the students can join in on one game. 

“We’re not going to really be competing against each other; we’re going to be working with each other to kind of bring ourselves to the next level,” said Lundgren. 

Erin Ruth, who is an English as a new language teacher and runs the Guitar Club, says that it gives a chance for the students to try something they might not have otherwise. 

The club goes over the basics of tuning the guitar and learning the basic chords but at the student’s pace. 

She realizes that holding and playing the guitar can be awkward for the first time, and that’s why she meets the students where they are. She already sees the students’ improvement in the short time the club has been active. 

“This is a safe space where we can make mistakes, and we can help each other,” said Ruth. 

Students who come to the guitar club arrive at all different levels, from absolute beginners to having some familiarity with the instrument.

“One of my students has her own guitar and has now started playing with her church’s Christmas special,” added Ruth. 

Ruth said she hopes to take her students to Bethel Woods Center for the Arts for a behind the scenes look at a music venue.

Crystal Putnam said her students have been eager to learn the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. 

In the club, the students learn how to play the role-playing game which includes creating characters and playing together to construct the playing environment where their characters will live and battle. 

They are led by the dungeon master, who narrates the game, sets the scenes, and throws plot points to the game to move the campaign along. 

Some games could last years, said Putnam, but the students are looking to complete their campaign by the end of the school year. 

The students are able to use their academic skills along with acting and creative writing to help build the fantasy role-playing world that is Dungeons &  Dragons. 

The students are disconnected from their phones and technology, and it’s all really theater of the mind,” said Putnam. “Solving a problem together collectively that you all agree upon. Sometimes people aren’t gonna agree,” she added. 

Christine Justiniano, Spanish Teacher for Fallsburg, heads up the Latin Dance Club, where the students get to learn different types of Latin dances, from salsa to bachata. 

Justiniano, who has been doing Latin and ballroom dancing for years outside of her teaching job, said some of the students come to the club with knowledge of dance, and some are completely new to it. 

The students get to learn to work together through dance and being respectful of their bodies. 

Justiniano hopes to one day be able to take her club students to the ballroom at the Hurleyville Performing Arts Centre.

Justiniano said, “We’re open to teaching everybody a little bit of dance. Just to bring some joy.”