Column: New partnership to provide after-school child care for Waubonsee Community College student-parents
I mention this because when the new program between Waubonsee Community College and the Boys & Girls Clubs of North Central Illinois was described to me as 'a game-changer,' I knew from personal experience this is not a case of marketing hyperbole.
In a new partnership, Waubonsee and the Boys & Girls Clubs of North Central Illinois are launching a free, on-campus after-school care program for students at the college's downtown Aurora campus. Unlike other colleges that offer financial assistance or care for toddlers, noted WCC President Brian Knetl, this provides no-cost quality care for elementary-aged children of enrolled students from 3:45 to 9:30 p.m. inside the college building.
Convenient? For sure. But if you are, say, a single parent trying to build a better future, this program can be a lifeline. Imagine the emotional relief knowing your kid is spending quality time right down the hall as you pursue a degree or certification.
Imagine the financial burden that is lifted, at a time when it's becoming increasingly difficult for so many to pay rent, keep the lights on and put food on the table.
Game changer? You bet.
And, as an added bonus, it is putting these youngsters in a college environment early in life that can't help but make their own pursuit of higher education at some point in their lives that much more familiar – and expected.
'I totally get it,' says Cathy Russell, CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of North Central Illinois who remembers her own days as a single mom. 'It's a win-win for everyone.'
The seed of this partnership was planted in the summer of 2022, a few months after Boys & Girls Clubs of North Central Illinois, which began in Elgin in 1993, opened its sixth club in Aurora. The board, which included WCC employee Adam Schauer, met at the college, and those early gatherings, said Russell, 'helped us to build relationships, have deep conversations' that included how after-school care can be a barrier for students.
'It just makes so much sense for parents to be able to bring their kids to a place where they too will learn,' she insisted.
While Boys & Girls Clubs are known for using non-traditional sites like schools, churches and Section 8 housing, 'adult learning education is a whole new movement,' Russell told me, adding that 'I don't know any other organization doing something quite like this.'
Currently the club in Aurora is meeting in more than a dozen schools in District 131 and around a half dozen in District 129. The hope is to build a new 45,000-square-foot clubhouse in the city – with help from a $500,000 federal grant secured by U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Naperville, according to news reports.
The WCC/BGC program, which will kick off this upcoming semester, will provide snacks for the kids, academic support and STEAM enrichment activities, and will also focus on the social and emotional well-being of the kids, said Russell.
The college and this nationally-recognized youth club both have long and trusted reputations. But they also share a 'common mission' of expanding their footprints to best serve the needs of the community, said Knetl, who has been working in community colleges for over 20 years and became Waubonsee Community College president in January of 2023.
The program, he added, is the 'definition of coming together.'
Knetl points to a young couple, who are high-performing students at WCC but sometimes have to juggle their class to take care of their children.
'Our students are finding a way to make it work,' he said. 'What concerns us most is that we may never know about the people who want to go on to college but can't afford a trustworthy place to send their children.'
And so, Waubonsee Community College and the Boys & Girls Club are anxious to get the word out about what really could be a game-changer.
'We want to break down those barriers,' said Knetl. 'We are eager to see where this will go.'
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Column: New partnership to provide after-school child care for Waubonsee Community College student-parents
I remember decades ago writing a column about the most pressing issue I faced as a parent: child care. It was a huge concern, always at the top of my list of stressors and not just in regard to affordability but also to quality. I mention this because when the new program between Waubonsee Community College and the Boys & Girls Clubs of North Central Illinois was described to me as 'a game-changer,' I knew from personal experience this is not a case of marketing hyperbole. In a new partnership, Waubonsee and the Boys & Girls Clubs of North Central Illinois are launching a free, on-campus after-school care program for students at the college's downtown Aurora campus. Unlike other colleges that offer financial assistance or care for toddlers, noted WCC President Brian Knetl, this provides no-cost quality care for elementary-aged children of enrolled students from 3:45 to 9:30 p.m. inside the college building. Convenient? For sure. But if you are, say, a single parent trying to build a better future, this program can be a lifeline. Imagine the emotional relief knowing your kid is spending quality time right down the hall as you pursue a degree or certification. Imagine the financial burden that is lifted, at a time when it's becoming increasingly difficult for so many to pay rent, keep the lights on and put food on the table. Game changer? You bet. And, as an added bonus, it is putting these youngsters in a college environment early in life that can't help but make their own pursuit of higher education at some point in their lives that much more familiar – and expected. 'I totally get it,' says Cathy Russell, CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of North Central Illinois who remembers her own days as a single mom. 'It's a win-win for everyone.' The seed of this partnership was planted in the summer of 2022, a few months after Boys & Girls Clubs of North Central Illinois, which began in Elgin in 1993, opened its sixth club in Aurora. The board, which included WCC employee Adam Schauer, met at the college, and those early gatherings, said Russell, 'helped us to build relationships, have deep conversations' that included how after-school care can be a barrier for students. 'It just makes so much sense for parents to be able to bring their kids to a place where they too will learn,' she insisted. While Boys & Girls Clubs are known for using non-traditional sites like schools, churches and Section 8 housing, 'adult learning education is a whole new movement,' Russell told me, adding that 'I don't know any other organization doing something quite like this.' Currently the club in Aurora is meeting in more than a dozen schools in District 131 and around a half dozen in District 129. The hope is to build a new 45,000-square-foot clubhouse in the city – with help from a $500,000 federal grant secured by U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Naperville, according to news reports. The WCC/BGC program, which will kick off this upcoming semester, will provide snacks for the kids, academic support and STEAM enrichment activities, and will also focus on the social and emotional well-being of the kids, said Russell. The college and this nationally-recognized youth club both have long and trusted reputations. But they also share a 'common mission' of expanding their footprints to best serve the needs of the community, said Knetl, who has been working in community colleges for over 20 years and became Waubonsee Community College president in January of 2023. The program, he added, is the 'definition of coming together.' Knetl points to a young couple, who are high-performing students at WCC but sometimes have to juggle their class to take care of their children. 'Our students are finding a way to make it work,' he said. 'What concerns us most is that we may never know about the people who want to go on to college but can't afford a trustworthy place to send their children.' And so, Waubonsee Community College and the Boys & Girls Club are anxious to get the word out about what really could be a game-changer. 'We want to break down those barriers,' said Knetl. 'We are eager to see where this will go.'
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EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — After driving through a downpour to take her son to day camp, Darleen Reyes told camp administrators the rain would have kept her away but her son insisted on going. As she marked her son's name present on a clipboard at the Boys & Girls Club camp, she laughed about braving a flash flood warning to get there. Before kissing his mother goodbye, Aiden Cazares, 8, explained to a reporter, 'I wanted to see my friends and not just sit at home.' Then he ran off to play. Aiden's one of 1.4 million children and teenagers around the country who have been attending after-school and summer programming at a Boys & Girls Club, the YMCA or a public school for free thanks to federal taxpayers. Congress set aside money for the programs to provide academic support, enrichment and child care to mostly low-income families, but President Donald Trump's administration recently froze the funding. The money for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers is among more than $6 billion in federal education grants Trump's Republican administration has withheld, saying it wants to ensure recipients' programs align with the president's priorities. After-school programs for the fall are in jeopardy In Rhode Island, the state stepped in with funding to keep the summer programs running, according to the Boys & Girls Club of East Providence. Other Boys & Girls Clubs supported by the grants have found ways to keep open their summer programs, said Sara Leutzinger, vice president for communications for the Boys & Girls Club of America. But there isn't the same hope for the after-school programming for the fall. Some of the 926 Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide that run 21st Century Community Learning summer and after-school programs stand to close if the Trump administration doesn't release the money in the next three to five weeks, Leutzinger said. The YMCA and Save the Children say many of the centers they run are also at risk of shuttering. 'Time is of the essence,' said Christy Gleason, executive director of Save the Children Action Network, which provides after-school programming for 41 schools in rural areas in Washington state and across the South, where school will begin as soon as August. 'It's not too late to make a decision so the kids who really need this still have it.' Schools in Republican-led areas are particularly affected by the freeze in federal education grants. Ninety-one of the 100 school districts that receive the most money from four frozen grant programs are in Republican congressional districts, according to an analysis from New America, a left-leaning think tank. Of those top 100 school districts, half are in four states: California, West Virginia, Florida and Georgia. New America's analysis used funding levels reported in 2022 in 46 states. Republican officials have been among the educators criticizing the grant freeze. 'I deeply believe in fiscal responsibility, which means evaluating the use of funds and seeking out efficiencies, but also means being responsible — releasing funds already approved by Congress and signed by President Trump," said Georgia schools superintendent Richard Woods, an elected Republican. 'In Georgia, we're getting ready to start the school year, so I call on federal funds to be released so we can ensure the success of our students.' The Office of Management and Budget said some grants supported left-wing causes, pointing to services for immigrants in the country illegally or LGBTQ+ inclusion efforts. Summer clubs provide instruction for children At the East Providence summer camp, Aiden, a rising third grader, played tag, built structures with magnetic tiles, played a fast-paced game with the other kids to review addition and subtraction, learned about pollination, watched a nature video and ate club-provided chicken nuggets. Veteran teachers from his school corrected him when he spoke without raising his hand and offered common-sense advice when a boy in his group said something inappropriate. 'When someone says something inappropriate, you don't repeat it,' teacher Kayla Creighton told the boys between answering their questions about horseflies and honeybees. Indeed, it's hard to find a more middle-of-the road organization in this country than the Boys & Girls Club. Just last month, a Republican and a Democrat sponsored a resolution in the U.S. House celebrating the 165-year-old organization as a 'beacon of hope and opportunity.' The Defense Department awarded the club $3 million in 1991 to support children left behind when their parents deployed for the Persian Gulf. And ever since, the Boys & Girls Club has created clubs on military installations to support the children of service members. Military families can sign up their kids for free. 'I suspect they will realize that most of those grants are fine and will release them,' said Mike Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative education policy think tank, speaking of the Trump administration's review of the 21st Century Community Learning Center grants. But not everyone is so sure. Families see few affordable child care alternatives Aiden's mother has started looking into afternoon child care for September when kids return to school in Rhode Island. 'It costs $220 a week,' Reyes said, her eyes expanding. 'I can't afford that.' The single mother and state worker said she'll probably ask her 14-year-old son to stay home and watch Aiden. That will mean he would have to forgo getting a job when he turns 15 in the fall and couldn't play basketball and football. 'I don't have any other option,' she said. At home, Aiden would likely stay inside on a screen. That would be heartbreaking since he's thrived getting tutoring and 'learning about healthy boundaries' from the Boys & Girls Club program, Reyes said. Fernande Berard learned about the funding freeze and possible closure from a reporter after dropping off her three young boys for summer camp. 'I would be really devastated if this goes away,' said the nurse. 'I honestly don't know what I would do.' Her husband drives an Uber much of the day, and picking up the kids early would eat into his earnings. It's money they need to pay the mortgage and everything else. If her boss approves, she'd likely have to pick up her children from school and take them to the rehabilitation center where she oversees a team of nurses. The children would have to stay until her work day ends. 'It's hard to imagine,' she said. ___ The Associated Press' education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
