By Diane Adams

Andover Afterschool Program Director

The Andover After School Program (AASP) and the Andover Five Alive Program (AFAP) welcomes back all of the students returning to our program and our many new ones. We are very happy to see the new school year begin.

The AFAP kindergarten program is in full swing. We have done many fun activities already, including a nature walk, apple painting, cooking classes, pizza making, leaf painting, and many others.

In cooking class, we have made monkey pie, jungle toss, apple crisp, and yogurt bowls. We’ve also made fake wood, marshmallows, and rocks for our new camping kit.

We are also taking a walk to collect acorns for the squirrels. We count the acorns, put them in a bucket, and keep track of how many the squirrels take. Last year it took only one day for the little guys to take all 192 acorns we collected. We will see if we can beat that record. We will give everyone a report in next month’s article.

The staff at AASP worked hard this summer to move the third grade room around and make more room upstairs for our upcoming fourth graders. All seem excited about the changes. We have a full house!

We are participating in the 13th annual Lights On After School event. This event symbolizes the importance of after school care for your community. We will be having an all-welcome open house on Thursday, October 18, from 5 to 7 PM. The director, board, and staff will all be here to participate in this important event. We will supply snacks and drinks.

Please come and join us. The whole community is welcome, and we encourage our enrolled families to come and enjoy.