Our hats are off to the Doddridge County Family Resource Network for successfully applying for grants totaling $12,800 from the state Department of Education for a much-needed after-school program for kindergarten through sixth grade students from that county.
Applications are still being taken for the after-school program, which is being coordinated by the Doddridge County Family Resource Network under the direction of Melissa Hinterer.
We, too, are hopeful the program that serves students from throughout all of Doddridge County can get under way next Monday. Hinterer is confident there will be a high enrollment in the program.
The Doddridge County Board of Education is serving as the fiscal agent of the after-school program and is supporting it by providing facilities at the Doddridge County Middle School near Smithburg, according to Superintendent Ronald Nichols.
He pointed out that the board agreed to the use of the middle school because of the program's benefits to latchkey kids. Access to the gym will be afforded when it's not in use, and the students enrolled in the program will also have access to the library.
Terry Hutson of Sedalia, who is coordinator of the program itself, believes that although it's open to any student, it will be helpful for working parents who might otherwise be worried about their children's welfare while home alone.
The program takes place between the hours of 3-6 p.m. on school days and will also be available all day on faculty senate days, snow days and days surrounding legal holidays.
From the overwhelming response to Energy Express, a six-week summer reading program conducted by Doddridge County Schools, there's every reason to believe the after-school program will be a success.
We commend: Hutson for her dedication as a school volunteer -- she has been doing it for the past four years -- and for her interest in working with children; Hinterer, for her foresight of the benefits of the program, and Nichols, for his interest in helping those Doddridge County families with school children eligible to be part of the program.
-- Robert F. Stealey