Emily J. Reynolds/The Enterprise 

Samantha St. Firmin, 14, of Brockton, concentrates as she sews a skirt during an after-school program offered by the Fuller Craft Museum at Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School in Easton.

HAPPY TO STAY LATE 

Students flock to after-school programs at Southeastern Regional

By Paula Vogler, Enterprise Correspondent

For most high school students, the regular school day ends about 2 p.m.

At Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical School in Easton, students are required to stay until 4 p.m. to take an additional class unless they play sports or have a job to go to.

And none of them seem to mind.

Grants and partnerships with outside groups and individuals allow the school to offer extended-day programs ranging from stand-up comedy and drama to martial arts and home cooking.

The school is using, for example, a $25,000 grant from the state Department of Education to continue its collaboration with the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton and Massasoit Community College.

Massasoit offers a Spanish class for which students can earn college credit. The school reached out to the Brockton museum, which developed an after- school program. 

“We’re not in the arts business. We had a hard time networking and finding artists to teach,” Principal Dave Wheeler said. 

The after-school program runs Mondays through Thursdays for 10 weeks in the fall and 10 weeks in the spring. 

“It’s high interest. It engages them. They want this,” Wheeler said. “A big part of school is socialization. I want them to leave school saying, ‘That was awesome. I can’t wait to do that again tomorrow.’ ” Angelie De’Andrade and Kimberly Jean-Louis, both seniors from Brockton, signed up for the Fuller Craft Museum’s fabric class. 

They love fashion and were excited to learn the basics of how to sew and use a sewing machine. They recently learned how to make a tote bag in the class. 

“At first I didn’t like (the extended day) because it’s a long day and I was just thinking about food,” De’Andrade said. “Now it gets me out of the streets and it’s an activity colleges look at. I like it.” 

The many things that can be made from fabrics – a dress, wallet, tote bag, jeans – inspired De’Andrade, who would like to study fashion design in college. 

Jean-Louis would also like to study fashion design, adding she would recommend the extended day classes to 

everyone. “When I (used to) go home, I didn’t do anything. I’m learning how to be creative and put my mind into something,” Jean-Louis said. 

Down the hall in the robotics class, students learned about wiring robots and using a new Vex robotics program to run them. They are also preparing for future robotics competitions. 

Jonathan Berry, 15, of Easton said the class is the first time he’s had contact with actual robots. 

“I’ve definitely learned a lot,” Berry said. “I think (the extended day) is a good thing. I’m learning a lot more and am getting some new skills.” 

The extended day program started three years ago and, according to Wheeler, there is almost 100 percent participation from ninth- and 10thgraders. As students get older, jobs tend to pull them away from the program.