Washington and Lee University
On November 14 2007, Leslie Cintron, Assistant Professor of Sociology, and Nancy Margand, Professor of Psychology, made a public presentation of their final report and findings of their Spring 2007 CARE community-based research project on Rockbridge Area Afterschool Programs to a meeting of the Rockbridge Area Prevention Task Force (RAPTF).
Research was conducted last spring for the RAPTF coalition under W&L's Campus-Community Partnerships for Research (CCPR), which was formerly known by the acronym CARE. CCPR, an organization of the W&L Shepherd Program on Poverty and Human Capability, has undertaken a variety of research projects for local organizations since it was first organized in 2003. The group underwent a dramatic expansion in 2006 with increased staffing and an infusion of grant funding from Learn and Serve America. According to Dr. Sandra Hayslette, W&L's Service Network Coordinator, "This project originated in a set of concerns about youth activities articulated by the task force back in 2005. Members of the task force worked with the CCPR staff to shape the research question and design. Dr. Cintron and Dr. Margand collaborated on the research with their students, who worked with CCPR and the schools to obtain parental permissions and conduct focus groups with the children." Dr. Hayslette, who is an active member of the task force, was also present at the November 14th meeting.
In anticipation of the presention, Wendy Morgan, Coalition Facilitator for RAPTF, said that "Five area schools participated in the study, including Central Elementary, Natural Bridge Elementary, Maury River Middle, Lylburn Downing Middle, and Rockbridge County High School. The study focused on the effects of after school programs on childhood and youth development in general, and what affects the participation in after school programs in Rockbridge County. The professors are planning to talk about patterns in the results . . . things that students said that they do, including things they said they would like to do more or less of, during the time period 3:00-6:00 PM. We are especially interested in hearing what they learned of students' opinions about what general characteristics make for desirable structured afterschool activities, and how those findings differed by age and gender." Morgan went on to say, "We hope that the presentation will serve to begin a second phase of thinking and planning about our area's after school care."