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ACTIVE Life After School
About
ACTIVE Life's After School Program has been a core enterprise since the founding of the organization in 2003. The program offers top flight curriculum and instructors to schools that are eligible through ACE/21st Century grant funding. Our instructors provide a healthy environment for children after school where they participate in ACTIVE Life games and learn about the importance of nutrition.
At ACTIVE Life, our goal is to foster healthy nutrition and athletic growth for all students. We are leading the charge to defeat childhood obesity and believe every child should have the knowledge and opportunity to live a happy, healthy life.
Who's Participating
Local schools currently participating in the program:
- Barrington Elementary (Austin ISD)
- Brown Elementary (Austin ISD)
- Hart Elementary (Austin ISD)
- Harris Elementary (Austin ISD)
- Langford Elementary (Austin ISD)
- Norman Elementary (Austin ISD)
- Pecan Springs Elementary (Austin ISD)
- Pickle Elementary (Austin ISD)
- Rodriguez Elementary (Austin ISD)
- Widen Elementary (Austin ISD)
- Winn Elementary (Austin ISD)
- Wooten Elementary (Austin ISD)
- Red Rock Elementary (Bastrop ISD)
- Bluebonnet Elementary (Bastrop ISD)
- Creedmoore School Elementary (Del Valle ISD)
- Hornsby-Dunlap (Del Valle ISD)
- Popham Elementary (Del Valle ISD)
- Robertson Elementary (Round Rock ISD)
- Berkman Elementary (Round Rock ISD)
- Voigt Elementary (Round Rock ISD)
- Anderson Mill Elementary (Round Rock ISD)
- Callison Elementary (Round Rock ISD)
- Wells Branch Elementary (Round Rock ISD)
How to Get Involved
To learn more about ACTIVE Life's after school programming please contact Seth Prince, ACTIVE Life's After School Program Manager. Angel can be reached by email at angel@activelifehq.org or by phone at 512-533-9555 x303.
How ACTIVE Life After School is Making a Difference
Meet the people who make it happen!
Seth Prince, After School Program Director
As a former 5A football coach and teacher in some of the top schools in Texas and Colorado, Seth believes that dedication to academic, social, spiritual, and athletic growth are all key to becoming a well-rounded, healthy individual. He enjoys the rewarding feeling of helping a greater number of kids benefit from better overall health and fitness.
Seth talks a little about how the program is improving lives:
This program is making progress in the fight against childhood obesity through education and physical activity. Kids are getting accustomed to a stationary lifestyle and here we teach them to learn to enjoy physical activity. Students are generally brighter, healthier, disciplined, and do better in academics after being a part of this program.
It reaches more than just children:
Once a month we host Family Nights to get not only the students but the rest of the family involved. The outreach provides lessons for parents and kids alike.
Angel, Manager of After School Programs
Angel is in charge of managing supervisors and instructors for ACTIVE Life’s After School Programs. He is dedicated to teaching the youth about their overall health and fitness. His philosophy is to enlighten children with the tools needed to transition them from children to young adults. He believes education can be taught with excitement and enthusiasm through fitness games. His commitment to living a healthy live includes weightlifting, playing basketball, learning mix martial arts, and consistently learning more about the consumption of healthy cuisine. Angel received his Masters in Sports Management and Bachelors in Health and Fitness Management from Texas State University.
How do you see the program impacting kids?
I see kids who otherwise might not have a place to hang out at. These kids now have a place to have fun and spend energy in a positive way.
Why do you think the after school program is important for kids?
Kids need a place to spend their energy and to create positive habits early in their lives.
What types of things do you do with the kids in the program?
We play a lot of active games and teach them all about nutrition, their bodies, their environment, and their behaviors.
How does the after school program work to impact communities as a whole?
There are several missions in which kids are asked to include their parents and their communities to help achieve their mission. ACTIVE Life also hosts other events, like the AL Festival, which focus on community engagement.
Anna Hughes, After School Supervisor
Anna holds a B.A. in Kinesiology and a minor in Community Health and Wellness from The University of Texas. She also holds a teaching certificate for Health education. Anna has a passion for teaching and learning. She has previously worked with children in daycare settings, as a summer soccer coach, and she also was a tutor in Kinesiology to UT football players. She loves working with students of any age. On the weekends you can find her hiking with her friends or participating in local Austin area clean-ups, a group she started after noticing their favorite hiking trails were being polluted with trash. Anna is passionate about health and is so excited to be an After School Supervisor this year.
How did you get involved with ACTIVE Life's after school program?
After graduating from UT with a B.A. in Kinesiology I decided to get an alternative teaching certificate to teach Health Education, during this time I took on a part time job with ACTIVE Life as an after school instructor. Within the past year I have grown with ACTIVE Life, taking on many different roles, including Supervisor of After School Programs.
How do you see the program impacting the kids who partake in it?
ACTIVE Life's afterschool program has a huge impact in children's lives. Not only are the kids being impacted immediately by the health benefits of exercising, but they are learning lifelong skills to keep their bodies healthy. Another great impact, is having our wonderful teachers being visible positive mentors to the kids each and every week.
What do you think about the program's potential to drive change?
Our program is designed to start creating healthy the norm at an early age. We teach children about how to take care of their bodies and have fun while doing it. Kids then relate healthy not as something they have to struggle to keep up with , as most adults do. The kids have it ingrained in them that to be healthy is fun!
How does the after school program work to impact communities as a whole?
The after school programs are designed to indirectly effect the communities as a whole. The children are given "missions" at the end of each nutrition lesson that they are suppose to share with their families and work towards completing before meeting the following week. This helps engage the students family in creating change in their own homes.
Why do you think healthy should be the norm in America?
Healthy is a word that has been tossed around by some many people lately; it is associated with skinny or buff celebrities, it is coupled with being rich and famous. Here at ACTIVE Life, we are trying to create healthy the norm to lift those stigmas, that only the rich and pretty people can be healthy. We know that health goes beyond outside appearance and we want to teach our children that they can take simple steps in their own lives to become healthy productive members of society.
Why do you think the after school program is important for kids?
Right now the after school programs are exceptionally important for children because of all the budgets cuts being made at the legislative level. One of the first things to be cut from a schools budget are Physical Education, Health Education, Recess and Extracurricular Activities. Kids need time to play and let go of all the energy they have kept bottled up all day. Not only do we give them an outlet for doing so, but we teach them the proper way to exercise.
What types of things do you do with the kids in the program?
In the after school programs we learn about making healthy food choices. We use terms such as GO, SLOW, and WHOA foods. We help them learn serving sizes and the five classes of food groups. And we also teach them about why it is important to exercise; we bring in food as fuel and need to exercise to burn the fuel off. ACTIVE Life's after school programs are basic, but very key to a healthy lifestyle.
What is your favorite activity during after school programming?
My most favorite activity during after school is relay races. I love when the kids are competitive against one another, but also have to work in a team setting to accomplish a goal. Everyone is cheering each other on and it's so much fun!
Deanna Maxwell, After School Supervisor
Deanna Maxwell is an Early Childhood Education major at Texas State University. She enjoys working with children and watching them grow on day to day bases. She lives an active and healthy life and loves to share that with others.
How did you get involved with ACTIVE Life's after school program?
A close family friend who is now a teacher worked for Active Life while in school and recommended me to the program. She emphasized how much she learned and how it prepared her for teaching.
How do you see the program impacting the kids who partake in it?
The kids who partake in the program have more energy, are healthier and are becoming more social with the other kids in the program.
What do you think about the program's potential to drive change?
I think that the program has great potential to change the lifestyles of the students in the program. Working for Active Life for the past year has shown me how the kids have evolved into healthy active kids.
How does the after school program work to impact communities as a whole?
I feel that Active Life brings communities together by keeping the children in healthy after school programs in which they can teach their friends and families about.
Why do you think healthy should be the norm in America?
Healthy should be the norm in America to prevent health complications as the kids grow older. Healthy lifestyles should be reintroduced to American families for the future generations to come.
Why do you think the after school program is important for kids?
The after school programs are important for the kids so that they can have different ideas of how it is to be healthy and active.
What types of things do you do with the kids in the program?
In my after school programs we play game in which encourage the kids to be active, we also tell them stories about a character named B who usually needs help on a day to day bases and have the kids give B suggestions on how to improve his lifestyle. Before the kids go home we ive them a healthy challenge on how to have an active life.
What is your favorite activity during after school programming?
My absolute favorite activity to do with the kids is playing Sharks & Minos, because it’s the kid’s favorite game. The game is highly active and I love seeing my kids all participating in a game they all enjoy.
Matthew Hart, After School Supervisor
Matthew Holland Hart graduated Cum Laude from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in Recreation, Parks and Tourism Sciences along with a minor in Business Administration. Mr. Hart, Supervisor of After School Programs, began working at ACTIVE Life in the fall of 2008 and currently works for the San Antonio Spurs and as a DJ in his spare time. Despite the fact that Matthew's favorite sport to watch is basketball, he is much better at playing soccer than basketball!
How did you get involved with ACTIVE Life's after school program?
I actually found out about ACTIVE Life while searching for jobs on Craigslist. I knew I'd be a perfect fit for the job since I majored in recreation and had previous experience working with kids. Once I started working at ACTIVE Life I fell in love with the kids and having been working at ACTIVE Life ever since.
How do you see the program impacting the kids who partake in it?
The program impacts the kids in a number of different ways. One of these ways is through nutrition. Because the kids are so young they still have a lot to learn when it comes to nutrition so we teach them about things such as fruits, vegetables, nutrition labels and the necessity of cutting back on things such as fast food and sodas. Another way the program impacts the kids is through exercise. We teach the kids the importance of exercise and try to show them different ways to stay fit whether it's walking the dog, riding a bike or playing a sport such as basketball.
What do you think about the program's potential to drive change?
One of the goals of our program is to promote positive changes. These changes include things such as eating healthy and being more ACTIVE. Instructors care for the kids and they teach the program definitely have the potential to drive change in the kids to be more fit.
How does the after school program work to impact communities as a whole?
Communities are comprised of individuals and we at ACTIVE Life know it only takes one individual involved with our after school program to have a POSITIVE impact on the community. That is why we urge our students that the learning doesn't stop in the classroom. We encourage our students to take what they learn and share it with their friends and family. If all the kids do this then our message can spread and encourage communities as a whole to lead a life this is both healthy and happy.
Why do you think healthy should be the norm in America
Healthy should be the norm in America because it is a BETTER way of life than the alternative. The alternative encompasses everything from obesity to drug and alcohol abuse. These alternatives are serious issues in America that need to be addressed before they get any worse than they already are and one way to start addressing these issues and more importantly deal with them is to have a HEALTHY AMERICA as the normWhy do you think the after school program is important for kids?
Why do you think the after school program is important for kids?
The after school program is important for kids because It teaches them many of life's lessons. One of these lessons is respect. Not only are the kids encouraged to respect their teacher and their peers, but they're also encouraged to respect themselves. Additionally, our after school program also teaches kids about sharing. We do this by sharing the equipment during our class. Our kids can carry this lesson outside of the classroom and into ALL of their relationships, such as with their family and friends.
What types of things do you do with the kids in the program?
I do all kinds of things with kids in the program. One of the things I do is teach them about nutrition. This includes everything from talking about the importance of breakfast to learning about essential vitamins and minerals they need to support their bodies. Another thing I do with the kids is play educational games with them that not only reinforce the concept of nutrition but also get their bodies in motion. The act of getting their bodies in motion helps keep them fit which leads to a healthier style of living.
What is your favorite activity during after school programming?
That's a tough one, but let's just go with KNOCKOUT!!!
Student Spotlight
Coming soon!