YMCA after-school program locally gets $162,000 grant

A grant from Indiana’s Student Learning Recovery Grant Program is expected to help create after-school activities for Greencastle students.

The $162,500 grant, recipient of which is the YMCA of the Wabash Valley, is part of $35.2 million in state and federal grant funds being awarded to 123 community partners and schools across the state, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb and the Indiana Department of Education have announced.

The YMCA is receiving the funding to better develop its existing partnership with Greencastle Community Schools, not for the proposed community center project. After-school activities such as art projects, violin lessons and foreign language lessons with assistance from DePauw University are being funded by the grant.

The grant money will help target student engagement in the learning process in the aftermath of the pandemic and all the non-traditional teaching methods it brought with it.

Ryan Penrod, chief executive officer of YMCA of the Wabash Valley, said the grant will help expose young people to activities they may not otherwise get to experience during a normal school day.

“Educators across the state are working strategically to help close learning gaps and reduce the significant academic impact we’ve seen from pandemic-related school disruptions,” Dr. Katie Jenner, Indiana Secretary of Education, said in a press release. “This is an enormous responsibility – and it requires all of us. This includes our schools, our higher education institutions, our families, and our community partners, joining together through student-focused partnerships. I’m grateful for the important work that’s being funded through Indiana’s Student Learning Recovery Grant Program, as we all come together to ensure that every student has the opportunity to build the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.”

The grant awards are being funded through the second round of Indiana’s Student Learning Recovery Grant Program, with $27.5 million allocated to partners across the state. The state funding is supplemented by an additional $7.7 million in state set-aside funding as part of Indiana’s federal COVID-19 relief funds.