Extracurricular activities can go a long way toward determining how students do with the in-school curriculum, educators say.
By MICHELE MILLER
Published August 3, 2003
With school starting next week, academic success is likely on the minds of many students . . . or maybe not.
No doubt, hitting the books should be a priority. But what goes on after school seems to play a part in how well students do during school.
And it's not all about homework.
Maybe you've read the literature on how playing a musical instrument can help boost math or reading skills. Then there's the stories about kids who pulled their grades up so they could play school sports.
Maybe you have a story of your own: how the only bright spot in your school day all those years ago was the after-school hours spent working on the yearbook or performing in the school play.
Saybra Chapman, a former guidance counselor and licensed mental health counselor who serves as a supervisor of student services for Pasco County Schools, knows well how extracurricular activities can make a difference when it comes to academics.
Chapman, who is known in schools throughout the county for her talks titled "You did WHAT?!" on understanding adolescent behavior, has no problem giving after-school programs a plug.
"Extracurricular activities give kids the opportunity to get a sense of belonging," Chapman said. "Especially when kids get to middle and high school, the schools are so big that they can feel lost. They don't have a sense of community. Kids who get into drama, kids who write for the school newspaper or are involved in sports or the school band get that sense of belonging because they're in smaller groups with kids with similar interests."
Fitting in is just part of it.
Cindy Tehan, a drama teacher at Seven Springs Middle School, says most of her students don't have a problem with absenteeism.
"If they don't come to school, they can't come to rehearsal," Tehan said. "So they come to school."
Which means that her students are there for their academics as well.
Tehan points to other pluses.
"Drama provides a way for students to become engaged in the school experience. It's socialization, which I think is a good thing. And it helps develop reading skills, leadership skills and team-building skills," she said.
When students approached principal Patrick Reedy last year about starting a fishing club for teen anglers at Pasco High School, he was all for it.
"I've read and had referenced to me that students who are involved in extracurricular activities, whether it be in the school or in the community, tend to do better academically. Research shows these kids tend to be more organized," he said.
"Then there's the positive influence of adults - coaches, music teachers, whatever - who are asking, "How's school going? How are your grades?' "
Reedy says he encourages students to be involved.
"It helps with school spirit," he said. "It makes school more personal to them, whether they're on literary magazine, FFA (Future Farmers of America), athletics, band or chorus. Being with other kids with similar interests can help overcome some of the other stuff that isn't so great. It goes a long way to making high school a better experience."
Chapman said studies on kids who shouldn't have made it but did have three things in common: caring adults, high expectations and community involvement.
And she also weighed in as a parent: "I don't know what my two boys would have done without FFA. They love to be outdoors, to hunt and fish. Basically, they went to school to participate in FFA. The other stuff was things they had to get through to get to FFA."
