Learn, create, play

This year, 132 students at Patrick M. Villano School take part in an afterschool club. Clubs give students a chance to try different activities and learn new skills. Maya Pinada, a fifth-grader, is in the Scrapbooking Club.

Pinada said, “I chose to do scrapbooking because it was something new I had never tried before, and I was like, ‘Oh, scrapbooking. That sounds really cool,’ so that’s why I chose it.”

Each session has a theme, and one notebook page is dedicated to that theme, explained Pineda. Aside from scrapbooking, the school offered clubs to learn how to crochet and play chess. Other clubs focus on STEM skills and include Divide and Conquer, Math games, and Lego Robotics. Jimmy Maggin, a fifth-grader, said he enjoyed Lego Robotics.

“In the Lego Club, you build any Lego toys that you are able to code to do moves like dancing and moving,” Maggin said.

Ruth Altman, a fifth-grader, shared why she joined Crochet Club.

“I got a crochet for Christmas. I’m interested in knowing how to do it, so that’s why I joined the Crochet Club,” Altman said. ” … we have learned a chain stitch, a triple crochet stitch, and a double crochet stitch, and we learned how to make a little heart, and it’s really fun.”

Afterschool clubs are free for students and run on Wednesdays for eight weeks. Each club is led by a staff member: April Catuogno, Chess Club; Erin Amicucci, Scrapbooking; Cindy Doran, Lego Robotics; Hannah Phalen, Crochet Cllub; Lis Hill, Math Games with Bad Drawings; Christina Rivel, Divide and Conquer.