{"id":8023,"date":"2021-09-02T13:03:11","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T13:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/atlantic\/salvation-army-after-school-program-fills-gap-in-springhill-community\/"},"modified":"2025-05-26T11:22:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T11:22:17","slug":"salvation-army-after-school-program-fills-gap-in-springhill-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salvationarmy.ca\/atlantic\/2021\/09\/salvation-army-after-school-program-fills-gap-in-springhill-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Salvation Army After-School Program Fills Gap in Springhill Community"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every Monday, more than 30 students from the town of Springhill, Nova Scotia, gather at The Salvation Army community church to take part in their after-school program, which is the only one of its kind in the small community of just 2,700.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe started this program three years ago when she realized there wasn\u2019t an after-school program available in our community,\u201d explains Captain Rosalyn Toynton. \u201cWe are located between the high school and elementary schools, so it\u2019s ideal for the kids to walk over after their classes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThey really enjoy this time\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Captains Rosalyn and Steve Toynton designed the after-school program to be a safe place for children and youth to socialize with their friends and take part in activities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe start every week the same. They come in, wash their hands and we take attendance before we begin,\u201d she explains. \u201cWhen a child comes five weeks in a row, they can pick a surprise from our treasure chest. We started this to encourage them to come back and they really love it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once attendance is finished, the children and youth are given a snack and time to socialize with their friends, which has become an important part for all those who attend.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThey really enjoy the free time at the beginning of the program to wind-down,\u201d Captain Steve explains. \u201cThe kids don\u2019t often get to socialize as much as they like in school, so they really enjoy this time as they eat their snacks. Some even use this time to start their homework.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The children and youth then take part in an activity arranged by the Toynton\u2019s. With anywhere from 30 &#8211; 40 showing up each week, they make sure they are fit for all ages.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe have all types of activities,\u201d he explains. \u201cFrom ring toss and bean bag toss, to crafts and colouring contests, we try to offer things that the kids are really interested in.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThe after-school program is their happy place\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For some, the after-school program is more than just a fun place to spend time with their friends, it\u2019s a place where they feel safe and a sense of belonging.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOne child started coming when he was just in grade 6,\u201d Captain Roslyn explains. \u201cOvertime he opened up and shared with us that he doesn\u2019t enjoy going to school because he is often picked on, but he loves coming here. He\u2019s not the only one who has expressed this either. It\u2019s their happy place.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While new provincial health and safety guidelines may have altered their regular schedule, the Toyton\u2019s look forward to resuming the program in the near future.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThese programs are so important in small communities. They really make a difference for so many kids.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every Monday, more than 30 students from the town of Springhill, Nova Scotia, gather at The Salvation Army community church to take part in their after-school program, which is the only one of its kind in the small community of just 2,700.\u00a0 \u201cWe started this program three years ago when she realized there wasn\u2019t an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8024,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"location":[],"class_list":["post-8023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-interest"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.7 - 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