Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools approves contract for Transforming Teens after school program

The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Board of Education approved a $125,000 contract Tuesday night for a new after school program.

The program is called Transforming Teens, and aims to address learning recovery and students' connections with their peers and adults. 

The contract is with the YMCA of Northwest North Carolina, but multiple local organizations are involved in the program. 

At the Aug. 23 Board of Education meeting, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services Fredricca Stokes said the collaboration is key. 

“The vision really is to provide a national model of public/private collaborative partnerships to mentor our youth in our schools,” she said. 

The first group of participants in Transforming Teens will be 50 elementary and middle school students from the Winston-Salem Tiny Indians Football program, a youth sports organization. 

For at least three days a week, those students will attend the Winston Lake Family YMCA after school. There, they'll get access to nutritious meals, tutoring services and group activities. 

“And then there'll be a mentor meetup, where they're connecting with an adult as their mentor,” Stokes said. “Where they're having an opportunity to talk with them about what's going on in school, what's going on in their life. They'll have the opportunity to set goals.”

At the meeting, she said some of the mentors will be individuals from the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office. 

In addition to services for students, Stokes says there will be opportunities to take home meals and activities for their families. 

The contract will be paid for with the district's Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, which is federal money intended to address the impacts of COVID-19.

Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.