Paying it forward honors principal, helps kids

January 31, 2003

What do you get for an elementary school principal who has dedicated her life to the betterment of young children? A woman who has demonstrated in a hundred ways that her first concerns are to children?

That was a question that the staff at Laurel Elementary School asked this holiday season when they pooled together their resources and went looking for a gift for their principal, Anne Allen. The answer, according to the school's vice-principal, Liz Ybarra, was a donation to the the city's Youth Assistance Program in Allen's name.

"Mrs. Allen has always been into the 'pay it forward' theory," Ybarra said, describing the notion brought to life in a theatrical production call "Pay It Forward," about a boy who gave a gift to a homeless man and asked only that the man give a gift to another in return. In the school's case that idea was to give a gift that could be passed on to others, according to Ybarra.

Nancy Kaiser of the Oakley Parks and Recreation department used the money to begin the Youth Assistance Fund to help children who can't afford to get involved in recreational activities have a chance to do so.

Over the past few months the city has been installing some of its new programs at the local middle schools. The programs have so far been free to students, thanks to grants and donations from the community. But there are occasions, such as when the students attend field trips, that there are fees to participate.

The programs at Delta Vista and O'Hara Park middle schools started in December and offered a chance for the kids to participate in art activities and outside sports such as basketball. The program even encouraged homework time where the kids could support each other by giving help to their friends.

"We really don't have a tutoring program, but we give them an opportunity to make the right choices between play and homework," Kaiser said.

One of the most successful parts of the program has been the introduction to theater and improv. The city's afterschool program coordinator, Meg Crowel, has a background in theater and improv and decided just for fun to introduce it to the children in the program. "They loved it," Kaiser said.

That is why Kaiser decided to contact the Lesher Foundation, which gives grants to programs like the City's afterschool program. The Lesher Foundation was interested in hearing more and Kaiser has spent the last week working on getting the information together.

"Everything in little positive steps," Kaiser said about the program. The hope is to eventually have a full program for children of all ages.

Currently the elementary schools are hosting afterschool programs, as well, but these are not funded by the city. An example of their programs is the one at Vintage Parkway School, which began several years ago under then Vintage Parkway School PTA president Jaye Buhlis.

Today the program runs Fridays for an hour after school and offers activities such as cooking, solar system classes, art and even a class where the children play board games together.

Kaiser said that these kinds of enrichment programs are wonderful for children. She hopes that someday the city will be able to offer more, but she emphasizes that Oakley needs to start slow, especially with the state government threatening to cut budgets from cities in the near future.

How can we as a community help? Kaiser said that she is always looking for ideas for programs. She is also always looking for volunteers who would like to teach an activity. Anyone who has a unique joy or hobby that would interest children is welcome to give her a call. She said she would love to hear about it. People are also always welcome to donate funds to the Youth Assistance Fund through the city just as the staff at Laurel Elementary School did. For more information, contact Kaiser at 925-625-7000.

Roni Gehlke's column on life in Oakley appears each week in the Brentwood News.

Distributed by the Contra Costa Times

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