Lights On staff recognized during appreciation week

Hot Springs County School District's Lights On Afterschool program is joining with the National Afterschool Association to celebrate the professionals that are at the heart of afterschool programs during the first ever "Afterschool Professionals Appreciation Week" on April 25-29.

Program Coordinator Jenny Davis said part of the effort is simply to appreciate and recognize the afterschool professionals that we have and to put more information out about the impact of afterschool programs to students, families and the community.

"It's going to be an in-house appreciation effort," Davis said. "I'm going to be putting banners in the offices of all of the schools with some sticky notes so parents can write how the program has impacted their child or children. We want the staff to see the feedback from the community."

Davis said the afterschool professionals put in a lot of hard work.

"There's a lot of hard work that goes into afterschool programs and I want to thank our staff and all of the hard work they do," she said.

Any community member is welcome to come provide feedback about how the program is doing, and how it is impacting the lives of their children, Davis said.

"Receiving feedback is one of the gains," she said. "When students give us direct feedback and want to come back to the program, it's very rewarding."

Davis said feedback is crucial when both showing appreciation for the staff and their efforts as well as how the program might improve.

"The whole purpose of the Lights On program is to support the community," she said. "It does provide jobs, but those jobs are meant to support the community. Without that feedback, we don't know if we are supporting the community's needs. And this week, in particular, is about the tireless service of the staff and giving them the positive feedback they deserve."

The Lights On staff includes Jenny Davis, Sarah Cox, Wes Meier, Kathy Sorensen, Paige Ballard, Corissa Haas, Heather Herring, Sady Mounts, Ana Mosser, Melissa Racay, London Jenks, Steve Radabaugh, Curtis Hamerr, Emma Christofferson and Lisa Larson. High School workers include Sydnee Griffin, Stormy Cox, Chris Slagle, Myracle Snooks and Cody Boss.