A sign in front of the Media Center, the hub of School's Out, encourages students to sign in to participate in activities.
Figuring out what to do after school can be difficult. Luckily, WHS students can go to School’s Out, the after-school program run by Mountain Alliance. Whether you want to study, hang out with friends, or play in a ping-pong tournament, School’s Out has it all.
Sarah Briggs is the Director of the School’s Out program and wants to help students succeed.
“Best put, School's Out aims to help students succeed academically,” said Briggs. “[We want to] increase scholarly and extracurricular engagement, improve psychological and social well-being, and increase awareness of, access to, and enrollment in further education after high school.”
Many students love the afterschool program for the social aspect. They average about 50 students per day and offer tons of games and activities to participate in. Students like sophomore Caitlyn Mull use School’s Out to relax and meet up with friends.
“I love School’s Out because it gives me a chance to connect with friends I don’t normally see during the school day,” Mull said. “I can check in with them, play games, and catch up. School’s Out is a place for me to hang out and decompress after school while waiting for my evening activities to start.”
While many students go for the easy hang-out space, many also go to get homework done and study for upcoming tests. School’s Out reserves half of the library as a quiet space for students to focus on such things.
“I catch up on assignments that I didn’t have enough time for during class,” said sophomore Nat Combs. “If I’m not catching up in my classes, I like to play card games with a couple of my friends.”
Besides reserving a quiet study space, School’s Out also provides tutors for various topics that are available on select days. History and civics tutors are there on Tuesdays and Thursdays while chemistry and physics tutors are open on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. In addition to those, math and English tutors are available every day of the week. Overall, most students appreciate School's Out calm environment.
“I like being able to hang out with my friends and having a safe after-school environment to be able to go do work in,” said junior Jadie May.
Similarly, freshman Nil Herman likes that School’s Out provides them with something to do after school.
“I like that it gives me something to do after school so I don’t just sit waiting for my mom to get off from work,” Herman said. “It’s really cool.”
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