2021 Fall Program Guide

315-445-2360 | www.jccsyr.org
easier
JCC made virtual learning
The Club J All Day program, which ended in June,
was one of the JCC’s many innovative responses
to helping families during the pandemic.
Starting in March of 2020, when the pandemic first hit,
families were forced to figure out how to work and learn,
all from home. When virtual leaning began, no one could
imagine the toll this would take on the children and their
education and emotional health. Often working parents
struggled to continue their children’s learning while also
working to provide for the family.
The Sam Pomeranz Jewish Community Center saw
how difficult this was for working families and knew
it needed to provide some type of programming. We
were one of the only
local summer camps
to operate with all the
COVID restrictions
during the summer of
2020. The new safety
measures and protocols were intense, but with dedicated
staff we were successfully able to operate a seven-week
camp program for children. Both the children and the
parents needed this program, not only for the children’s
wellbeing and mental health, but so the parents could
continue to work.
By August of 2020 New York State announced the new
mandates for schools and the dreaded hybrid learning
idea came to fruition. Parents were at a loss of what to do.
Both their child’s education and the ability to continue
to work and provide for their families was at stake. Many
jobs require
parents to leave
the house or,
if working
remotely, do
not allow
time for much
assistance with
the demands of
virtual leaning.
The JCC’s
mission is to
provide quality
programs to fit the needs of its families and we soon
realized those needs were dramatically changing. The
children’s programming team came together last year
and was able to start a new program called Club J All
Day. This program allowed children from the Jamesville-
DeWitt School District to attend virtually on days when
not physically in school. Trained staff were onsite and
worked with the children to adapt to virtual learning
and support them through this new school structure.
It seemed like a win-win for many families. Not only
would their child be supported while virtual learning
they would also get some social interactions with other
children going through the same thing.
To say Club J All Day was difficult was an
understatement. Children are not meant to sit in
front of a screen all day to learn. They crave the faceto-face
engagement and interaction that expands on
their learning. JCC staff were amazed at the children’s
resiliency as they continued to adapt and staff worked to
motivate them.
When the JCC heard the news last spring that the
school district was beginning to bring back its students
in-person full time it was bittersweet. The JCC staff knew
getting back to school was best for the children’s learning,
but they had created their own “school” and worked
together through the hard times. JCC staffers would miss
helping the children each day but were excited to still get
to be a part of their day during the JCC’s After School
Program.
Isabella Balash, 3rd grader at Moses DeWitt
elementary school said it best when on her last Club J
day last spring she stated, “School will be good, but I will
miss coming to Club J.” Children returning to school
in-person full time is a step in the right direction for
hopefully getting back to our new normal soon. In the
meantime, the JCC will continue to change and adapt to
meet the needs of its families and the community at large.
8 JCC of Syracuse | 2021 Fall Program Guide
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