Even though school was not in session, plenty of Wellsville-Middletown Elementary students were busy on the evening of Nov. 5.

There were students playing a CSI board game, exercising on the school track, making a snack at the school’s kitchen and playing with Sphero cars at the library.

They were all part of the Wellsville-Middletown Afterschool Stem and Pathways Program, also known as WASP. It provides hands-on learning experiences for students grades 3-8 beyond the traditional classroom.

So far after two months, the program continues to grow. It is currently at 31 students after starting off at 16.

“Word just got around that it was fun and we have a lot of cool activities,” said W-M fourth-grade teacher Lisa Matthiesen, the program’s director. “We started with a survey that was emailed to parents. Then, we put it on Facebook. Then, we mentioned it at the open house (in August). Then, more kids were hearing about it.”

The program runs from 4 p.m.-5 p.m. each day. Students participate in STEM, cooking, robotics, arts and crafts, Makerspace and team building. All of the activities are designed to build confidence, creativity, problem-solving skills and practical life skills.

The students also participate in community service. They helped sort and package items for the Tiger Table Food Pantry, prepared food for 120 people and created appreciation gifts for the K-12 teachers.

“My favorite is community service because you get to help other people,” fourth-grade student Abbi Carlisle said.

Another fourth-grade student, Gabbie Bryson, said one of her favorite activities was a science project that got the students to use their senses of smell.

“We were blindfolded so we didn’t see the color of these Skittles,” she said. “The first time we did it, we put it to our nose to see if we knew the flavor with our nosebud, which I got two right and the rest of them wrong. After that, which I didn’t have to have my nosebud, I got them all right.”

Another student, Laila McKinney, said she is enjoying the WASP program after just a week.

“At first, I didn’t want to, then I wanted to come here because some of my friends joined WASP and I wanted to see what it was like, so I joined,” she said.

Besides Matthiesen, the other teachers in the WASP program are Roni Bradley, Michelle Maskey, Stephanie Jones, Lisa Scott and Emma Rickey.

Matthiesen said WASP has been getting generous grant support from several organizations, including Consolidated Cares. The program has received almost $23,000 in grants.

“We’re excited about how quickly the program is growing and look forward to sharing what our students are learning and creating,” Matthiesen said.