After School Enrichment Programs
As part of Bergen Community College’s programming, we are bringing enrichment and development programs to youth in the community. We are focused on developing our students into positive community members, fostering positive attitudes, capacities, values and social skills.
Discover a world of possibilities at our after-school enrichment program in Bergen County! From S.T.E.A.M. to Music, Drama, Dance, Leadership, Business, and beyond, we offer a dynamic range of classes tailored for local students. Unlock creativity, build leadership skills, and explore exciting subjects in a fun and engaging environment. Enroll now for a transformative experience!
Click on each course title for further registration details.
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S.T.E.M.)
Special thanks to Veolia North America for their generous scholarship, making STEM education more accessible for students in our After School Enrichment Program this Spring!
Young scientists will be introduced to many different disciplines of science in our young science explorers class. Have fun learning as you play with magnifiers, magnets, motors, microscopes, and more. Mix up gooey potions, discover the science of flight, build a working monocular, and even play with tiny robots that can track a black line on paper. This class is designed to spark your child’s interest in science.
Grades: K-1
Get ready to learn science concepts in a fun and unique style. Campers will perform magical physics demonstrations involving Newton’s laws of motion, electricity, air pressure, ultraviolet light, optics, and much more. Students will build a solar-powered car; experiment with spinning tops, gyroscopic motion, discover principles of flight, construct a working fountain, catapult,and much more. Campers will take home solar-powered cars, and many of the projects made in class.
Grades: 2-5
Every child can code! Develop your skills as a young coder by exploring block coding, JavaScript, and Python concepts while making your own playable mini-games. This introductory coding course is designed to get elementary-aged students excited about technology through a series of hands-on and engaging learning challenges. Student-created games will be available on a password-protected Black Rocket website to share with friends and family. Students will work in pairs or teams for most of the program.
Grades: 3-5
Want to learn the world’s fastest-growing programming language favored by Google, NASA, YouTube, and the CIA? Learn how to code with Python to create engaging apps and games. Each lesson takes you step-by-step on a programming path that will let you challenge friends with fun content you create from start to finish! Returning students can create more advanced projects that build on previous years. Students will work in pairs or teams for most of the program.
Grades: 6-8
Arts and Crafts
Ceramics and Sculptures | KT-676
Join us for a 8 week series designed to introduce students to basics hand building techniques in ceramics (self-drying) clay. Students will focus on creativity and self-expression and recognize and use the art element (form). They will build pinch pots, coil designs and slab forms.
Grades: 2-5
Join us for a 8 week series designed to help improve students’ basic art skills in painting using acrylic and watercolor painting and blending techniques. Students will focus on creativity and self-expression, and recognize and use the art elements (line, shape, color, value, form).
Grades: 1-5
Cooking/Culinary Arts
EH Exchange C.O.O.K.S. Cultivating Change | KT-421
The C.O.O.K.S. Cultivating Change course by EH Exchange™ will engage young changemakers in examining and discussing their personal perceptions about themselves, each other, and the Earth through food conversations, cooking/tasting activities, and journaling. Youths will be exposed to specific theme-related characters who tell their personal and family food stories while encouraging participants to reflect on their own personal stories. Come ready to chat, cook, and chew!
Grades: 4-8
Music, Dance, and Drama
What’s special about filmmaking is that it combines creativity, teamwork, and technology. From screenwriting to storyboarding to video production and beyond, it takes a tremendous variety of skills to make a movie. But, thanks to the evolution of education and technology, today’s kids have a rich body of opportunities to flex their filmmaking muscles. With a little bit of guidance and a lot of creative license, even small children can dip their toes in animation and film.
Grades: 8-12
The instructional program will explore multiple cultures of dance as origins for unique styles of movement. Across the unit, students will experience traditional styles of dance, analyze movement concepts and gestures within cultural styles, and associate these dances with the historical context from which they originate. Students will then compose a dance with movement that symbolizes and reflects on the cultural and traditional influences of their countries. Students will perform to culminate the unit by preparing a dance recital of basic choreographic patterns including reflection on the creative process used to develop the choreography, poems, etc.
Grades: 8-12
Art of Song: An Introduction to Songwriting | KT-679
Create your own melodies and turn your thoughts, ideas and feelings into lyrics. This course explores melody, harmony, rhythm, lyric writing, and the components (verse, chorus, bridges, etc.) that provide the structures of songwriting. Also, participants will learn to work both collaboratively and independently through the creative process.
Grades: 7-10
This introductory course covers all the basics that a beginning guitar player needs to get started. Students will develop playing skills such as picking and strumming and learn scales and chords in the context of the songs they enjoy. Some elementary music theory will be introduced, as well as some of the terms that guitar players need to know. Students must bring their own guitars to class.
Grades: 7-10
Leadership and Business
Babysitting Basics with CPR | KT-681
Babysitting Basics is created for those ages 11 and older, our babysitting training course can help you learn how to provide care for infants and children, understand what to do in an emergency, choose age-appropriate activities, recognize and handle a range of behaviors, learn how to start your own babysitting business, and more. This course is designed to help participants develop leadership skills, build their business, help keep themselves and others safe, help children learn how to behave, and learn basic child care and basic first aid.
Grades: 6-9
When students get involved in community service, they not only help others — they expand their worldview, develop empathy and leadership skills, and realize how their actions can have a positive impact. They also return to the classroom realizing how what they’re learning applies to the real world, which reinvigorates their passion for learning. Through their service, students are given the opportunity to work with a variety of diverse people. This helps them develop a sense of social awareness. They learn patience and empathy while getting to see first-hand how they can have a positive impact on their local community.
Grades: 6-9
For further details or to register, call 201-447-7488, email [email protected] or visit us at the Technology Education Center (TEC), Room TEC-115.