"It's changed my life," Eric Kreutzberg, 11, said earnestly. "It calms me down when I take tests and when I go to sleep. We go into our mediation place. We get to go to anywhere we want to."
Eric's mother, Liz Kreutzberg, seconded her son's assessment.
"He's told me it helps him when he does his homework," she added.
"I like it when we pin our troubles to the tree and forget about them," said Taylor Fry, 10.
"Whenever I wake up in the middle of the night, I can get back to sleep really quickly," said Colin Krautman, 10.
"It just makes me feel really good," Hannah Larney, 10, said succinctly.
Mrs. Clark leads the after-school group once a week, for five weeks.
"I have the children talk about the stresses in their lives," she said. "We talk about rushing from school to the soccer field, to dinner, and trying to fit homework in, in between. And then how everyone's tense and exhausted at the end of the day. The children know just what we're talking about. They all go, 'Yeah - that's how it is.' "
Mrs. Clark writes the guided meditations herself, but solicits input from the students.
"They're the ones who wanted to go to the beach," she said.
At the beginning of the session, the children weren't sure what they would be doing.
"They were so excited when they found out they would get to take off their shoes during class," she said with a laugh. "That was a big thing. At the end of the class I asked them how it was on a scale of 1 to 10. They all said, '10!' - except for one boy. He told me, '9.5 The floor's really hard.' "
While Mrs. Clark and her group meditated, another class tackled various math challenges.
Teacher Jessica Schiery led her students through an activity in which they had to fill up a grid according to a set of rules.
"I like them to have games of strategy that will challenge them to think and solve problems," said Ms. Schiery. "I want them to think, 'How can I solve this problem in a different way?' I tell them how they can adapt these games for use at home. I encourage them to take the problems home and ask their parents if they can solve them."
"I like doing all the math things we don't usually get to do," said Olivia Andrews, 7. "And we get to have a little snack, too," she added with a smile.
Another class, taught by Beth Fuhrer - "Bookworms Plus!" - focused on children's literature. The children had listened to the story "Stellaluna" and were busy making paper bag bat puppets. Bats with scary fangs, big pink noses and wide wings were soaring around the room on the hands of the children.
"This is a great program," said Mrs. Fuhrer, who coordinates the sessions along with Kristen Marni. Most of the classes are taught by teachers at the school who volunteer their time. The after-school program is funded by the school's PTA and a grant from The Washington Post. There's even an after-school activity bus for those who need transportation.
"The program was in place when I came," said Principal Terry Zablonski. "And I've been here six years. It was established by the PTA. They have two sessions, spring and fall. Each one lasts five to six weeks, and we usually have about 60 students attending. It's an exciting thing to do. They offer a variety of enriching experiences for the students."
Other classes being taught this fall include a computer class where children learn to make PowerPoint presentations, and a music class that uses the Orff Schulwerk approach to playing instruments.
Margi Sigler is a freelance writer who lives in the south county.
