Burlington’s elementary students get after school Boost

Most local schools have an after-school program and Burlington joins the crowd with its Boost program. 

“Our program runs on a grant in cooperation with Big Horn School District #2. This ensures the program remains free to all students who want to participate,” said Boost teacher Dana Romriell. “The grant helps provide materials, limited curriculum and after-school snacks for all the students.” 

The program is open to all Burlington students and has an elementary group and a middle and high school group. 

“We average about 16 elementary students each day, although during soccer season we have had as many as 24 on any given afternoon,” Romriell said. 

Romriell, or Mrs. R as the students like to call her, is in charge of the program this year and had big ideas of how the program could grow. “I had an experience where I found myself helping a young man from Burlington navigate the airport and solitary travel for the first time in his life. It was challenging for him and I realized many of our kids are really sheltered and have little experience with any place very far from home. I felt if I could teach them about different countries and what life looks like for kids their ages, it would make it more real and less frightening.” 

By bringing in members of the community who have lived in other countries, Romriell is hoping to make the world a little bigger for the students in Burlington. “So far, we’ve ‘traveled’ to Italy, Russia, China, Mexico, India, France and Ethiopia. The students have completed STEM team challenges, recreating famous landmarks from different countries like the Eiffel Tower. Boost participants have also learned to say ‘hello,’ ‘goodbye,’ ‘please,’ and ‘thank you’ in the language native to each country we have learned about.” 

Romriell brings passion and a lot of experience to the program. “At one time, I was a co-director of a children’s summer camp which served over 150 kids from ages 18 months to 14 years. I felt I could bring some of that experience to the program.” 

She also doesn’t do it alone. She is joined by Tamara and Darcy Robertson. “Their connection to the students is incredible! I couldn’t/wouldn’t be able to do this without them. We just love the kids and I love to make learning as fun as I can. It has been a fantastic experience for me,” said Romriell.