Organizers seek people with a hobby or interest they want to share with others 

The Milford Community School Use Program offers year-round recreational, educational and cultural activities for children, teens, adults and the elderly. The mission of the Milford Community School Use Program is to provide a well-balanced program of activities, courses and programs to meet the varying needs and interests of the local residents and allow the town's school buildings to be used when school is not in session. 

The Milford Community School Use Program lead supervisor staff from this past summer including (L to R) Assistant Supervisors Colby Pires and Joe Gagnon, Nurse Katie Morrow R.N., Summer Camp Supervisor Gianna Krovocheck, and CIT Trainer Emily Naff. Courtesy photo

 This year, in addition to its ever-popular Extended Day afterschool care program, as well as Travel & Biddy Basketball, children’s programs will include offerings like lifeguard training, pottery class for kids, Safe Sitter, Little Veterinarian School and Stem Sleuths.  

For adults, in addition to its free estate and retirement planning workshops, it has added another free informational workshop, Senior Safety Tips for Independent Living. 

Additionally, the program offers fitness programs that are affordably-priced with trained instructors. We have Gentle Yoga, Stiff Man Yoga, Circuit Fusion, BootCamp and SplasHIIT. 

SplasHIIT is a low-impact pool workout with class times available Monday and Wednesday evenings and Tuesday and Thursday mornings. The Milford High School Pool is also available for Open/LapSwim on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, Tuesday and Thursday evenings, plus some Saturday afternoons. Registration fees are reasonably priced and available as individual classes, along with options for seasonal and monthly passes. Other classes like Blanket Making, The Bloom Bar, CPR/First Aid, and Make Your Own Pasta are available seasonally. 

What this diverse group of activities have in common, along with many others, is they are all conducted at Milford’s Public School facilities outside of regular school hours. 

Chris Burns, now the Director of the Milford Community School Use Program, explained the basics. “It started in the 1970s to put the school facilities to good use for educational, recreational, and cultural activities outside of regular school hours. I remember it from when I was growing up in town. While some offerings have changed over the years, the program has thrived.” 

Sessions are listed on the website, and registration can be completed online. People can find out about new offerings by joining the email list or seeing flyers around town, like at the Town Hall and Milford Town Library. 

“We add new classes by request,” Burns said. “Based on a suggestion, we recently started ‘Safe Sitter’ to teach teens about caring for younger children. Another way we introduce new offerings is when an instructor has an idea. Someone with a skill teaching people a hobby they have or something they have worked at, like guitar, or makeup application, can propose a class. Then, there’s a budget we need to work out to pay the instruction fees, so we don’t lose money on the programs we run.” 

The Community School Use Program has partnerships with Milford Special Olympics and Sweet Inspirations. It is not-for-profit and is self-funded, meaning registration fees pay for the instructors and the management of the program. 

If you or someone you know has a hobby or interest and you would like to offer a program, contact [email protected] or call 508-478-1119. For more information, or to register or sign up for the email list, scan the QR Code or visit milfordcommunityprogram.activityreg.com/selectactivity_t2.wcs or email [email protected]. You can also follow them on Facebook @milfordcommunityuse.

Source: Milford Community School Use Program