A silver lining to the state mandated remote learning phenomenon of 2020-2021 is Yeso Elementary School’s virtual extracurricular activity schedule. Funded by an extended learning grant to pay for the teacher’s expertise outside of the classroom, the programs proved to be very successful, particularly the cooking and baking classes offered by Devny Olivas, Krystal Cartwright, and Kim Glennie. In the extracurricular cooking and baking offerings, Yeso first graders and second graders learn to bake while older students in grades 3rd-5th complete an entire meal (an adult is required to be present during the virtual lessons.) The meals are large enough to feed their families once they’re through with the lesson. Talk about convenience and life skills! 

Packs of Love, a local nonprofit which sends students home with meals over the weekend, is available to help students with ingredients for these cooking classes to offset the cost of unexpected items. Check out their Facebook page for details or give them a call at (575) 703-8130. 

In addition to the baking classes, students can check out the following: Chess Club, cursive handwriting, Book Battle, drama, exercise, Directive Drawing, board games, ukulele, Introductory and Advanced Spanish Clubs, STEM Club, Computer Coding Club, and Karaoke. 

All Yeso students have the option to sign up for these classes through sign up genius. 

With the return to the classrooms, students have the option to take their laptops home to continue their extracurricular learning opportunities. 

By: Kaity Hirst