Newport – State Senator Bob O’Dell joined Newport middle school students enrolled in the Newport Out-of-School Time (NOST) program on Friday, April 3rd at Sunset Bowling Lanes to bowl a string and learn about the afterschool program. Senator O’Dell spent the afternoon visiting all three school sites of the Newport afterschool program, ending his day with “Glow Bowl.”

“It was great to see a public figure interact with our participants.  Many of the kids were impressed with how well he bowled and enjoyed talking to him about NOST and bowling,” said Heather Blake, Program Leader. 

“Senator O’Dell talked with children as they made and played with play clay at Richards, and then watched them play strategy word games at Towle,” commented Ann Spencer, NOST Program Director. “When we stopped by the Sunset Bowling Lanes to introduce him to the middle schoolers, the kids had made him a shirt, so he ‘shoe-ed up” and spent another hour bowling with kids!”

Bowling has become a weekly pastime for Newport Out-0f-School Time (NOST) middle school participants.  NOST formed a partnership with Sunset Bowling Lanes in order to offer bowling to their participants on Friday afternoons.  With help from teen volunteers from the NET Teen Center and NOST staff, NOST middle school participants have learned the rules and etiquette of bowling, the ins and outs of scoring, the importance of teamwork, and practiced good sportsmanship. 

NOST-NMS would like to thank Sunset Bowling Lanes and the Newport Recreation Center for making this bowling program possible. NOST is a collaborative project between the Newport School District, the NET, and Cinnamon Street providing quality afterschool programming and enrichment to students grades K – 8. NOST is funded in a large part by a grant from the NH Department of Education 21^st Century Community Learning Center program.