Program Overview 

Mark Twain offers free after school programing 5 days a week from 2:30-4:45pm

All Twain students are invited to participate in the after school program, however it is not required. 

"Late Bus Days" Mon/Wed/Thur

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays there are busses to take students home at 4:45.  These bus numbers and stops may be different than student's regular afternoon run so students should check SIS Student Vue to access this information.

"Parent/Guardian Pick Up Days" Tue/Fri

While students are able to be picked up from the Kiss and Ride line any day of the week, there are no busses on Tuesdays and Fridays.  This means if a student stays after school on Tuesday or Friday they will need to have arranged transportation or walk home. 

Club Descriptions

AVID Club

Sponsor: Mrs. Danosos 

Meets: Thursdays First Block

AVID Club is open to all students. We help build community and promote a college-going culture. We encourage student-led projects! If you want to learn leadership skills in a family environment, join us on Thursdays first block!

Building Inclusive Communities 

Sponsors: Mx. Sheers and Mr. Ziegler   

Meets: Every Other Monday First Block

Building Inclusive Communities is a space to learn about social justice, celebrated marginalized groups, and help shape school culture. We will discuss issues related to the LGBTQ+ community and other marginalized groups. Everyone is welcome into this safe space to share with each other and find support.

Creative Writing

Sponsors: Ms. Mohammed and Ms. Roman 

Meets: Thursdays First Block

Creative Writing Club is a space for students who are interested in writing stories, song lyrics, graphic novels, book reviews, and other genres. Through our writing we will explore ourselves, the world around us, and the issues that impact us. We will nurture our inner writer as we explore and learn new techniques to enhance our writing.

Here is the link to our Google site The TigerPost

Cup Stacking

Sponsor: Mr. Jones

Meets: Wednesdays First Block

Sport stacking, also known as cup stacking or speed stacking, is an individual and team sport that involves stacking 9 or 12 (usually 12) specially designed cups in pre-determined sequences as fast as possible. The cups are specially designed to allow for speedier times. Participants of sport stacking stack cups in specific sequences, by aligning the inside left lateral adjunct of each cup with that of the next. Sequences are usually pyramids of 3, 6, or 10 cups. Players compete against the clock or another player.

Drama Club

Sponsor: Ms. Lebowitz

Meets: Thursdays Both Blocks

Drama Club focuses primarily on Theatre Sports – an improvisational sport that challenges students to think on their feet and create scenes and characters from minimal information. The concept is very much like the TV Show “Whose Line Is It Anyway.” A few times a year, middle schools from around the county compete in Theatre Sports Competitions which gives students a chance to enhance their skills and meet others. Students who participate in Drama Club decide what games will be played each day and vote on who will represent Twain at each upcoming competition.

Game Room

Sponsor: N/A

Meets: Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays Second Block, Tuesdays Both Blocks

In Game Room students are provided with the opportunity to play board games and card games with one another, or play a collection of provided video games such as Wii Sports, Madden NFL, Mario Kart, Super Smash Brothers, and Just Dance.  Students are supervised by core team members. 

Girls Who Code

Sponsor: Ms. Abbot

Meets: Wednesdays Second Block

The mission of Girls Who Code is to close the gender gap in computing.  Girls Who Code values diversity, equity and inclusion as essential to our mission.  We focus our work not only on gender diversity but also on young women who are historically underrepresented in computer science fields

Homework Club

Sponsor: N/A

Meets: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays First Block

Homework Club is an option provided for students who need a quiet environment to work on homework, group projects, or other tasks.  Students will be under the supervision of a core team member.     

News Crew

Sponsor: Mrs. Huber

Meets: Mondays and Wednesdays First Block

News Crew after school club is to support student members of the TwainTV Daily Morning News Show Mondays and Wednesdays 1st block.  Once month or as needed there is a mandatory meeting for all members to make sure all Daily Crews are up to date on procedures and complete any needed trainings.  All other meeting times are to be used for students to work on their own project segments based on something they are passionate about. These are not mandatory meetings but are the only time after school students will have access to studio equipment to work on their projects.

Open Gym/Sports and Rec

Sponsor: N/A

Meets: Every Day, Every Block

Open Gym and Sports and Rec are options provided to students who would like to participate in activities such as basketball, soccer, football, jump rope, kickball, volleyball etc.  Students are supervised outside or inside by core team members.  

Running Club

Sponsor: Mrs. Yeo and Ms. Wadsworth

Meets: Mondays First Block

Any student wanting to start running or work on speed and endurance is encouraged to come out and train with us! Whether you are a walker or run a lot, we encourage you to give running club a try.

**Running Club meets with weather permitting - if it’s raining, we recommend students still stay and attend Twain Fitness instead. Running Club will take a break from November - March and resume after spring break.**

Social Justice Book Club

Sponsor: Ms. Titus, Mx. Sheers and Ms. Gotti

Meets: Every Other Thursday First Block

What is social justice, anyway? To us, our working definition is the right or fair treatment of people based on who they are in society. In social justice book club, students will explore this concept through book club readings, reflection activities, and discussion. Our goal is to help students navigate the various identities they hold as well as those that are often overlooked in society. We strive to promote community, empathy, and a sense of belonging for all students!

Teacher Help

Teacher Help is an opportunity for students to get extra help from their teachers after school.  Each teacher has identified a day and time in which they will be staying after school.  This information is posted in the Schoology Course for each teacher.  

Students should confirm with their teacher before 2:15 on the day they plan to stay after with that teacher. 

Technology Student Association

Sponsor: Mrs. Gadson

Meets: Mondays and Wednesdays Both Blocks

Technology Student Association is a nation-wide Career & Technical Student Organization directly affiliated with Technology and Engineering Education courses.  The organization provides leadership opportunities as well as competitive design and engineering challenges for students at the middle and high school level.  Students choose from a list of challenges and prepare for Fall Virtual, Regional, State and National Competitions occurring each year.  Both National TSA and Virginia TSA have very informative websites that provide a wealth of information and help promote the organization.  During the after-school program students select, practice and make projects they will take to competitions. The competitive events are extremely challenging requiring student effort in and out of school. 

**Students must be in Engineering class to participate in TSA**

Tiny Hats for Tiny Babies

Sponsor: Ms. Anderson and Mrs. McGarry

Meets: Thursdays Both Blocks

Every year 15 million babies are born preterm and nearly one million of these babies will die from complications of being born too early, like hypothermia. Tiny Hats for Tiny Babies started out as an initiative to have communities of knitters knit tiny hats that would be donated to preterm babies on the African continent. Mark Twain participates in this initiative on a local level donating hats to Children’s Hospital in Washington, D.C. l. Our students use round looms to knit tiny hats for our local preemies.

Twain Fitness

Sponsor: Ms. Soto

Meets: Mondays and Wednesdays First Block

Come get a full body workout with HITT (high intensity interval training) We will be doing a mix of cardio and strength training in a fun group format. We use lights weights and high reps to increase stamina. Everyone starts at their level and will slowly progress through the weeks at their pace. Once a month we will also have a nutritional class to learn about proper nutrition and how to make better food choices.

Weightlifting

Sponsor: Mrs. McGarry

Meets: Wednesdays First Block

Come join Mrs. McGarry in the weight room for some strength training and cardio fitness.

Yearbook Club

Sponsor: Ms. Howard

Meets: Thursdays First Block

Why yearbook club? Because you have the opportunity to learn and apply the following:

1. Journalism skills
2. Business skills
3. Technology skills
4. Social Media skills
5. Life skills
6. Graphic Design skills

For additional information, message Mrs. Howard in Schoology under Groups then locate Yearbook club. You can also email Mrs. Howard: @email

Yoga Club

Sponsor: Mrs. McGarry

Meets: Mondays First Block

Come join Mrs. McGarry in a relaxing session of balance, coordination, mindfulness, and meditation through yoga poses and breathing techniques to relieve stress.