ourtowns

Sixth graders trotalong to Belmontafter school to getexposure to careers

On track to learn about horsesTrainer Kiaran McLaughlin, with one of his thoroughbreds and office manager Cate Masterson, at rear, left, talks about the care of racehorses at his barn at BelmontPark. Listening are Elmont sixth graders in the Gateway Youth Outreach program, from left, Michael Louissaint, Madison Thomas and Jamelia Jones.

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BY JENNIFER BARRIOSjennifer.barrios@newsday.com

On an overcast Wednesdayafternoon in Elmont, threesixth graders stood in the dirtin a stable at Belmont ParkRace Track, getting a lesson inwhat racehorses eat for dinner.

Mike Louissaint, 11, pickedup a shovel and measured out

the feed, which smelled sweet-ly of molasses.

“Oooh, I want to eat it!”joked Jamelia Jones, 11, as shewatched.

Cate Masterson turned thechildren’s attention to theother items on the horses’ after-school menu.

“And what did I say the cornoil does?” asked Masterson, of-fice manager for KiaranMcLaughlin Racing, whichowns the stable.

“It helps them get fatter,”Mike said. That’s right, shesaid, and Mike responded witha smile of pride.

The children are participantsin an after-school program oper-

ated by Gateway Youth Out-reach in Elmont, which startedthe stable visits in September.On four afternoons they get helpwith homework, play sports andboard games and participate inarts and crafts projects.

But one afternoon eachweek executive director PatBoyle takes a small group ofstudents just about a mileaway to the stable, where em-ployees teach them about theanatomy and care of horsesand the business of thorough-bred racing.

On one visit, the kids ac-companied a veterinarian andwatched as she sedated apony for an X-ray. They got

to help clean the sedated po-ny’s hoofs with a pick. Andthey braided the horse’smane, getting close enough tosee firsthand the results of anequine sinus problem.

“When they first got there,they didn’t know what to ex-pect,” Boyle said of the children,but after several weeks “thelevel of comfort that they havewithin that barn is amazing.”

A glimpse of careersUltimately, Boyle said, the

program is aimed at giving thechildren a glimpse of differentcareers they might not other-wise have envisioned.

Gateway Youth Outreach of-

fers traditional after-school pro-grams at four elementaryschools in Elmont, providingcare and homework help for800 children. It works withlower-income children whocome from a single-familyhousehold or a family whereboth parents work.

The after-school programscost these parents $1 a day, andthe hope is that the programscan help the children avoid de-linquency and make the rightchoices, Boyle said.

“The long-term vision wasfor them to be able to see an-other area that they might get

See HORSES on G15

Newsday | SUNDAY, DEC. 27, 2009

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