For so many mothers and fathers in this community, summer weekday afternoons mean the same thing. When the clock strikes noon, Manhasset moms and dads get ready to greet their zealously chattering kids at the street corner after another morning at Manhasset Summer Center. For decades parents have been putting child after child through the Summer Center program. And for just as many years parents have been rushing to meet their youngsters to collect their projects, baked goods, sports equipment and, if they're lucky, a quick hug as they stampede off the bus.

But for some parents, whose jobs do not allow them to take off for an extended period during the summer, this weekday routine is not an option. About 18 years ago, in September of 1985, after looking over community survey results about how the Manhasset school system could better serve its children, board members responded to a repeated request from parents for an after school program. Families wanted their children to be in a safe, fun and productive environment while they were at work. The result of this parental push was the "Manhasset Afterschool Xperience (M.A.X.)." Angela Cesa, the founding board president, called upon current director Susan Iklody to run the program. As M.A.X.'s enrollment steadily increased, its success prompted requests for a summer component to be added to the traditional "after-school" element. So, in the summer of 1992 Club M.A.X. was born.

For the past 11 summers, director Susan Iklody has greeted the children at the end of Summer Center as they have boarded the bus that takes them from Munsey Park Elementary School to the door of the Shelter Rock cafeteria, the home of Club M.A.X. Children eat lunch once they arrive. Following lunch time, they rotate to three different activity centers: arts and crafts, cooking/science, and gym time, spending about 45 minutes with each activity. On Tuesdays and Thursdays these activities are replaced by trips to Denton Avenue Pool.

However, trying to hold the attention of over 30 children ranging from age 5 to age 11 for six hours can be, at the very least, challenging. The children require different amounts of attention and have a wide range of abilities. As a result, students are divided into Mini M.A.X. (pre K and pre-1), headed this summer by Anji Persaud, Jr. M.A.X. (pre-2 and pre-3), headed by Dawn Collymore, and Sr. M.A.X. (pre-4 to pre-6), headed by Roni Jacobson. "Our claim to fame is that we are a model program. We divide the children by age group," said Susan Iklody. "Others look to us to help them begin their own programs." The M.A.X. staff is also comprised of teacher aides and high school volunteers. The children get to know their head teacher and the supporting teachers well and learn to rely upon them. "I would tell my friends about M.A.X. because it's exciting and we get new teachers every year," said Sr. M.A.X. student Jack Ruggiero. "The best thing about M.A.X. is definitely Ms. J," said Jack's sister Leah, referring to Roni Jacobson, who has been with the program for the past 12 years.

Rarely is there down time at Club M.A.X. In addition to ongoing crafts projects, science experiments, cooking, and games at the gym, some of the childrens' major undertakings have been the first annual Club M.A.X. talent show and a week long ping-pong tournament. The final week of Club M.A.X. (August 4-8) will include field trips to the Coney Island Aquarium, Queens Theatre in the Park, and Rye Playland.

As the children constantly interact with one another, their individual talents emerge and develop as they grow up in the program (it is quite common to watch a child spend his or her entire elementary school career at M.A.X.). As one child graduates, another enters with a totally new and overactive imagination that he or she shares with the group. Especially when one considers what the afternoons could have in store for the children of working parents, M.A.X. not only seems like a welcome but an "Xtraordinary" option.