by Lucinda M. Stickney
Seven thousand communities around the country celebrated afterschool programs on October 20 through the nationwide ?Lights On Afterschool!? initiative.
This widely celebrated day puts kids first and calls attention to the importance of afterschool in communities.
Afterschool programs help keep kids safe and engaged in learning, provide working families with options to balance work and family and strengthen communities by helping young people develop into successful adults.
Hundreds of mayors, councilmembers and school boards and 44 governors declared October 20 ?Lights On Afterschool? Day.
City Examples
Indianapolis and Detroit hosted events that attracted over 4,000 participants. St. Louis launched a Web-based directory of positive, drug- and alcohol-free activities for youth. And Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell read a favorite book to elementary school children.
In Washington, D.C., local officials visited innovative community-based programs, and Salt Lake City leaders and children went to the Governor?s office for the signing of the Lights On proclamation.
Festivities with activities, food and fun were prominent in the celebrations in Cincinnati, Lincoln, Neb., and Philadelphia, where Mayor John Street was one of hundreds who waved a yellow glow stick while the entire audience sang ?This Little Light of Mine.?
Charlotte, N.C.
Charlotte Mayor Patrick McCrory and other local and state officials all signed proclamations noting that ?afterschool helps kids be safe, strong and excellent.?
Among other activities, Charlotte?s Partners in Out-of-School Time (POST) co-sponsored a Youth Candidates forum that gave youth the opportunity to interview school board candidates.
New York
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg kicked off the City?s new Out-of-School-Time (OST) Initiative to coincide with ?Lights On Afterschool!?
The new, three-year, $200 million initiative will offer over 550 academic, recreational and cultural programs serving more than 47,000 elementary, middle and high school students in every neighborhood across the city this school year.
?For these young people, the learning and growing will continue even after the school bell has rung,? said Bloomberg.
In addition, the city?s Department of Youth and Community Development invited the press to tour six different OST programs representing every borough in New York. The tours highlighted both school-based and center-based programs.
San Antonio, Texas
The After School Challenge Program in the city?s Parks and Recreation Department took part in ?Coffee with the Mayor and City Council,? hosted by the San Antonio Youth Alliance.
The event displayed light-switch covers donated by the local Home Depot store, which had been decorated by students from the After School Challenge sites.
Along with other crafts and projects created by the students, local afterschool organizations displayed and showcased their programs.
San Francisco, Calif.
The city?s Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families and the San Francisco Unified School District co-hosted an ?Afterschool Leadership and Policy Breakfast? at City Hall.
More than 60 people attended this groundbreaking event to plan a citywide process for afterschool programs.
They included representatives from the mayor?s office and supervisors? office and foundations, as well as advocates, business leaders and direct service workers.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom supports increasing quality afterschool programs for all families in the city that need them.
?The job won?t be done until the lights are on after school for every child or youth who needs a safe, fun, productive place to go,? he said.
Details: Lights On Afterschool! is a project of the Afterschool Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that all children have access to quality, affordable afterschool programs by 2010. Visit www.afterschoolalliance. org to see how you can participate.
For information on how NLC is working with municipal leaders to promote and expand high quality afterschool, contact Bela Shah at 202-626-3057 or shah@nlc.org.