After school programs are uniquely suited to encouraging the kinds of sustaining “work” that help children develop their special abilities and a sense of identity.
African-American adolescent girls who expressed little interest in literacy activities nevertheless enthusiastically engaged in reading and writing around a topic that mattered to them—doing hair—particularly when they were allowed to determine the format of the literacy activities. The program aimed to carve out free spaces for self-directed learning.
The 2000 Census indicates a significant increase in foreign-born and first-generation students in public schools, at a time when multicultural communities are challenging long-held notions about civic participation in America. This study of Teen Educators Advocating for Community Health (TEACH) illustrates how an innovative afterschool program attempted to nurture social capital and a sense of belonging in immigrant youth. Drawing on Robert Putnam’s distinction between the bonding and bridging forms of social capital, the study argues that afterschool programs can help immigrant youth develop
Afterschool staff need to be able to supervise young participants so they can engage safely in a variety of activities. Afterschool programs should create a strong procedural plan to protect young people from harm and the program from liability.
Annual trips to the state capital to advocate for afterschool funding not only allow young people to participate in the democratic process but also foster youth development by focusing on educational goals.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Susan BlankLucy FriedmanKathleen Carlson
English learners are a diverse group with diverse experiences and needs. While schools focus on teaching them English, afterschool programs can build on their strengths to address their social and emotional needs.
This article explores the partnership between the Baltimore County 4-H program and the Baltimore County Public Library, which forged a partnership to offer structured experiential programming opportunities to meet the afterschool needs of youth who visit their local library. Their experience suggests that libraries and youth development organizations can fruitfully collaborate to create sustainable quality afterschool programming.
If the schools can provide the instructional boost and afterschool can offer the engaging enrichment, students will have what they deserve: the best of both worlds.
A unique afterschool class in making comic strips and comic books, taught by a professional comic artist, encourages both literacy development and identity development in adolescent participants.
This paper outlines the need for sustainable, scalable afterschool computer science programs targeting girls and describes the development of one such curriculum. Evaluation research on girls’ learning of computer science and on the capacity of afterschool staff and organizations to provide computer science programming leads to our description of a research-based approach to sustaining and scaling the program nationally—an approach that other programs might use to expand their reach and impact.
Drugs and alcohol, free time and empty houses are readily available in affluent communities. But positive role models and meaningful activities are often in short supply.