Expanded Learning for All

October is here. Shocking I know, but before we get mired in the pre-winter angst let’s all take a deep breath and enjoy all that October has to offer. No, I’m not talking about the sugar rush of Halloween. October is Lights on Afterschool Month. In short, October is when youth, parents, providers, advocates, policy makers and funders celebrate the powerful impact expanded learning programs have on our community, and commit to supporting them in the year to come.

In many ways DC is fortunate. We live in a city that is rich with youth development opportunities. Starting with the littlest of humans, programs like Jump Start and the The Homeless Children’s Playtime Project ensure all children start school ready to succeed. At the elementary level, parents take a collective sigh of relief knowing that their youngster has the opportunity to participate in programs that support whole child development. Programs like People Animals Love, FLOC, Jubilee Housing, and Horton’s Kids start to tease out and develop areas of cognitive strength while building competencies in areas of weakness. 

At the middle school level -- those 3-4 years that represent a time of greatest risk and greatest reward in youth development -- we can have faith that organizations like DC Scores, Higher Achievement, Kid Power, Inc., and Sitar Arts Center are connecting this vulnerable age group to positive opportunities, social networks, and caring & consistent adults.

By high school, expanded learning takes on a whole new level of nuance. As Urban Alliance, BUILD, Life Pieces to Master Pieces, Beacon House, and Sasha Bruce have demonstrated, expanded learning opportunities at the high school level means many things all at once. They are opportunities for tutoring, experiential learning, SAT/ACT prep, post-secondary and career exploration and finally, for continued pro-social development that can inform a lifetime of healthy decision-making.

High quality, expanded learning programming during non-school hours and the summer, is one piece of the educational pie.  One that cannot be underestimated: it’s how we excite disengaged learners, engage non-traditional learners, and allow high fliers to fly. It’s a rising tides lifts all boats scenario.

Unfortunately, only a fraction of our youth have the opportunity to participate. Decreases in funding to the DC Public School Out of School Time Programming and The Children Youth Investment Trust Corporation (among others) has gradually diminished the degree to which DC dollars support expanded learning opportunities.

So, if you believe that educational aptitude is not defined by test scores. If you want to know that we are cultivating investigative, not simply rote learners. If you know a youth who may not always excel in the classroom but thrives in a wood-shop, debate hall, on a theater stage or on the field. If you are a parent who wants to know that your child is participating in positive activities during the gap between the end of the school day and the end of the work day. Then October is your call to action. 

Follow DCAYA during the month of October as we rally together to call, email, tweet at, and send letters to Councilmembers and Mayor Gray letting the DC government know why expanded learning matters to us!  

By speaking up for your child, your family and your community, you can help us make sure the lights stay on for all DC youth. 

Maggie Riden is the Executive Director of DC Alliance of Youth Advocates. As a child, Maggie learned to read by participating in an after school theatre program which provided her with the confidence to overcome her reading disability. While she no longer participates in theatre, she credits the expanded learning program for having a profound impact on her adult life.

  

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Dropping Out: A Students Perspective

The following blog is an installment in the DCAYA “School Climate” series. We asked experts, community members, and youth to write about the variables affecting school climate. Guest blogger Precious, a DC public school graduate writes about her high school experience and the struggles she faced to make it to gradation day.





Growing up I was raised by my mother, a single parent, and she tried her best to support me, my brother, and my cousin. In my house attending school was expected, but to me it wasn't mandatory because my mother worked from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., the same hours as school. High school was the hardest for me because I had to get up early and catch two to three buses just to get to school. In my 9th grade year it seemed like every student in Spingarn Senior High school was in the hallways smoking, fighting, and just skipping class. I was a part of the skipping class club because all my friends were in the hallways hanging out. I never liked going to class because the teachers were boring and the classes were empty. So instead, I tagged along with my friends.

The principal didn't really care, she allowed the students to do whatever they wanted. Students jumped other students and went inside teachers’ classrooms and stole laptops and the principal did not suspend them. Violence between gangs took place and a gun was shot in the hallways of my school. At that point my best friend Jessica and I stopped attending school all together. We would go over to our friend’s house and just hang out and watch television. We did not care about getting an education because at that time our social lives were more important. Four months went by and we were still doing the same thing everyday.

One day, the school called Jessica's mother to let her know we were tardy and we told her we had been going to school. Jessica's mother believed us and the next day we decided we had better return to school. The first day back I asked all my teachers if I was failing. In 50% of my classes I received an “F” and the other 50% I received a “D.” At that point I was afraid of failing because I had not been to school and I was pretty sure that I was not going to be able to raise my grades by passing finals. I did not learn my lesson and started skipping class again. A month passed and I found out that Jessica and I had to attend summer school.

I was angry, not because I had to go to summer school, but because I had to spend my entire summer doing work that I could have done during the school year. The most frustrating part was that one of the classes I had to take in summer school was music. “Who goes to summer school for music?” was all I could think. I should have taken my classes more seriously. At that moment, I told myself that I would do whatever had to be done to pass summer school.

Three weeks went by and Jessica was kicked out of summer school for missing too many days. I was so scared because all I had was Jessica, we were like two peas in a pod. After a day of thinking, I decided that this is my future and if I wanted to pass the 9th grade then I had to finish summer school. I passed summer school and started my 10th grade year.

I realized I had to change who I was to succeed in life. I had to leave the old 9th grade Precious behind and make a fresh start. That's what I did, I started passing all my classes and going to school everyday. Education was the key to my success and I wanted to go to college.

I looked up to my cousin, Rashad, who graduated from high school and attended college. I felt that if he could graduate, then maybe I could too because we both came from the same background. Things were different for Jessica, she decided to drop out of school. She claimed the school was too far, the teachers did not know how to teach and she was above everybody else in the classroom so she never learned anything new. I told Jessica that was no reason for her to drop out but instead she stayed home and slept all day. Unlike Jessica, I had to go to school because that was the only way that I could apply for college and dropping out was not an option.

After working hard for two years, I made it to my senior year. I was nervous and excited. During my senior year I was given the opportunity to become an intern with Urban Alliance. Urban Alliance placed me at the lovely Sitar Arts Center where students and family can come to a comfortable and safe place to share their creativity. I worked at Sitar and took two classes in digital arts and photography. For me to keep my internship with Urban Alliance I had to maintain a grade point average of 2.0 and graduate from high school. I wanted to keep my internship at Sitar so I worked hard.

At Sitar, I was given the opportunity to take a Film Documentary class every Thursday. I really wanted to take this class because I was interested in movies, documentaries and cameras. In the documentary class, I had an idea to make a film about high school drop outs. I wanted to explore this idea because my two best friends dropped out of high school and it really made me sad to see them give up on education. I wanted to tell a story that even though students drop out of high school it does not mean they do not care about school. It means they just need a little extra help getting back on the right track.

Click HERE to watch the Trailer of "Doing it for Me"

Shooting the documentary showed me that I made the right choice to continue on going to summer school and staying in high school. I wish my best friend had graduated with me, but things change and you learn from them. If I could go back in time I would have stopped skipping class. I would have called Jessica every morning so she could wake up in time for summer school. I would have helped Jessica with anything she needed help with in high school. If I could have just done a little more, then on June 13, 2013 my best friend and I would have both walked across the Spingarn Senior High School stage and graduated with honors. My advice for students having a rough school year is to stay focused, be determined and never give up on your dreams, because at the end of the day it's up to you to make them happen.

Precious is a Sitar Arts intern and is currently working on a documentary about the school drop out crisis in D.C.. She will be attending Edward Waters College in Florida this fall.  













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