Flipped Classrooms

 As part of Afterschool Awareness Month, we reached out to one of our Member Organizations for a guest blog post from one of their parents. DC PAVE "connects, trains, and empowers charter parent leaders to give families in DC a voice and choice in the vision for education in our city". We are thrilled to have Robert St. Cyr. as a guest author, this week.

In a traditional school, students typically are lectured in class by a teacher when, by definition, there’s very limited opportunity for discourse. Yes, you read that right, very little opportunity for interaction when the student is together with their peers and their teacher. They are then assigned homework that they will do by themselves at home at precisely the time when human interaction is most needed. Despite the crippling limitations with this process, it works quite well for middle income students because they have the support system at home to explain salient points they might have missed during the lecture. Not so much for kids of low-income parents. Essentially, middle-income students have the support system at home to close the knowledge gaps as soon as they are formed. Middle-income students do not carry those gaps from session to session or grade to grade causing them to fall further and further behind as time goes by. Low income kids, on the other hand, carry those gaps with them all the way to the working world – and that’s if they can find a job.

The CE Experience

As part of Afterschool Awareness Month, we reached out to one of our Member Organizations for a guest blog post from one of their youth. Critical Exposure "trains youth to use photography and advocacy to make real change in their schools and communities". We are thrilled to have Desmond Cole, Jr. share his story this week.

I got involved with Critical Exposure (CE) in the summer of 2016 through the Mayor Marion S. Barry Summer Youth Employment Program. I was really interested in Critical Exposure’s mission of creating strong youth leaders that want to create change within their communities. Youth Internship is where CE teaches you the stages of a campaign, photography, and how to identify problems within your community. Fellowship is what you move up to once Youth Internship is over and it’s here where you start your own campaign on something we, as a group feel really passionate about.

Happy International Day of the Girl

Did you know it's International Day of the Girl?

"In 2011, as the result of youth advocacy around the world, the United Nations declared October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child. Its mission is “to help galvanize worldwide enthusiasm for goals to better girls’ lives, providing an opportunity for them to show leadership and reach their full potential.” It’s a day when activist groups come together under the same goal to highlight, discuss, and take action to advance rights and opportunities for girls everywhere."

Check out the video below.

 

And find out more information here.

What does Freedom for Girls mean for you?

Happy Afterschool Awareness Month

As you may know, October is Afterschool Awareness Month. And we thought we'd highlight Lights on Afterschool, an Afterschool Alliance project that has been that has been celebrated annually since 2000, to highlight the importance of and need for afterschool programs.

In America today, 11.3 million children are alone and unsupervised after school. Afterschool programs keep kids safe, help working families and inspire learning. They provide opportunities to help young people develop into successful adults. [LOA History]

Throughout the month you can follow the conversation and see what's happening around the country, by following the #LightsOnAfterschool hashtag on Twitter.

#LightsOnAfterschool Tweets

And if you and your organization are interested in and plan on joining the celebration, make sure to let Afterschool Alliance know by registering your event as an official Lights on Afterschool event!

You can:

• Register here
• Get event ideas here
• Review their event kit here

Whatever you do, let us know in a comment or by tagging us on Twitter!