Celebration Of After-School Programs To Be Held On West Side

CHICAGO — West Side community members will participate in a nation-wide celebration of afterschool programs, organized by the Afterschool Alliance. The Carole Robertson Center for Learning After School Enrichment Program in the North Lawndale neighborhood will sponsor a Lights On Afterschool event on Thursday, Oct. 25, at 4 p.m. This will be one of more than an expected 8,000 gatherings across America.

Former and current youth participants will offer tours and share why access to high-quality afterschool programs is important to them, event organizers said. They will discuss the benefits of afterschool programs, including inspiring children to learn, keeping them safe in the hours when juvenile crime peaks and providing relief to working families. At the event, parents and supporters will engage in a project to send public officials postcards about why afterschool matters to them, organizers said.

Participants in the Lights On Afterschool event include state elected officials, and principals and administrators from four local schools. The event will spotlight the range of programming available at the Carole Robertson Center for Learning, including its music and arts offerings, social-emotional supports and physical activity, the center said. Parents, supporters and community members are also expected to attend.

What: Carole Robertson Center for Learning Lights On Afterschool Celebration

When: Thursday, October 25, 4 – 5 p.m.

Where: 2929 W 19th Street

Who: Carole Robertson Center for Learning CEO Bela Moté; youth, parents, and alumni of Carole Robertson Center’s afterschool programs; State Senator Patricia Van Pelt; local school principals

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is Founding Chair of Lights On Afterschool, a position he has held since 2001.

The Carole Robertson Center for Learning opened in 1976 as an afterschool program serving 75 youth. It now serves over 750 children from prenatal stages of life to age 17, providing homework assistance, mentoring, tutoring, a summer camp, and opportunities to explore sports, recreation, reading, music, and dozens of other subjects in its school-age and soon-to-be-launched Teen REACH programming, the center said.

The Afterschool Alliance is a nonprofit public awareness and advocacy organization working to ensure that all children have access to quality afterschool programs.

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