The excerpt below is from Boston After School & Beyond Executive Director Chris Smith’s remarks at MAP Advocacy Day, April 16, 2014.
When does afterschool work?
When you give a vulnerable child a safe place to go when no one is home…
When you know that providing a safe place is a positive outcome itself, but you aren’t satisfied to stop there…
When you make taking risks safe and acceptable…
When failure is just a precursor to success…
When you give a second chance even though you aren’t sure it will pay off…
When a program feels like a family…
When you win the competition for a teenager’s time and boredom is not an option…
When you see teenagers teaching their friends’ younger brothers and sisters…
When young people find their voice…
When learning is hands-on and fun…
When you open eyes to interests not yet seen…
When intrinsic motivation meets concentration and effort pays off…
When a spark leads to a new interest and a young person takes initiative…
When that interest evolves into competence and then true mastery of a skill…
When that young person stands up in front of a crowd and presents her work…
When critical thinking, collaboration, and perseverance are not buzz words, but evident in all of the kids we serve…
When a college freshman draws on earlier experiences navigating new, unfamiliar environments…
When a young job applicant easily cites examples of leadership and teamwork from middle and high school…
When a safety net is so tightly woven that it is a trampoline…
When a good experience pays dividends over a lifetime…
When you provide for someone else’s child what you would insist on for your own child…
When the principal, mom, dad, grandmother or young person says, “What would I do without you?”…
Afterschool Works!
Learn more: http://www.massafterschool.org/AdvocacyDay.html