Bridge to be Lit Up to Celebrate WP After School Program
The Governor M. Cuomo Bridge will be lit up in bright yellow on Thursday, October 22 to celebrate the 21st annual Lights on After School Program, which the White Plains Youth Bureau marks annually.
White Plains Mayor Tom Roach, Youth Bureau members and the Westchester County Office of Children and Families will be on hand to recognize the program, which highlights the importance of after school programs to positive youth development.
Each year, the White Plains Youth Bureau celebrates this day with a variety of activities designed to showcase the positive impact these services have on youth and families.
The America After 3PM household survey of 30,000 families, commissioned by the Afterschool Alliance, found that participation in after school programs has increased to 10.2 million students nationwide – but the unmet demand is still great. For every child in an afterschool program today, two more are waiting to get in. Unmet demand is especially high in rural communities and communities of concentrated poverty. One in five students in the United States is unsupervised after the school day ends.
A large and powerful body of evidence demonstrates improvements in grades, school attendance, behavior and more among children who participate in afterschool programs. Researchers have also found that students in afterschool programs are more engaged in school and excited about learning and develop critical work and life skills such as problem solving, teamwork, and communications.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/