AMAZING AFTERNOONS

What is Amazing Afternoons and what kind of community does it serve?

Amazing Afternoons is a school-based after school program in the Edward Williams Elementary School in Mt. Vernon, New York. Mt. Vernon, a low-income city located on the northern border of the Bronx and eastern border of Yonkers in Westchester County, has a limited tax base and significantly less to spend per-capita on education for their children than wealthier neighboring communities. Approximately 40% of children living in the neighborhood served by Amazing Afternoons live below the federal poverty level, with no adjustments made for living in a County with a very high cost of living. Eighty percent of the children attending Edward Williams are eligible for free or reduced lunch, as compared to 48% state-wide. There are also a significant number of children from homeless families who go to this school. Demographics derived from the Federal Government’s Geographic Information System indicates that the Community Disadvantage Index in the neighborhood served by Amazing Afternoons is a 10, with 10 representing the greatest level of risk for involvement in juvenile delinquency. Specifically, 10 indicates that the census tract is more disadvantaged than 100% of other tracts in the United States. Children in Mt. Vernon are challenged by living in a community with high rates of teen pregnancy, gang and community violence and under-resourced schools.

What is the Amazing Afternoons Program?

Amazing Afternoons offers its young participants a safe, positive, high quality and nurturing after-school experience. The program currently serves 125 first to fifth grade students and has been primarily funded by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services for the past ten years. Amazing Afternoons offers a broad range of age appropriate activities to support the academic achievement of young children, their positive emotional/social development and their access to enrichment activities often unavailable to children living in a community challenged by poverty and disadvantage.

Children start their “Amazing Afternoon” with a nutritious snack. Homework help, skills assistance, and academic and literacy support is offered in assigned groups and classrooms with teachers, group leaders and assistant group leaders. Then they move, by grade, to scheduled gym activities and then to free choice activities such as arts and crafts, visual and graphic arts, dance, games, puzzles, computer games, and health and wellness followed by group activities focused on story-telling and writing. Fridays are reserved for special activities such as sports clinics, arts workshops, performing arts, trips and special group projects such as a talent show, newspaper clubs, and community service activities.

All children participate in youth development and violence prevention activities offered through the evidenced-based Second Step Curriculum. This group program promotes social skills development and the ability to positively interact with peers and adults within one’s community. This curriculum has proven to increase academic and employment success, reduce engagement in unhealthy behaviors such as gang involvement, and reduce incarceration, teen pregnancy, and substance abuse. The themes promoted in this youth development programming are carried thought to all activities in the program, helping children to positively connect to their schools and communities over the long-term. Magnificent art work by the students such as African Masks and Colorful Maps of “My Community” often adorn the hallways of Edward Williams and this is a great source of pride for the program’s participants and their parents. The program benefits from strong collaborations with school administration and community partners including Pelham Arts Center, Backyard Sports, and Mercy College.

Amazing Afternoons has truly raised the capacity of the school and community to serve vulnerable young children. Outcome data over the past 10 years has consistently demonstrated academic and social improvement for participants, helping to set them on the path for educational achievement and success within their community of peers.

What type of volunteer support is provided to Amazing Afternoons?

Westchester Reform Temple has truly acted upon the moral directive of Tikkun Olam and Tzedekah through its active participation in helping to make Amazing Afternoons the outstanding program that it is. In a unique and valued partnership, more than 50 WRT volunteers from middle schoolers to teenagers and older adults participate in the program as tutors/mentors and facilitators of various clubs (journal club, chess club and book club). Teen volunteers have run dance programs and have provided musical instrument instruction. Bar and Bat Mitzvah teens have generously allocated gifts to the program and the community has raised funds to support the program. Youth from Westchester Reform Temple who have volunteered their time in Amazing Afternoons have stressed that their experience has been transformational, opening their eyes and hearts to the needs of children who live such a short distance away from their own homes. These volunteers have grown themselves from involvement in a youth development model of community service; they have developed leadership skills, competence, confidence and compassion from their experiences in Amazing Afternoons that will remain with them for a lifetime. They have gained as much as they have given. 

The Edward Williams Elementary School Club at Scarsdale High School, started several years ago, is an outgrowth of the volunteer component of this program. Every week of the school year the EWES Club funnels a dedicated corps of 15-20 SHS teen tutors to Amazing Afternoons. Some tutors come more than once a week. Each carefully matched pairing of tutor and student often lasts several years enabling the development of true mentor/teacher relationships and friendships. This active SHS group is a tribute to the teenagers who recognize the advantages afforded to them and who desire to ‘give back’ to a severely under resourced elementary school in a neighboring town.

What has happened to the funding for Amazing Afternoons?

New York State funding for Amazing Afternoons and all advantage after-school programs in the same category has been eliminated. Financial support from people and institutions in the local community will certainly demonstrate to private foundations and government agencies that Amazing Afternoons is a valued resource to the Westchester community. Such support will certainly help WJCS to leverage additional funds and begin to develop the diverse funding portfolio that will be needed to sustain Amazing Afternoons.