News and Events
Press Release - Benefit Concert

Announcing the 5th Annual Benefit to Help Disadvan- taged Children through the universal language of music -- Saturday November 19th at 7:00 PM. Click for more details.
Click here to see letters from former campers.
The Scarsdale Inquirer

Rescuing Amazing Afternoons

June 24, 2011


For many years now, there has been an unbreakable bond between 200 families in Scarsdale and hundreds of children at the Edward Williams Elementary School in
Mount Vernon. One so strong that Scarsdale families are rushing to rescue the school’s Amazing Afternoons program, an afterschool recreational and mentoring program now in peril due to state funding cuts....
Read entire article: Rescuing Amazing Afternoons


Radio Show Featuring Amazing Afternoons
 
Wednesday July 6, 2011

“Can Public Education Programs be Saved for the Disadvantaged?”

with Dr. Rita Freedman, Mary Figueroa, and Dr. Megan Flynn

Hosted by Richard J. Garfunkel

Click here for a replay of the interview
Journal News

Scarsdale volunteers raising $200,000 to save Mount Vernon after-school program


June 30, 2011


SCARSDALE — A group of local volunteers is working hard to make sure that more than 100 children from Mount Vernon's Edward Williams Elementary School don't end up out on the streets or heading back to empty houses after school next year.


The kids have been enrolled in Amazing Afternoons, a 10-year-old program that provides mentoring, homework help and recreation to students in an underprivileged area of Mount Vernon.


The volunteer-run program recently lost its funding due to state budget cuts, but supporters are refusing to give up. Its demise would leave many working families without their regular source of affordable, after-school childcare.


"This program is not dying. We are literally reaching out to everyone who is walking and breathing in this community," said Helene Getz, of Scarsdale.


Getz is one of many supporters focused on raising $200,000 to keep the program going. She has volunteered for Amazing Afternoons for five years; her daughters, Carly and Jaclyn Carlin, have volunteered for six years, teaching dance and forming bonds with the students.


read more...

Scarsdale Patch

June 27, 2011


Rallying to Save the Amazing Afternoons Program

Concerned volunteers and residents have raised $70,000 towards their $200,000 goal.


By Janie Rosman

Come September, the 125 children enrolled in the Amazing Afternoons program at Mt. Vernon’s Edward Williams Elementary School will have really long afternoons.That hasn’t happened since 2000, when the program - administered by Westchester Jewish Community Services (WJCS) through funding from the Advantage After School Program - was instituted in the school.Severe financial cutbacks will leave youngsters in grades 1 to 6 without homework help, mentoring, enrichment, recreation and support. read more...

Scarsdale10583.com

June 23, 2011


 
Scarsdale Residents Respond to Mt. Vernon Kids in Need

Here is the story of an ambitious effort being undertaken
by a group of Scarsdale residents to raise $200,000 to save Amazing Afternoons, an
after-school program in Mt. Vernon that is run by Westchester Jewish Community
Services (WJCS).


Due to state budget cuts that take effect next September, the 125 children enrolled in Amazing Afternoons... read more

















				

				The Daily Scarsdale
June 7, 2011

Scarsdale Residents Lend a Hand to Mt. Vernon Kids
			
			 
				
					
by Katie Drucker

It was January 23, Scarsdale resident Judy Corlin's birthday. Instead
 of throwing herself a party or going out for dinner, Corlin went to 
volunteer at Amazing Afternoons, an after-school enrichment and academic support program for Mount Vernon's Edward Williams Elementary School operated by Westchester  Jewish Community Services. 







Corlin brought a birthday cake with her that day and planned to have 
students talk and write about their own birthdays. One girl told the 
group her birthday was January 23 and that she was not going to have a 
celebration.  read more...
















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				Scarsdale High School Maroon 
  
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011 			

			
			
   
The Amazing Afternoons Program

			
									
				
			
			
			

 




 



 



 



 



 






An Amazingly Perfect Program






 



The Amazing Afternoons Program] started in 2000 and used 
federal funds that were given to the state. The criterion for the 
program was that it needed to be in an area where children were at risk 
of academic failure. Edward Williams was designated as the host site 
because it was the lowest performing school in Mount Vernon at the 
time, said Director of the Amazing Afternoons Program, Mary Figueroa. read more...




















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The New York Times
    
November 11, 2007
           
A Principal Who Makes It Happen




By ALINA TUGEND


  

 
	 

Mount Vernon 






THE principal of Edward Williams Elementary School, Ernest Gregg, knows that many people measure his school in bald numbers.




How well do his students do on the state math and English tests,  required for all students beginning in the third grade?


The answer is, they have improved greatly. In 2006, 29 percent of 
fifth graders and 32 percent of sixth graders passed the state math 
test. In 2007, those numbers  jumped to 67 and 55 percent respectively. 
He can point to similar successes in English scores.
 
read more...








						
				  








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Press Release May 20,
2011



 






A
reception "Honoring Amazing Afternoons" is scheduled for June 9th
from 5 PM to 7 PM at the Edward Williams Elementary School, 9 Union
Lane, Mount Vernon, NY. The event will
honor the students, families, and services that have provided assistance to the
children in the program.



Amazing
Afternoons
is an after school program serving 125
first to fifth grade students. It offers a broad range of activities to
support their academic achievement, and
to foster positive emotional/social development. Participants enjoy a safe, rich and nurturing after-school
experience.



Anyone
interested in attending should contact Mary Figueroa, Program Director at 914-439-1913.