COVINGTON, Ga. - Hundreds of children, parents, business and community leaders will come together on Oct. 26 at 4 p.m. at a Lights On Afterschool rally being held at Newton High School to celebrate the achievements of afterschool students and draw attention to the need for more afterschool programs.
The gathering will be one of more than 9,000 such events across the nation emphasizing the importance of keeping the lights on and the doors open for afterschool programs. The event’s purpose is to celebrate the many benefits of afterschool programs and encourage lawmakers to support afterschool funding.
Deena Sams, Newton County Schools District Director, states “Lights On Afterschool celebrates the remarkable work being done by students who attend our afterschool programs in Newton County Schools.” “It is a powerful reminder that afterschool programs keep children safe, inspire them to learn, and relieve working parents of worries about how their children spend their afternoons. “We are very proud of our afterschool students,” Sams said. “There’s no reason that learning should stop at 3 p.m., particularly if the alternative is unsupervised time in front of a television set, or any of the dangerous or unhealthy behaviors that can ensnare children in the afternoons.
Like so many other afterschool programs around the nation, several of ours are also supported by funding from the federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative. Since its creation, it has provided funding to extend the program to our middle and high school students. All who care about afterschool need to make a request to legislators for full funding so that we can continue to serve students in the community.”
Newton County School’s After School Academic Program now serves more than 1,800 children, providing academic instruction, homework assistance, science, mentoring, tutoring, test prep,
Credit recovery, sports clubs, recreation and fitness, dance, piano and dozens of other subjects.
