DMN Neighbors Go: Afterschool programs benefit many students, others left out

Patience, communication and leadership traits are skills Taylor Wilson has learned during the last two years as a teen mentor in the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Dallas.

The Pearce senior said her experience working with younger children has led to a desire to become a pediatrician — and participating in the Collegiate Steps and other Boys and Girls Club afterschool programs will help her take steps to get there.

“It’s good to be in that kind of environment. We all share our problems,” Wilson said. “We’re all a big family.”

But for many Dallas County children, afterschool programs are not an option. About 135,000 children require afterschool care each day, but programs in the county have room for only 48,828 children, according to the Dallas Afterschool Network.

“If kids don’t have something productive and engaging to do on an afternoon … that spells trouble for them and for us,” said Tanya McDonald, DASN executive director. “We ultimately will be paying the price for the choices they make when they are unsupervised during the afternoon.”

Richardson ISD has 39 elementary school and five junior high afterschool programs serving about 3,400 students, but a lack of funding leaves many students left out. Twelve RISD schools with a high percentage of low-income students receive funding through the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant, but afterschool programs at other schools charge fees.

“There is a large number of students who would participate if there was more money to provide scholarships,” said Lysa Rice, director of RISD PACE-afterschool programs.

Many RISD students attend afterschool programs outside of the district, but limited space and funding leaves even more without options.

“[The problem] is overwhelming,” McDonald said. “It takes public and private support to create enough high quality programs to make a difference for these kids.”

LIGHTS ON

Taylor Wilson led a tour Oct. 21 of the Boys and Girls Club that meets at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Richardson for Lights On Afterschool, an annual national program that highlights the benefits and needs of afterschool programs across the country.

The Dallas Afterschool Network arranged three bus tours in Dallas County, with stops on the Richardson tour at the Boys and Girls Club, Neighborhood Service Council and Richardson ISD’s 21st Century PACE program at West Junior High.

DASN executive director Tanya McDonald said she selected the three Richardson sites because they show how public, private, large and small organizations work together to provide afterschool programs.

“After school programs take all different shapes, sizes and formats, and the goal is to make the most of the resources you have or the facility you’re given to serve the kids in your local community, because each neighborhood as its own unique challenges,” she said. “Those three providers [in Richardson] have done a very nice job with what they’ve been given and they do a great job working with one another.”

— Ann Marie Shambaugh, ashambaugh@neighborsgo.com

MORE INFO

To learn more about the Dallas Afterschool Network or to find ways to help, visit dasn.org.
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Ann Marie Shambaugh is the Richardson/Lake Highlands/Far North Dallas neighborsgo editor and can be reached at ashambaugh@neighborsgo.com or 469-330-5689.