Children from the Queens Community House Beacon Program rally in support of after-school activities in Forest Hills last week. Photo Courtesy Queens Community House Beacon Program
Queens children joined close to one million other people across the country to rally for after-school programs last week, with those gathering in Forest Hills stressing that keeping children busy following regular classes is crucial for their safety and academic success.
The Queens Community House Beacon Program in Forest Hills sponsored last Thursday’s “Lights on Afterschool” event, one of about 8,000 similar rallies held throughout the nation. Leaders from the Beacon program – which offers Queens students everything from homework help to athletic activities – spoke during the rally, as did Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills), parents, students, and educators.
The rallies aimed to create greater awareness about the importance of after-school programs and advocate for increasing access to such programs, which education leaders said is far too limited from New York to California. According to the Afterschool Alliance, a nonprofit, more than 15 million school-age children – more than one in four youngsters in the country – are unsupervised after school wraps up each day. The same nonprofit reported that the parents of 18 million children across the country say they would enroll their children in afterschool programs if they were available.
“One of the great things about afterschool programs is they give students an opportunity to learn through hands-on creative engaging activities that are both fun and educational,” said Patrick Pinchinat, who works for the Queens Community House Beacon Program and helped to lead last week’s event.
The Queens Community House Beacon Program opened in 1998 with city Department of Youth and Community Development Funding, and it now serves more than 1,200 youth, adults and families by providing academic enrichment, leadership development, science, technology, engineering, math, sports, and arts. Like many afterschool programs in the city, the Beacon program has seen its funding slashed since its inception in 1998 and has for years had to work with area legislators to battle Mayor Bloomberg to see its monies restored.
When the Queens Community House Beacon began, its budget from the city was $400,000 – and it would receive additional funding from area City Council members. Now, the program operates at about $346,000, Pinchinat said.
“This is a challenge because we’re still operating an optimum level but we don’t have adequate funding,” said Pinchinat, who has been named an “afterschool ambassador” by the AfterSchool Alliance.
Pinchinat, and other educational leaders, said they hope the rally emphasizes to lawmakers the importance of backing youth programming.
“We provide a safe place for kids when their parents are at work,” Pinchinat said. “They know their kids aren’t out on the streets.”
The rallies were recognized by high-profile elected officials, and Gov. Cuomo, for example, issued a proclamation naming Oct. 17 as “Lights on Afterschool Day.”
By Anna Gustafson
