Mayor de Blasio pitches the speaks at a Sports & Arts in Schools Foundation professional development training for SONYC (School’s Out New York City) program staff members this week. Photo by Michael Cusenza
Bill de Blasio’s successful mayoral campaign was built around his “Tale of Two Cities,” which highlighted what he saw as unprecedented socioeconomic inequality facing the Big Apple. One of the ways in which he sought to bridge that pervasive gap was through education, particularly after-school programs, and last week he visited Richmond Hill to applaud the efforts of educators and raise awareness of enrollment applications for these enhanced after-school activities.
De Blasio and city Department of Youth and Community Development Commissioner Bill Chong descended last Thursday on the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Queens Clubhouse on Atlantic Avenue in Richmond Hill, visiting a Sports & Arts in Schools Foundation training “boot camp” for more than 130 after-school professionals who will be administering School’s Out New York City after-school programs for middle-school students beginning on Sept. 8. The week-long training event is among the preparations being made by 108 community-based organizations in all five boroughs who will oversee the city’s SONYC programs.
Photo courtesy Rob Bennett/Mayoral Photography Office
“You all may know the well-known African proverb—it takes a village to raise a child. Well, it took a village to get us to the point of having the resources for this great expansion of afterschool and for the expansion we are doing with pre-k,” de Blasio said. “Those resources took a real long fight.”
Speaking to the after-school facilitators in training, de Blasio gushed, “All of you are the difference makers, the history makers taking us to a place we’ve never been before.”
As part of a $145 million investment—which will jump to $190 million in fiscal year 2015—to increase educational and recreational opportunities for city students ages 11-13, SONYC programs will be available in 562 schools, including 60 in District 75, a 143 percent increase over the previous 231. The total number of available middle school seats will nearly double this year to 78,903, and to over 85,000 in fiscal year 2016. Enhancements, according to the administration, include programs being open five days per week for 36 weeks during the school year, and a higher price per participant to cover the additional hours, to enable providers to hire and retain qualified staff and provide high-quality programming.
In closing his remarks to the educators in training, de Blasio tapped the late tennis great and humanitarian Arthur Ashe: “He said, ‘True heroism is remarkably sober—very un-dramatic. It’s not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.’ I think that’s the right definition, and I think by that definition you’re all heroes. I thank you for what you’re doing for this city.”
For more information on applying for after-school programs, visit nyc.gov/afterschool, or call 311 or DYCD Youth Connect at 1-800-246-4646.
By Michael Cusenza
