Recreation centers have set standard elsewhere: Metro needs better access to programs

Rec centers have set standard elsewhere
By KAREN Y. JOHNSON • July 17, 2008
There is nothing more dear to my heart than the vision of a vibrant community where parents and their children have the opportunity to participate in a variety of exciting activities.
That's why I was particularly pleased with one of the recommendations when the Project for Student Success presented its report to Mayor Karl Dean last month.
By proposing better student access to high-quality, after-school and summer programs, the task force underscored the research-based conclusion that such programs lead to higher academic achievement, engaged students and strong communities. While schools must continue to hone their legitimate focus on a variety of strong classroom offerings, it's imperative for the community to step up and provide the other wraparound services that ensure student success.
With the influence of TV, video games and cell phones, keeping students engaged is a significant challenge. However, it's clear that centers and communities with outlets that support healthy family activities can make a difference. The types of activities found in a quality after-school program include tutoring, drug and violence-prevention counseling, youth leadership activities, volunteer opportunities, college and work-force preparation, enrichment in the arts, computer instruction, mentoring and supervised recreation and athletic programs.
The research is solid on the effect of after-school programs that offer these services. And money spent by a community on large-scale regional recreational community centers and after-school programs can create tenfold benefits for the entire neighborhood.
Anchors for safer community
Three years ago, Baltimore's Police Athletic League (PAL) opened up after-school activity centers in the city's fledgling recreation centers from 2 to 10 p.m. Today, there are more than 27 centers that serve as safe places for neighborhood kids. Crime involving youth has dropped markedly in the neighborhoods where the PAL center has become an anchor to make the entire community safer.
To be clear, these centers should be throughout the city. Disengaged youth have no socioeconomic boundaries, and students of all income levels need access.
It's become a mantra in Nashville that it's all connected, and that schools cannot prepare our children for future success without the help of everyone. The development of strong, large-scale regional recreational community centers and school sites with after-school programs — conveniently located, aggressively marketed and responsive to families — offers organizations, businesses and individuals a substantial opportunity to make a significant difference in our future.
It must be everyone's priority to develop more large-scale regional recreational community centers and expand the hours at school sites. Our neighborhoods look different today, but we face an enduring challenge to ensure all students are engaged after the school bell rings.
I ask everyone to join the mayor, the student success task force, Metro public schools, the Metro Council and the members of the Board of Education to transform this challenge into a reality as soon as possible.
Karen Y. Johnson is a member of the Metropolitan Board of Public Education.

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Metro needs better access to programs
By VICE MAYOR DIANE NEIGHBORS • July 17, 2008
In the six months, since the Project for Student Success began, the 40-member task force has worked to develop recommendations for reducing the student dropout rate and increasing graduation rates.
The task force was divided into four subcommittees: Chronic Poor Academic Performance, Student Risk Factors, Family and Parental Role and Community and Neighborhood Risk Factors.
On June 25, the task force presented its recommendations to Mayor Karl Dean. It was quite clear that there are multiple factors that contribute to a student's dropping out of school and that it will take the work of everyone, including parents, caregivers, and the entire community, to change the current culture.
One of the recommendations has the potential to have a positive impact not only on student success but also on the quality of life in our neighborhoods. The task force recommended: Increase awareness, participation and access to after-school opportunities for middle school youth by building an interconnected, coordinated system of support.
Nashville has excellent after-school programs for elementary students, yet only four of the existing 52 programs serve children over age 10. Additionally, our city lacks a central resource that can help match individual needs of parents and children with available programs.
Afternoons subject to risks
After-school hours are a potentially dangerous time for children and youth. For many, the afternoon consists of sitting in front of a TV or playing a video game. It is estimated the average American student annually spends 900 hours in school and 1,500 hours in front of a TV. This has also been associated with increased aggressive behavior and obesity.
Research has shown juvenile crime and risky behaviors increase between 2 and 6 p.m., prime time to experiment with drugs, alcohol and sex. During this period, students are also at greater risk of injury and being victims of crime.
Mayor Dean has announced he has begun work on "after-school zones," an effort to coordinate existing programs and provide access to high-quality services. Often, the programs provided are not near the students, and our policies prohibit transportation to an after-school program. Other challenges have included hours of operation and services provided. It is imperative that parents receive information concerning the availability and value of after-school programs.
Youths who participate in after-school programs can realize a host of positive benefits in academic and social/emotional development, prevention of negative behaviors and overall wellness.
The Harvard Family Research Project reported high-quality after-school programs improve attitudes toward school, promotion to the next grade, attendance, communication, problem-solving, physical activity and nutrition. Students are more likely to stay in school.
As one parent said, "We need programs at the right time, right place and right age with the right services." I believe that we are headed down the right path and that, as a community in partnership with the public schools, the parents and the students, we can guarantee the success of each student.
Diane Neighbors, vice mayor of Nashville, is co-chair of the Project for Student Success task force.
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Quality after-school plan could help solve district's ills
Today's Topic: Extended help for Metro students
Our View
No single program in a revamped Metro school system is going to make the difference in turning a district from its troubled state into a top-notch district. But an after-school proposal may become one of the key links to getting Metro schools on track.
As the city weighs options for its public school system, it cannot escape the current chaotic atmosphere brought on by a vote on a rezoning plan from a divisive school board meeting last week. That vote, 5-4, was to approve a plan heavily designed to create more neighborhood schools. The situation might normally suggest the vote is over, the decision made, no turning back, and now it's time to move ahead, considering proposals like an after-school program such as the one Mayor Karl Dean's task force on graduation has offered.
But the simple fact is that the recent school board vote has left open wounds in the community. Many honorable Nashvillians fear the ramifications of that rezoning vote and believe it will result in resegregated schools. The vote might have sealed a neighborhood school plan, but it also left a bitter taste that city leaders cannot ignore. On top of all that, any new proposals now meant to deal with graduation rates have to be viewed through the prism that includes state oversight of Metro schools under the No Child Left Behind law; the fact an Aug. 7 election will change the makeup of the school board; and the fact that Metro is in the process of hiring a new schools director. To say that matters are unsettled in Metro schools is an understatement.
School leaders must come to terms with the objections to the rezoning plan, because the concerns are too deep and too relevant to ignore. But if somehow along the way Metro can manage to implement and demonstrate some promising programs that can genuinely help Metro students, the city should proceed with those plans when possible. The after-school proposal is a good example.
The task force working on graduation points out that many youth programs exist but are often independent and disconnected. It has determined that middle schools are where the greatest impact of after-school programs can be realized. It calls for a comprehensive database to be developed on after-school programs and that an organized system of activities be created. The concept is rooted in the valid principle that keeping kids occupied in positive activities after school is an effective way of preventing them from dropping out. To the extent it can, Metro should be trying to establish such programs as soon as possible.
One of the most telling observations of student interests came recently from Hal Cato, executive director of the not-for-profit Oasis Center and a member of the graduation task force, who noted how many students hang out at a library after school, surfing the Internet. That's a strong indication that students will respond in positive ways if opportunities are provided for them. The potential is unlimited for what quality after-school programs can do. After-school activity doesn't have to mean just playing basketball.
It is also notable that the task force calls for the school system to develop a transportation system that would assist students who are interested in after-school programs. That would seem to bring the issue full circle to the discussion of neighborhood schools. Transportation is a vital element. But at the same time, it does not mean students' choices should be locked in to a specific activity at a specific location. As multifaceted as every family's life has become, Metro can find ways to make after-school programs work in ways that might not follow conventional thinking. All it takes is the strong will to make good ideas work.