For several years, the After School Program has been offered in multiple Y Branches in partnership with a local school district in the Greater New Orleans area. The program runs M-F, 3pm-6pm. As part of the partnership, the schools provide transportation for students to the Y locations from schools. The Y is in talks to expand the program to two more area school districts. During the pandemic, the program is starting to running into issues of social distancing and transportation.

The program core focus is addressing inequity. It provides space, structure, and expertise to youth from families that do not have the resources to provide extra academic support. Ideally, this extra support means that the participating youth will remain academically engaged and successful.

Main Office: (504) 568-9622

AfterOpp is a joint initiative of The Opportunity Project, Tulsa Public Schools, and site-level coordinating agencies. The joint initiative began in 2018 at two Tulsa Public Junior High Schools with coordination by Tulsa Debate League at Will Rogers Junior High School and Youth At Heart at Hale Junior High School. In the Spring of 2019, AfterOpp expanded to a third Tulsa Public school, Daniel Webster Middle School with site coordination by Tulsa Debate League. In the fall of 2019 AfterOpp expanded to a forth Tulsa Public school, Monroe Demonstration Academy, with site coordination by City Year. AfterOpp leverages the expertise of the aforementioned partners, as well as, other community organizations, individual community members, teachers and more, in order to offer youth a variety of opportunities in the out-of-school-time space. Through this FREE program, middle school students enjoy fun, safe after-school programs — ranging from sports, arts and music, to hands-on science. Through hands-on activities students are given the opportunity to explore their passions, expand their interests and build positive relationships with peers and adults. With the onset of COVID-19, AfterOpp has transitioned to a virtual learning space, to allow youth opportunities to connect, learn, grow and discover, while safely at home.

AfterOpp serves students in Tulsa’s most vulnerable communities, allowing them opportunities to engage in activities they may not otherwise encounter. Many of the families served through AfterOpp, would not otherwise have the resources to visit a museum, join a soccer club, attend swim lessons, pay for specialized tutoring, etc. AfterOpp allows middle school students a safe place to go to after school. A place where they can receive a fresh snack, build valuable relationships, grow their skill sets, and choose their clubs based on their interests -- free of charge! AfterOpp is offered on site at Tulsa Public Schools and Tulsa Public Schools provides transportation home in an effort to eliminate the need for transportation by families. It is the goal of The Opportunity Project that all youth in Tulsa have access to high quality, expanded learning opportunities.

Molly McDonald
The Opportunity Project
mmcdonald@theopp.org

AfterOpp, formed in 2017 as part of The Opportunity Project, a citywide intermediary for expanded learning, is an afterschool and summer program that focuses exclusively on middle school students. In response to COVID-19, AfterOpp has continued to support the social, emotional, and overall wellness needs of the community through wellness checks, virtual programming, and social and emotional learning (SEL) activity bags. Although the program does not typically operate during the summer, because of the pandemic, they are offering virtual programming to their students through a daily text-based system. The program has begun coordinating with the schools and districts to help them get in contact with the youth and families that they serve.

This is not a top-down programming model. AfterOpp asked families what kinds oactivities they wanted for their kids. Many families expressed an interest in having virtual programming, so AfterOpp worked with partners, such as Youth At Heart and Tulsa Debate League, to provide online clubs where small groups of students could participate in Zoom calls, check-ins, and reflections to ensure that they still receive one-on-one interaction with program staff, maintain positive relationships with one another, and monitor overall well-being. This summer, AfterOpp is offering their virtual programming to students who were enrolled in the program during the school year, as well as students in Tulsa Public Schools to reach young people as many as possible and continue to support students’ social and emotional development.

(918) 895-6344, info@theopp.org

This summer’s program emphasized social-emotional wellness at a time when our students desperately needed community and connection. Aim High’s engaging and culturally relevant project-based curriculum was adapted for distance learning. Aim High focuses on academic engagement and social-emotional support in the name of preventing summer slide and closing the achievement and opportunity gap.

Alec Lee
alee@aimhigh.org

During the pandemic, LPTM is expanding to offer academic support during the school day. Amore Academy is partnering with LPTM to bring educational expertise to this inspiring and effective organization.

Chloe Kaplan
Amore Learning
chloe@amorelearning.com

Anaheim YMCA is connected with the districts to have ASES staff help with grab-and-go meals. The districts have used YMCA resources, staff, buses and supplies to bring food to local communities so that individuals who do not have transportation still have access to meals. The work from home staff developed supplemental "boredom buster" activity packets for students in their afterschool time.

Teresa Ayon
Anaheim YMCA
tayon@anaheimymca.org

Amid this unprecedented time in education, Artist Corps New Orleans has assembled an advisory panel of music educators and music education advocates to assess the safety and logistics of providing music education to New Orleans students. Artist Corps and the New Orleans Arts Education Alliance, working with NOLA Public Schools, are leading an initiative to provide recommendations regarding policies for continued access to high-quality K-12 music and arts instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We are pulling together music and arts educators, school leaders, community organizations, teaching artists, students, parents, families, and other stakeholders to provide input and help draft these policy recommendations.

info@artistcorpsnola.org

BackPack, a Philabundance program, provides free, nutritious and easy-to-prepare supplemental meals for families with kids at select member agency sites. This year, Philabundance is partnering with Kids Against Hunger Philadelphia to provide four shelf-stable meal packs in every BackPack. Each meal pack provides six prepared servings, for a total of 24 servings. BackPacks are provided to all families with children within the service area of Philabundance.

P: (215) 339-0900

Beat the Streets Bay Area was founded on the premise that everyone should have access to wrestling and the life lessons the sport provides. With a focus on underserved communities in the Bay Area, our programming offers experiences that foster skill and character development, team-building, commitment and ownership.

info@btsba.org

Beyond School Walls, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America’s workplace mentoring program, offers employers a convenient means of bringing more volunteer opportunities directly to their employees.Youth from a local school are matched one-to-one with a professional from the corporate partner for the duration of the academic year. The students visit their mentors at the company’s offices on at least a monthly basis to explore career opportunities, develop professional skills, and interact with their peers in a real-world work setting. Employers benefit by training the next generation of the workforce and providing their teams with a meaningful way to give back to their communities.

Beyond School Walls exposes youth to professional workplace settings through one-to-one mentoring relationships.

Tim Pehlke, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, tim.pehlke@bbbsa.org