Hunts Point Playground

The Daily Plant : Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Afterschool Showcases Highlight A Successful Year

For Parks Afterschool children, this year has been filled with exciting events, daily learning activities, and new opportunities to learn about their communities. From 3 to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, almost 2,000 youth ages 6 to 13 attend one of Parks’ 35 structured Afterschool programs citywide.

In addition to the daily program of arts, academics, and athletics, Parks Afterschool children participate in a wide variety of recreational activities. This year alone, the children created comic books using computer graphics, choreographed dance routines, learned martial arts techniques, visited art museums, played musical instruments, wrote poetry, planned their financial futures, and participated in the first annual Afterschool Spelling Bee. Parks Afterschool programs partnered with various consultants, community based organizations, and cultural institutions, such as New York Cares, Society of the Illustrators, the YMCA, NYC Global Partners, Valley National Bank, and the Museum of Arts & Design.

To culminate an exciting year, each borough organized an End of the Year Afterschool Showcase where the children shared for their peers and families all the skills they developed over the year, including performances in dance and music.

The Bronx Afterschool programs went beyond dance and music performances to highlight a commitment to community service. The programs aimed to strengthen connections between the recreation centers and the communities in which they are located.

The children at Hunts Point Recreation Center volunteered at the Pio Mendez Senior Center to do activities with the seniors. St. James and St. Mary’s Afterschool youth volunteered at local hospitals, including Lincoln Hospital, to bring teddy bears to the children in the pediatric ward. The Afterschool children at Williamsbridge Oval Recreation Center donated books to the pediatric cancer ward at North Bronx Central Hospital. At Owen Dolen Recreation Center, the children and staff connected with a local military recruitment site to donate time, care packages, food, and friendship to the armed forces, including the Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Marines. In their culminating event, titled “You Served Us, We’ll Serve You,” the Owen Dolen Afterschool children gave out awards to visiting military officers and served dinner to guests and families.

Denise Alicea, Bronx Afterschool Coordinator, credits the accomplishments of the Bronx Afterschool programs to their commitment to and effective use of the Search Institute’s 40 Developmental Assets. She says of the Assets, “They help staff, children, and parents improve their relationships by using better ways to communicate. The children of the Bronx Afterschool programs participate in their communities in ways they had not had opportunities to do so before.”

Indeed, Tuwahn Crawford and Isiah Garcia, youth of Hunts Point Recreation Center, said of their experience in Parks Afterschool this year: “We learned a lot about empowerment, how to feel good about ourselves and how to do good for others. We learned that it is important to help other people and your community because they are always helping you even if you can’t see it.”

Congratulations to the children and staff of the Parks Afterschool programs citywide on a successful year and for contributing to the mission of enhancing communities and enriching the lives of youth.

Written by Jeanne Chun,
Citywide Afterschool Coordinator, Central Recreation

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

“We cannot fail to win unless we fail to try.”

Tom Clancy
(1947 - )