Afterschool Alliance Reports on Congressional Briefing on Afterschool in Rural Communities

The Afterschool Alliance, in its Afterschool Advocate, Volume 9, No., reported on the following Congressional Briefing on Afterschool in Rural Communities. It is excerpted in its entirety below.

"One-fifth of the nation's children attend public schools in rural communities - areas that persistently have the highest poverty rates, and where children often face social isolation, lack of positive role models and scarce opportunities. Afterschool programs can make all the difference in helping children overcome these barriers to success. On February 11, the Afterschool Alliance and partners sponsored a Congressional briefing at which experts discussed the ways afterschool programs help children in rural communities, and the challenges rural communities face in providing programs. Experts used the event to urge Congress to increase funding for rural afterschool programs.

Mark Shriver, Vice President and Managing Director for U.S. Programs at Save the Children, discussed the challenges facing rural children and how Save the Children's programs provide early childhood education services, literacy support, and encourage physical activity and good nutrition. Shriver said rural children have higher rates of obesity, 40 percent do not have access to public transportation, one in four lives in a house with no telephone, and one in five lives in poverty. "We heard about the potential cuts to the 21st Century program and we are hopeful that this doesn't happen, and in fact [funding] does increase," he said. "Poor kids in rural America get shortchanged in so many ways."

Jimmy Cunningham, Superintendent of Danville Public Schools in Arkansas, stressed the tremendous need for the enrichment opportunities afterschool programs provide among children in his district. Programs also fulfill a more basic need, providing a daily snack because many students are required to eat an early lunch to accommodate schedule and capacity constraints in school buildings. That leaves them hungry at the end of the school day, he said.

Cunningham said that most afterschool programs struggle for funding, and many of the smaller districts do not have 21st Century Community Learning Center grants because they lack the time and staff to apply for them.

In rural Maine, one of the biggest challenges facing afterschool programs is transportation. "If we don't have buses to move children, we don't have children," Charles Harrington, Director of Maine Sea Coast Mission/The EdGE, told Congressional staffers.

Harrington's program plays a pivotal role in the lives of the young people who attend it - without afterschool activities, they would have nothing to do. The program strives to "embed" afterschool in the school day's activities. Students go mountain biking through blueberry fields or sea kayaking in the same waters in which their parents harvest lobster, and then they calculate the time and distance of their trips. The program involves children in positive risk taking, teaches skills necessary in the 21st century workplace, and brings improvements in reading and math.

"The people working in afterschool programs are creating opportunities and changing lives," said Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Jodi Grant. "One third of programs funded by 21st Century Community Learning Centers are in rural communities."

The briefing was co-sponsored by the Afterschool Alliance, the American Association of School Administrators, Save the Children, The National Rural Education Advocacy Coalition and The National Center for Family Literacy.

"I can't think of a better way to spend money than on kids," said Cunningham to the capacity crowd. "Please, please look into more money for afterschool funding."

A newly updated Brief on rural afterschool issues is available from the Afterschool Alliance."