Kat Stork, far right, Caroline County Department of Recreation and Parks deputy director and national Afterschool Ambassador for the Afterschool Alliance, was joined by Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Jodi Grant, center, and Maryland Out of School Time Network Director of Programs and Policy Tammy Shay.
Kat Stork, far right, Caroline County Department of Recreation and Parks deputy director and national Afterschool Ambassador for the Afterschool Alliance, was joined by Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Jodi Grant, center, and Maryland Out of School Time Network Director of Programs and Policy Tammy Shay.
Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., to discuss the unmet need for more funding for after-school programs.
The visit was part of the annual Afterschool for All Challenge, sponsored by the Afterschool Alliance.
Kat Stork, deputy director of the Caroline County Department of Recreation and Parks, said the visit was a terrific opportunity to inform elected officials about the ways after-school programs support children and families.
Stork serves as an Afterschool Ambassador for the national Afterschool Alliance, spending time working with local, state and federal lawmakers and their staff to help them better understand the importance of out-of-school programs in communities like Caroline County.
On Capitol Hill, Stork joined an eight-person Maryland team of after-school program providers and advocates who visited Maryland lawmakers. Also from the Eastern Shore were Tammy Shay, director of programs, policy and communications for the Maryland Out of School Time Network and a resident of Queen Anneas County, and Mathew Peters, executive director of the Chesapeake Multicultural Resource Center, which provides after-school programming in Talbot County. Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Jodi Grant also visited lawmakers with the Maryland contingent.
Grant said members of Congress need to hear about the great work being done in after-school programs to keep kids safe and engaged in hands-on learning activities.
aAfter-school programs provide a critical service to families and communities across the country,a said Grant. aBut they face a very real funding challenge on Capitol Hill.a
Grant said face-to-face meetings are the best way to remind them of the need to keep those programs going, and to grow the federal contribution to them.
aWe think after-school advocates sent a clear and convincing message this week a one that will be hard to ignore,a Grant said.
The goal of the visits on Capitol Hill was to educate lawmakers about the unmet need for after-school programs as they set priorities for federal funding.
In addition to meeting with members of the House and Senate, Stork participated in a panel presentation before more than 50 after-school providers and advocates.
The presentation, aTaking a Close Look at Afterschool in Rural America,a highlighted local, state and national organization perspectives on the need for and the hurdles to providing high quality after-school programs in rural communities.
Stork was joined by Rich Blan, national director of policy, advocacy and development for Save the Children, and Rachel Willis, research project coordinator for the Kansas Enrichment Network/Center for Public Partnerships and Research.
In Caroline County, federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers grants support after-school and summer programs at Federalsburg, Denton and Greensboro elementary schools. Approximately 300 Caroline County students benefit from these programs, but there are other families and students in Caroline County, across Maryland and the nation who cannot access after-school programs either because of a lack of available programming or prohibitive costs.
