Strengthening Our Future: Afterschool Programs at Neighborhood Networks Centers

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Description:

Afterschool programs offer more than a safe place for students to go during the out-of-school hours. They provide academic support and enrichment opportunities, as well as reinforce the importance of education. This session helps centers launch an afterschool program or enhance their existing program. From setting goals and objectives for youth programs to obtaining funding to support an afterschool program, this session explains how centers can establish an afterschool program that effectively meets the needs of young residents. Staff from Neighborhood Networks centers that currently offer creative models for youth programming, including arts programs, mentoring, teen councils, partnerships with local school districts, and more, will share with participants their experiences and offer best practices that can be replicated to create programs that empower youth.

Presenters:

Clarence Hogan
Coordinator
Jane Addams Hull House Association's LeClaire Neighborhood Network
Phone: (773) 735-1251

Thaddeus Miles
Director of Public Safety
MassHousing
Phone: (617) 854-1138

Clarence Hogan has more than 15 years of experience as a technology instructor for community-based organizations, public schools, colleges, and corporate businesses, and currently serves as the coordinator of the Jane Addams Hull House Association's LeClaire Neighborhood Network in Chicago, Illinois. During his professional career, Mr. Hogan has directed four inner-city, community-based computer centers. These centers offered active afterschool programs and educational enrichment programs for students, and job-readiness and computer training for adults. Mr. Hogan's experience also includes serving as a substitute teacher, computer instructor, and career exploration program leader. As an independent contractor, Mr. Hogan worked with Chicago Public School's C.L.E.A.R. project that familiarized teachers with laptop computers. He also established an organization that provides afterschool and out-of-school educational enrichment programs to first- through sixth-grade students at public libraries and community centers.

Thaddeus Miles, director of public safety at MassHousing, is responsible for designing and implementing crime prevention strategies affecting several thousand housing units throughout Massachusetts. He designs such strategies to directly engage residents in addressing quality of life issues. Mr. Miles spearheaded the development of 11 community-run Neighborhood Networks computer centers in the Roxbury and Dorchester areas of Boston that offer a variety of programming for all ages. Because of his success with the Boston centers, HUD invited Mr. Miles to start a consortium of all of its New England Neighborhood Network centers. This consortium concentrates its energies on improving peoples' access to computers and technology. The consortium plays a critical role in helping Neighborhood Networks centers and other community-oriented organizations develop and sustain critical technological access in New England communities. MassIMPACT has a special focus on digital media technology, including digital storytelling, as a means of providing communities the opportunity to capture and share their stories and experiences through technology.

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