We celebrate Before-school and After-school professionals

 

We are celebrating Before-school and After-school Professionals Appreciation Week on April 19-23, 2021.

“We believe after-school and before-school professionals make a profound difference in the lives of young people,” said Erin Lightfoot, Associate Director for School-Age Programs. “We encourage everyone to join us this week in thanking the before-school and after-school professionals in their lives.”

Community Education has been providing after-school programs in local schools since the fall of 1983. Community Ed currently has almost 50 full-time and part-time staff members working in their School-Age programs, with the majority of the part-time staff members current WKU students.

Community Education currently operates before-school programs in four Warren County schools and 12 after-school programs. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, programs were also offered in Bowling Green Independent School District schools. “We look forward to being back in the City schools this fall,” said Lightfoot.

Before and after-school professionals are skilled individuals who work with children and youth in diverse school and community-based settings to provide a wide variety of positive developmental relationships and experiences during out-of-school hours. Currently, in the US, an estimated 850,000 individuals are practicing members of the profession. An estimated 10.2 million children participate in afterschool programs nationally each year, and for every child in an afterschool program, there are two more waiting to get in.

“Every young person deserves quality after-school experiences that positively impact their development. It takes skilled professionals to create these experiences. Because of the important role before-school and after-school professionals play in the lives of kids, they deserve recognition and support,” said Lightfoot.