On October 26, schools from coast to coast will joyously light up for the Lights on Afterschool movement that celebrates the boundless learning avenues that the future holds for students beyond the traditional school day.
AYS programs will stand out as a beacon among memorable celebrations across Indiana. 1,000+ students will navigate through immersive stations geared toward STEM learning. Each session is designed to ignite curiosity and wonder with engaging, hands-on education for planting, sustainability, and art appreciation for crops. We invite all parents and students to join us October 26, 2023 from 5-7 PM at Daniel Webster IPS 46 where we will be showcasing select students plants and artwork, but ALL of our students will be growing beans, hearing from agriculture specialists, and experiencing a “Cookies with Canvases” art project.
IPL will help some of our students design intricate circuits. Another station will unravel mysteries behind crop circle experiments. Meanwhile, an urban farm station will launch students into the joy of growing your own food. Photo booths will help AYS capture these luminous memories to illuminate the essence of Lights on Afterschool. At the event, we will have an array of kid-approved refreshments, including tortilla roll-ups, which students are especially thrilled about. There will be a crucial call to action for attendees and parents to mark their support for the Afterschool Alliance petition that acknowledged that youth Grow Better with the Lights On.
From the AYS community's heart:
“We are all very proud of our afterschool students and programs,” said Justin Armstrong, AYS Chief Operating Officer. “There’s no reason that learning should stop at 3 pm – especially if the alternative is countless hours in front of a screen, without healthy snacks and physical activity or worse that can envelop unsupervised youth in the afternoons while they wait for someone to come home from work or school.”
Like so many other out-of-school time programs around the nation, ours is supported by federal, state, and local foundations and agencies that believe in the power of quality expanded learning opportunities. We give children the opportunity to discover hidden talents as they grow academically and socially - and AYS programs are proven to produce academic, social, and behavior benefits that help youth succeed in school and life in a way that helps strengthen our communities.
